---
title: "Creating an addon domain"
date: "2015-03-17"
category: "control-panel"
slug: "creating-addon-domain"
---

An addon domain is an additional domain hosted on your account alongside your primary domain. Every hosting package supports unlimited addon domains, constrained only by your account's storage and bandwidth allocation.

## Adding an Addon Domain

Add a new domain within the [[logging-into-the-control-panel]] under **DNS** > **Addon Domains**. Two key settings are available:

### Domain Document Root

The document root determines where [[where-is-site-content-served-from]] for this domain:

| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| **Site Root** | Serves from a directory within `/var/www`. Best for single-user scenarios. |
| **User Home** | Serves from a user's [[home-directory-location]]. The domain is managed by a secondary user. |
| **Subdomain** | Serves from a preexisting subdomain. The domain and subdomain become aliases of each other. |

### Email for the Domain

The **Enable e-mail for this domain** option authorizes the server to handle mail for the addon domain. If you use a third-party mail service, disable this option to avoid [[mail-sent-hosted-domain-not-arrive-third-party-mx-records]].

Once enabled, visit **Mail** > **Manage Mailboxes** to create email addresses for the domain. If email usernames overlap between domains, use a [[separating-mail-user-different-domain]] to separate delivery.

### Nameserver Configuration

After adding the domain, update its nameservers to point to the [[nameserver-settings]]. Nameserver changes are made through the registrar where you purchased the domain.

## Validating Domain Ownership

If the domain already has nameservers pointing elsewhere, you must verify ownership before it can be added. This prevents unauthorized domain hijacking that could affect other accounts on the server. Complete one of the three verification options presented:

![Addon domain verification error that must be completed before a domain may be added to an account.](kb-image:verification-dialog.png)
*Addon domain verification error that must be completed before a domain may be added to an account.*

### DNS Verification Timing

Be aware of [[how-long-does-dns-propagation-take]] (TTL) implications:

- **File upload verification** is always the fastest option
- **Changing nameservers after** attempting to add the domain causes a 4-24 hour delay, because the positive DNS lookup result is cached based on the existing SOA records
- **`newacct` A record verification** is preferred over nameserver changes. If the record does not already exist (the typical case), failed lookups have a short cache duration of 5-15 minutes

### When Verification Cannot Be Completed

Some registrars require DNS zone presence before permitting nameserver changes (notably _.br_ and _.ie_ ccTLDs). If none of the standard verification options work, open a support ticket explaining the situation to have the domain added to a bypass list.
