How to preview your website before changing DNS

How to preview your website before changing DNS

When moving a site to us, it's good to check it works before switching the domain over. There are two ways.

Option 1: Edit your hosts file (most accurate)

Point the domain at our server on your computer only. See How to edit your hosts file. This is the best option for WordPress and other software that redirects to its own domain name.

Option 2: Use a preview service

Services such as skipdns.link create a temporary address that shows your site from our server:

  1. Find your server's IP address in cPanel under General Information › Shared IP Address.
  2. On the preview service, enter your domain and the IP address.
  3. Open the preview link it gives you.

Some sites (including WordPress) may redirect away from preview links or display without styling. If that happens, use the hosts file method instead.

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