DNS is the internet's address book. Your domain is a name. DNS says where that name goes: to your website, to your email, or both. You change DNS to tell the internet that harborplumbing.com now opens your Zome website.
The records you will meet
| Record | What it does | Does Zome ask you to change it? |
|---|---|---|
| A | Points a name at a server's number (an IP address). The name @ means the bare domain, with nothing in front. | Yes. One A record for @. |
| CNAME | Says one name is another name. www can point at Zome's address this way. | Yes. One CNAME for www. |
| TXT | A note attached to the domain. Used to prove you own it. | Only when the Domain tab shows one. |
| MX | Says where the domain's email goes. | No. Leave your MX records alone. |
| Name servers | Say which company holds the DNS for the domain. | No. They stay where they are. |
Two words you will see
- TTL is how long other computers remember an answer before they ask again. Leave it at the default.
- Propagation is the wait while those remembered answers expire everywhere. See How long does DNS take to update?.
What Zome asks for
The Domain tab shows the exact records and copy buttons: an A record for @, a CNAME for www, and sometimes a TXT record. Copy them from the tab, because values can change. See Which DNS records do I add for my domain?.
What to leave alone
Your MX records, and any other TXT records, belong to your email. Deleting them can stop your email. See Keep your email working when you move your website.