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Move Your Squarespace Domain To GitHub: A Simple Guide

9 min read 11-15- 2024
Move Your Squarespace Domain To GitHub: A Simple Guide

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Moving your Squarespace domain to GitHub can be a rewarding endeavor, particularly if you're looking to manage your domain and website through GitHub's powerful hosting capabilities. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process step by step, ensuring that you understand each phase of the transfer. Let’s dive right in!

Why Move Your Domain to GitHub?

Transferring your domain to GitHub brings several advantages, such as:

  • Cost Efficiency: GitHub offers free hosting for repositories, which can significantly reduce your website hosting costs.
  • Version Control: With GitHub, every change made to your website can be tracked, allowing for easy reverts if necessary.
  • Collaboration: Working with others is simpler using GitHub’s collaborative tools.
  • Integrated CI/CD: GitHub Actions allows for continuous integration and deployment directly from your repository.

These benefits make GitHub an appealing platform for managing your web presence.

Before You Start: Preparation Steps

Before initiating the transfer, it’s important to prepare adequately. Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Backup Your Content: Before anything else, ensure that you back up your website’s content. You can do this by exporting your Squarespace content.

  2. Create a GitHub Account: If you don’t have a GitHub account yet, sign up for one. It’s free and straightforward.

  3. Set Up a Repository: Create a new repository on GitHub to host your website files.

  4. Gather Domain Information: Make sure you have access to your Squarespace account and gather relevant domain details such as domain name and administrative credentials.

Step-by-Step Guide to Moving Your Domain

Step 1: Unlock Your Domain on Squarespace

To transfer your domain, you must unlock it first:

  1. Log into your Squarespace account.
  2. Navigate to the Settings tab.
  3. Click on Domains.
  4. Select the domain you wish to transfer.
  5. Find the option to Unlock Domain and toggle it on. 🔓

Step 2: Obtain the Authorization Code

The authorization code is crucial for the transfer process:

  1. After unlocking your domain, locate the Transfer Domain option.
  2. Click on it, and you will be provided with the authorization code.
  3. Copy this code, as you will need it later.

Step 3: Initiate the Domain Transfer on GitHub

Now it’s time to transfer your domain to GitHub:

  1. Log into your GitHub account.
  2. Go to Settings in your account.
  3. Under Pages, you will find an option to set up a custom domain.
  4. Enter your domain name and paste the authorization code where required.

Step 4: Configure DNS Settings

After initiating the transfer, configure your DNS settings. This step is crucial as it points your domain to the correct IP addresses:

  1. Log into your Squarespace account again.
  2. Navigate to Settings → Domains.
  3. Select your domain and look for DNS Settings.
  4. Update the DNS records according to GitHub’s requirements. The records should look something like this:

<table> <tr> <th>Record Type</th> <th>Name</th> <th>Value</th> </tr> <tr> <td>A</td> <td>@</td> <td>185.199.108.153</td> </tr> <tr> <td>A</td> <td>@</td> <td>185.199.109.153</td> </tr> <tr> <td>A</td> <td>@</td> <td>185.199.110.153</td> </tr> <tr> <td>A</td> <td>@</td> <td>185.199.111.153</td> </tr> </table>

Note: DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate, so don't worry if your site doesn’t appear immediately.

Step 5: Verify Your Domain on GitHub

Once you've configured the DNS settings, it's time to verify your domain:

  1. Return to GitHub.
  2. Under the Pages section in your repository settings, look for a verification option.
  3. Click to verify your domain. If all DNS settings are correctly configured, GitHub should recognize your domain.

Step 6: Test Your Website

After the DNS changes have propagated and your domain is verified:

  1. Visit your domain in a web browser.
  2. Ensure everything is functioning correctly.
  3. If there are any issues, double-check your DNS settings to ensure they align with GitHub’s requirements.

Step 7: Set Up HTTPS

For added security, set up HTTPS:

  1. In your GitHub repository settings under Pages, look for the Enforce HTTPS option.
  2. Enable HTTPS to secure your website traffic.

Common Issues and Troubleshooting

  • Propagation Delay: As mentioned earlier, changes to DNS records can take time. If your site doesn’t appear after 48 hours, verify your settings.
  • Authorization Code Not Accepted: Double-check that you copied the code correctly from Squarespace.
  • Domain Not Verified: If GitHub shows your domain as unverified, confirm that your DNS settings match what GitHub recommends.

Conclusion

Migrating your Squarespace domain to GitHub can enhance your web management capabilities significantly. With tools like GitHub Pages and GitHub Actions, your website will not only be more efficient but also easier to manage and develop. By following this simple guide, you have taken an essential step towards maximizing the potential of your online presence. 🌐

Remember, this process may seem daunting at first, but with a little patience and the steps outlined in this article, you’ll have your domain successfully running on GitHub in no time!

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