Squarespace and 3rd party DNS hosting

Your .is domain can easily connect to most website hosting providers by our simple web forwarding or using their name servers, but some providers such as Squarespace require more. This guide will use Squarespace as an example of how to use 3rd party DNS hosting.

SET UP YOUR DOMAIN

First step is always to set up the domain on the webhost’s site. Look at Squarespace’s help page, starting from step 1.

DNS HOSTING

After setting up the domain we need to find a DNS provider; here is a list of popular providers. You can find number of free DNS with any search engine. Note that your provider does not need to be an official provider on ISNIC’s website.
Setting up the domain on the DNS provider’s website varies greatly. Normally you will have to create an account and set up a new domain, they may want to sell you a domain, but just select to set up a domain.

Start by removing any A records if there are any, then add a new DNS record with the following setup.

Type: A
Host: @
TTL: use default value (common values are 3600 and 86400)
Points to: (copy IP to here)

Do this for each A record your website provider requires. Use Squarespace’s help page to see all 4 A records they require and get the IP addresses.
When all A records have been set up in accordance to your webhost’s requirements you will do the same as above but with CNAME records, making sure the fields are correctly filled out in accordance to your webhost’s instructions.

REDELEGATE YOUR DOMAIN TO THE DNS HOST

Log into your relevant isnic.is account, select your domain, click redelegate, and either pick the service provider from the list of providers or enter the name servers manually.

FINISH

You may need to wait some time, but Squarespace provides you with a tool (described in step 8 of their help page) to see if they have received updated information about the domain. After putting the domain on queue for redelegation you may want to hit that refresh button every half an hour.