Overview
So your new site is well-branded, your team has gone through content management training, and you're ready to set your site live — woohoo! Our team will shepherd you through this process. There are just a few things you need to be aware of to enable your new website's go-live.
Terms to Know
Expect to hear your implementation manager reference the below terms as they prepare for your go-live.
Domain
A domain is the actual website address you type in to access a given website, like treez.io.
Domain Registrar
A domain registrar is a company from which you can purchase and register a domain. Common examples include GoDaddy and CloudFlare.
Subdomain
A subdomain is a domain that is part of another domain, and is added to the beginning of a website's domain name — e.g. support.treez.io or demo.treez.shop. Subdomains can be used to organize content, improve navigation, and separate different areas of a website. Common subdomains for online menus include shop.yoursite.com, menu.yoursite.com, and order.yoursite.com.
Domain URL Format
Your domain URL format is the base URL for all pages on your website, e.g. www.treez.io or treez.io. For Treez Ecommerce purposes, it is important for us to know whether your domain URL format starts with www. or not.
DNS
A DNS converts domain names into IP addresses so that computers and mobile devices can locate websites on the internet. You can think of it like a phonebook for websites instead of phone numbers. (DNS stands for Domain Name System.)
DNS Hosting Provider
Your DNS hosting provider is the company that maintains service for your DNS. Sometimes the same company serves as your domain registrar and DNS provider, but not always. Common DNS providers include CloudFlare and Google.
CNAME Record
A CNAME record points from an alias domain to your core, or canonical, domain. (CNAME stands for canonical name.)
A Record
An A record is a type of DNS record that maps a domain name to a computer's IP address. This allows internet traffic to find the computer that hosts a domain's DNS settings. (A record stands for address record.)
Web Hosting Platform
A web hosting platform is the company that make websites accessible to the public by providing servers and infrastructure to store and serve website files. When you use Treez Ecommerce, web hosting for your site is included.
How to Publish Your Website
Using Treez Ecommerce as your entire website (Recommended)
Provide your implementation manager with your DNS hosting provider and domain URL format. Agree on a target date and time to publish your site, if you haven't already.
You will then need to update the CNAME and A Record with your DNS hosting provider, along with setting the date/time you want the change to go into effect — meaning, when you want to officially publish your website.
Note that once you make the change on your CNAME and A Record, it could take anywhere from 20-60 minutes to publish. We recommend doing this outside of business hours.
Tell your implementation manager once you have updated the above details with your DNS provider so they can help verify that all content has been published as expected.
Voila! Your Treez Ecommerce site is now live.
Using Treez Ecommerce as a subdomain of an existing website (Not recommended)
Provide your implementation manager with your DNS hosting provider and preferred subdomain. Agree on a target date and time to publish your site, if you haven't already.
Once our team has set up your subdomain in our hosting platform and your site is ready to go live, we will provide you with a CNAME.
You will then need to update the CNAME with your DNS hosting provider, along with setting the date/time you want the change to go into effect — meaning, when you want to officially publish your website.
Note that once you make the change on your CNAME, it could take anywhere from 20-60 minutes to publish. We recommend doing this outside of business hours.
Tell your implementation manager once you have updated the above details with your DNS provider so they can help verify that all content has been published as expected.
Voila! Your Treez Ecommerce site is now live.
FAQ
How do I know who my DNS hosting provider is?
You can lookup your DNS hosting provider using a free service like ICANN's lookup tool (https://lookup.icann.org/en).
How do I manage my DNS records? (CNAME and/or A Record)
First, you'll need to login on your DNS hosting provider's website and navigate to DNS settings. There you should find an option to create, edit, or delete DNS records.
Exactly how this is done will vary by provider. Here are links to instructions to manage DNS records for some of the most common DNS hosting providers:
Why do you not recommend using Treez Ecommerce as a subdomain solution?
The use of subdomains limits the effectiveness of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) features. This means that the SEO features that come out-of-the-box with Treez Ecommerce will have less impact on your ranking in search results.
When you use Treez Ecommerce as your entire website, you maximize the impact of SEO benefits. You also consolidate the management and hosting of your website to a single platform, nixing the need to use multiple platforms to edit content and reducing the level of effort required to maintain your entire site.