What is an addon domain or an additional website?
An addon domain (or additional website) is a feature that allows you to add a 2nd (or third!) website to your hosting plan. All addon domains are managed using the same control panel (cPanel) and share the resource limits (disk space, bandwidth, email accounts, FTP accounts, databases, etc) of your main account. An addon domain will have its own domain name (ex: www.newdomain.com) and will appear as an independent website online. In reality, the addon domain's files will be hosted on a folder of your choice within the main account (ex: public_html/newdomain/).
What are the advantages of an addon domain?
- You will have an independent website (ex: www.newdomain.com) at a low cost of 30$/year (plus taxes) per addon domain.
- All your websites are managed from the same control panel (cPanel).
- For your website visitors, the addon domain will appear as an entirely independent website.
- Each addon domain can use its own FTP account to limit access to the main account's files.
- Each addon domain can have its own email addresses.
- Consult our different hosting packs, some of them already include addon domains!
What are the disadvantages of an addon domain?
- Access to the addon domain's control panel (cPanel) and to the main domain's control panel are shared, so users with access to the addon domain's cPanel can modify files and parameters in the main account. It is not recommended to share this access with other individuals.
- Addon domains are available only for PRO and ENTERPRISE hosting packages.
- An addon domain website cannot have its own dedicated IP address, therefore it is not recommended for ecommerce websites that require SSL certificates.
- Because resources are shared, a high usage of ressources on one of the addon domains can affect all other domains on the same shared account.
If security and flexibility are important for your new website, we recommend a separate web hosting account.
How can I create an Addon domain?
Before ordering an addon domain, you will need:
- an active web hosting plan (PRO or greater) for your main website
- a registered domain name (with us or another registrar) to be used as the addon domain
Then, to create the Addon domain:
- Log in to the Client Area > Services > (select your main web hosting account)
- Click on Go to cPanel
- Under Domains, click on Addon Domains
- Under New Domain Name, enter the domain you want to add. The other fields should then auto-fill and don't need to be modified unless you require custom settings. Take note of the Document Root folder that's displayed, since this will be the folder where your website's content will need to be placed.
- Click Add Domain
- Your addon domain will be created, and you will now be able to publish its content by uploading your website's files into the Document root listed previously, or by using the 1-click installer to install a new web application of your choice (including Wordpress)
Tip: if you want to link a new domain to an existing website, use the Alias feature rather than the Addon domain feature.
