Publish your site and connect a custom domain
Your Frontpage address is for building. Your own domain is what customers type. This guide covers connecting that name, waiting until it is ready, and publishing so the live site matches the version you approved.
Every Frontpage site has two surfaces. Staging is yoursite.frontpage.host, where you chat,
preview, and review. Production is the custom domain you connect, after you click Publish. Edits never
go to customers until you promote them.
Custom domains are included on paid plans. Build on the Frontpage address first if you want. Upgrade when you are ready to put the site on your name. See pricing and domains.
Three ways to use a name
Buy a domain
Search a name, see the price, and register it in Frontpage. Renewals can stay here.
Transfer one in
Move a name you already own so the site and the domain live in one place.
Keep your registrar
Leave the name at GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, or wherever it is. Frontpage adds the records, often in one click, or shows what to paste.
Pick the path that matches how you already manage the name. You do not have to move a domain to use it.
1. Open Publish and choose a path
- Open your site and sign in.
- Open Publish, or the domain step in the toolbar.
- Choose buy, transfer, or connect a domain you already own.
If you are connecting a name you hold, type the address you want live:
yourname.com or www.yourname.com. Frontpage treats the root and www as
one site.
2. Connect the domain
For a name you already own, click Connect. A window opens and detects the company that hosts your DNS.
- If you can sign in to that account, click Continue with your provider and approve the change. Records are written for you.
- If you cannot, click Connect a different way, then Set up manually, or send a login link to whoever manages the domain.
Manual setup shows the exact records to add. Copy them. Do not invent values. A typical connect
uses A records on @ (the root) and a CNAME on www. If you only want a
subdomain such as go.yourname.com, follow
Connect Frontpage to a subdomain instead.
Conflicts
If the window warns you to remove existing A or AAAA records, delete only the old rows on the same name. Leave mail records, verification TXT records, and other subdomains alone.
3. Wait until it is connected and ready
Return to Frontpage. It checks the records on its own. Wait until you see connected and ready. Publishing before that does not speed DNS up.
SSL is created for you after the records resolve. Both yourname.com and
www.yourname.com should land on one site. If the browser says the connection is not
secure, wait and try again. Do not buy extra SSL at your registrar.
4. Publish
- Review the site on your Frontpage address one last time.
- Click Publish. That copies the current staging version to your domain.
- Open the https address in a private window and confirm the padlock and your pages.
Later edits still land on staging first. Publish again when you want that version live. There is no separate export or deploy step.
If something goes wrong
- Wrong provider detected: Connect a different way, then Change provider. Edit DNS where it is actually hosted.
- Login will not finish: Set up manually, or send the admin link.
- Old site still shows: an old A, AAAA, or CNAME is still on that name. Remove it and wait.
- Only www works, or only the root: add the missing sibling record from the connect window.
- Email broke: you removed an MX or related TXT. Restore those rows. Frontpage can list records Google, Microsoft 365, and others need.
Stuck? Email support@frontpage.host with the domain and a screenshot of the records window.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Frontpage address my live site?
No. yoursite.frontpage.host is staging: a working copy for editing and review. Visitors on your own domain see production only after you connect that domain and click Publish.
Do I need a paid plan to use my own domain?
Yes. Custom domains are included on Starter, Growth, Scale, and Enterprise. You can build on the free Frontpage address first, then upgrade when you are ready to go live on your name.
Can I keep my domain at GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Cloudflare?
Yes. Choose connect a domain you already own. Frontpage can often write the records for you. If not, it shows exactly what to add. You can also buy a name or transfer one in so the site and the domain live in one place.
What about www and the root address?
Both should reach the same site. Frontpage sends www.yourname.com and yourname.com to one address so search and visitors do not see two copies. SSL (the padlock) is created for you.
How long until the domain works?
Often minutes. Sometimes a few hours. Wait until Frontpage says the domain is connected and ready, then publish. Do not buy a separate SSL product at your registrar.