Why You Need To Allow Some Time To Get Your Site Ready To Go Live

 

Discover why early domain name and DNS management is essential for your new Member Jungle site. This guide clearly explains domain and DNS management, helping you avoid go-live delays by sorting out your website address and digital directory (DNS) in advance. It’s a valuable resource for clubs and associations to prepare their existing domain name for a smooth transition.

 

Many things go into setting up your new Member Jungle site, customising it to your needs, and getting it live. However, one thing in particular that often trips people up is applying your own domain name with Member Jungle. This is a shame, too, as it can be a quick and easy job, literally taking five minutes to complete if you have all your ducks in a row. However, all too often, people don’t realise everything they need to organise for it; they try to get their site live, only to realise that they will be held up by not knowing their DNS and domain management details.  

This is such a common problem that I sat down with Jeff Pond, Member Jungle’s Technical Operations Director, who is responsible for helping clubs and associations get their sites live, to discuss this process and how it can be streamlined. So this process only takes you a few minutes rather than causing weeks-long delays. 

Please note that this only applies to clubs and associations that wish to keep using their current domain name. If you are happy to use the domain name that we provide for you, rather than your existing one, you don’t need to worry about this at all. 

What Is A Domain & DNS?

Essentially, your domain is the address of your website; think of it as the digital equivalent of your physical postal address. It shows where your website is located on the internet. Your DNS is essentially the Yellow Pages; it allows people to find your website’s address so they can visit it. 

When you launch a new website with Member Jungle, we need to ensure that your digital address and digital yellow pages are updated to direct people to your new website. It is the digital version of updating your postal address when your business moves so that people can still find you. 

That’s it, that’s all there is to it. Your Domain and DNS settings just need to be updated to direct people to your new site, which is literally a five-minute job. However, the problem is that people don’t usually know who currently manages their domain and DNS or how to get access to them. This can turn a five-minute job into weeks of scrambling around to track down the necessary information. 

Start Sorting Out Your Domain Long Before You Want To Go Live

Getting access to your domain and DNS doesn’t have to be hard or take ages. However, since we at Member Jungle cannot access them ourselves, you will need to get in there. Then, either make the changes or give us access.

The key is to do this well before going live, just in case you struggle to find where they are managed or have trouble accessing them.

Here’s what Jeff Pond, our Technical Operations Director, said about it. 

“Don't wait to figure this out. I know it can be intimidating, but don't ignore it. You can't kick this can down the road, because it will come back to bite you. You know, just eat that frog; get it done early, and it will just make for such a better experience when you go live.” 

Also, every day’s a school day. I’d never heard the saying “eat the frog” before today, but I like it. It makes more sense than “bite the bullet”, at least. 

The reason you need to be proactive is that you may not currently know who is hosting your domain and DNS. Additionally, the companies that are hosting them won’t grant access to just anyone who asks. They will have the details of one person who is the authorised account holder, so that person will need to be the one who gains access to the information and/or grants access to other people. 

That authorised person might be you, and you might know all the details to log in and get access, which is perfect. However, that person might have left your organisation years ago, and this entire process may require a lot of organisation. 

Therefore, it is crucial to start on this early. In the best-case scenario, it's extremely simple, and you have all the details ready for when you're ready to go live. In the worst-case scenario, it can take weeks, and it involves a lot of running around to track down and gain access to your domain and DNS. But because you started organising this weeks before you wanted to go live, as much of a pain as it is, it doesn’t actually delay your new site from going live. 

I want to put one more quote from Jeff Pond in here, as he is the one who knows about all this stuff, and he is the one who helps you get your system live.

“The earlier you can start on it, the easier it will be for you when you're ready to go live. We don't want to slow you down when it's time to go live. We want to be able to click our fingers and put your site live, giving you an awesome experience. We don't want to drag it out by a month because the wheels fell off when it came to the domain and DNS,

And unfortunately, that's what sometimes happens, you know, and it just ends up being a poor experience, right when everyone was excited and ready to go. That's just the last thing that we want for our customers,”

“So, be prepared early, get your ducks in a row so that this doesn't trip you over at the end of the process, and we can deliver an excellent go-live experience.”

This really doesn’t have to be hard; you just need to get on it early, just in case. 

How To Find Your Domain & DNS

Finally, let’s quickly cover how to find your domain and DNS. 

To get started with your domain, it's important to figure out who manages it. This is typically a provider such as Melbourne IT, Crazy Domains, or GoDaddy; we see these providers most often, although it could be someone else. Once you identify your domain provider, ensure you have access to their control panel for your domain. Make sure you are the authorised contact and you have your current passwords. 

Next up is your DNS, which can sometimes be hosted with the same provider as your domain, but can also be hosted with someone else. If you currently have a website, your DNS might be managed by that web hosting company. Therefore, you will need to identify where your DNS is hosted and ensure you have access to its control panel as well. 

Getting access to both the domain management and DNS hosting is a crucial early step. You can then either make the changes yourself or grant us access so we can make the changes on your behalf.

Finally, I have one last quote from Jeff on the matter. 

"You are more than welcome to reach out and question us early about this stuff. If you've got any concerns, any confusion, you know, whatever. Please get in touch with us early; we're here to help. Don't be afraid; we want to help you through this." 

What Are Your Next Steps?

Okay, that should hopefully give you a good start in getting this all organised, so you can go live when you’re ready. 

For more information on this, have a look at The Tech Side Of Onboarding With Member Jungle.

Plus, if you are currently in the process of getting your site set up with Member Jungle, so reach out to the tech team for help with this. They are all lovely and will be more than happy to help guide you through this process.