Improving how your domain connects to Hubb
Had an email from us about this? It’s genuine. Here’s how to check any email from Hubb.
Jump to: The steps · Something gone wrong? · Get help
Do you need to do anything?
We manage your domain
You transferred it to us, we registered it for you, or we look after its DNS settings. There’s nothing to do: we’ll take care of it.
You manage it yourself
Please make the change below as soon as you can. Go to the steps
Someone else manages it
A web designer, IT volunteer or your registrar? Please forward them this page.
Not sure? Your domain is usually managed by whoever you pay for it each year. If you can’t tell, ask us and we’ll check for you.
The change: one record
Change your www record to a CNAME pointing to sites.hubb.digital. Here’s what to enter:
| Setting | What to enter |
|---|
| Type | CNAME |
| Name (sometimes called Host) | www |
| Points to (sometimes called Value or Target) | sites.hubb.digital |
| TTL | Leave as it is |
For whoever manages your DNS
- www: CNAME to sites.hubb.digital, if it’s currently an A record to 85.13.213.3, or a CNAME to your own domain whose record without the www points to 85.13.213.3.
- @ (no www): leave it as an A record to 85.13.213.3.
- Cloudflare: the www record must be DNS only (grey cloud).
- Email records: no change.
More than one domain for your website (for example a .org.uk and a .com)? Make the same change to the www record for each one you manage. If your website’s address doesn’t start with www (for example news.yourchurch.org.uk), change the record for that name instead.
These steps are for websites on Hubb’s UK platform. If your website is on our US platform, please use the US guide, which uses sites2.hubb.digital. If you’re outside the UK and Ireland and haven’t heard from us, please check with us before changing anything.
Don’t change these
- The record for your address without the www (shown as @, blank or your full domain name). If you remove it, anyone who types your address without the www won’t reach your website. If you’ve already set up forwarding from it to your www address, that’s fine: leave it as it is.
- Anything to do with your email: MX records, TXT records (including SPF, DKIM and DMARC), and records such as mail or autodiscover.
- Any other record you don’t recognise.
Step by step
1
Log in to the company your domain is registered with, or wherever your DNS is managed.
2
Open the DNS settings. They may be called DNS management, Manage DNS, DNS records, Advanced DNS or Zone editor.
3
Find the record named www. Only change the record named www. Which of these looks like yours?
It already points to sites.hubb.digital
→ You’re done. Don’t change anything else.
It’s an A record pointing to 85.13.213.3
→ Change its type to CNAME and its value to sites.hubb.digital, then go to step 5. If your provider won’t let you change the type, delete it and go straight on to step 4.
It’s a CNAME pointing to your own domain (shown as @ or yourchurch.org.uk), and the record for your address without the www points to 85.13.213.3
→ Change its value to sites.hubb.digital, then go to step 5. Leave the record for your address without the www as it is.
It points anywhere else, such as a different IP address or another company’s website
→ Leave it alone and contact us.
If there’s also an AAAA record named www, delete that too.
4
If you deleted the old record, straight away add a new record with the type CNAME, the name www, pointing to sites.hubb.digital. Enter just “www” as the name, not your full address.
Some providers add a full stop to the end of sites.hubb.digital automatically, which is fine. If yours shows sites.hubb.digital.yourchurch.org.uk after you save, edit the value and type sites.hubb.digital. with a full stop at the end.
5
Save. Some providers save each record as you go, and others have one save button for everything. Either way, make the changes in one sitting, adding the new record straight after removing the old one.
Using Cloudflare?
Set the www record’s Proxy status to DNS only (grey cloud). If the cloud is orange, click it so it turns grey, then save. If it’s left as Proxied, parts of your web office may not work properly.
Using IONOS?
IONOS won’t let you change a record’s type, so delete the A record named www, then straight away add a new CNAME record.
When you add it, click into the Host name box and type www yourself. The grey www already showing there is only an example. If you leave it, IONOS treats the box as empty and shows “A CNAME record can only be set for a subdomain”.
Before you save, check the Preview line starts with www (for example www.yourchurch.org.uk), not just your address without the www. If IONOS still won’t save the CNAME, add the www A record back, pointing to 85.13.213.3, so your website keeps working, and contact us.
Seeing an error?
If your provider says a record already exists, the old www record is still there. A CNAME can’t share its name with any other record, so change or delete the old one first, then add the CNAME straight away.
If you see a different error, send us a screenshot and we’ll help. Can’t find your DNS settings at all? Search your provider’s help pages for “add a CNAME record”, or ask us.
After you’ve made the change
Your website keeps working while you make the change. It usually takes effect within an hour, and occasionally up to 24 to 48 hours while computers around the internet catch up. If you’d like us to check it’s worked, just let us know.
If something’s gone wrong
- Your address without the www has stopped working. The record for it has been deleted. Add it back as an A record: name @ (some providers leave it blank or use your full domain name), pointing to 85.13.213.3.
- Your whole website has stopped working. Fix the www record first: make sure it’s a CNAME pointing to sites.hubb.digital, which brings your website straight back. Then add back the record for your address without the www, as above.
- The new record shows your domain twice. Enter just “www” as the name, not your full address.
- Still stuck? Send us a screenshot of your DNS settings and we’ll help.
Why we’re asking
We’re improving the systems behind Hubb in phases, and this is the first. At the moment your domain points to Hubb using a fixed IP address. Once your www record points to sites.hubb.digital instead, we can make improvements on our side and your www address keeps working, without you needing to change it again.
If your website’s main address starts with www, almost every visitor arrives that way, so this one change looks after nearly all of them. Your address without the www (yourchurch.org.uk rather than www.yourchurch.org.uk) can’t use a CNAME, so it will need its own update in a later phase. We’ll be in touch when it’s ready.
Would you rather we looked after it?
Once you’ve made this change, we recommend transferring your domain to us. We’d then make every future update for you as soon as it’s needed, including the one for your address without the www, and look after the records that protect your email. You keep full ownership of your domain, and if you ever leave Hubb, we hand it straight back. You’ll find our domain pricing at hubb.church/domains.
Ask us to manage your domain
Is this really from Hubb?
Yes. For this change, the only address we ask you to use is sites.hubb.digital (or sites2.hubb.digital for our US platform). We’ll never ask for your password, your domain login details or your card details by email, and we’ll never ask you to change your email records. If you’re unsure about an email, don’t click its links: type support.hubb.church into your browser instead, or email us at support@hubb.digital. There’s also a copy in the Broadcasts panel in your web office. More on checking our emails
Need help?
Reply to our email, chat with us on this site, or raise a ticket and our UK team will get back to you.
Contact support