Overview
When adding a domain to your panel, you can configure it in several ways:
- Fully Hosted — This means it appears on the Internet
- Redirect — This redirects your domain to a Fully Hosted website
- Mirrored — This mirrors a Fully Hosted website
- DNS Only — This removes hosting and allows you to point your DNS outside of DreamHost
There is a final option called 'Parked'. A Parked domain doesn't do anything and has no settings. All of the options above either display a site or point to a site to display. A Parked domain is just a placeholder until you decide to do something with the website.
How to park a domain
When you purchase a domain registration, the domain is automatically added to the Manage Websites page. You can also add a new domain as Parked, or change an existing domain to Parked.
Adding a new domain as Parked
- Navigate to the Manage Websites page.
- Click the Add Website button.
- Select one of the three options that appear:
- Enter a domain or subdomain you already own: Select this option if you've already registered your domain.
- Create a subdomain: Select this option to create a subdomain on a domain you have already registered.
- Register a new domain: Select this option to first register your domain name.
- Enter the new domain you wish to park, then click the Next: Hosting button to proceed.
- Select the Park Domain (no hosting) option on the next page, and then click the Park Domain button.
- Return to the Manage Websites page, where you'll see it's now set as Parked.
Setting an existing domain to Parked
- Navigate to the Manage Websites page.
- Click the Manage button to open the Domain Settings page, which allows you to adjust various settings for your site.
- If in Grid view, click the Manage button at the bottom of the website box.
- If in List view, click the Manage button at the far right of your domain name.
- Click the Hosting tab.
- Scroll down to the Non-Hosting Options section and select the Park Domain option.
- Click the Park this Domain button.
- Click the Yes, Park this Domain button that appears.
Once a domain is set to Parked, DreamHost displays a place-holder website with a generic DreamHost 'PARKED DOMAIN' message.
Parked domains are not hosted at all, so there is no server to log into to upload any data.
How to unpark a domain
To unpark a domain, you just need to assign it a different hosting type. The following are all options you can change to:
- Fully Hosted — This means it appears on the Internet
- Redirect — This redirects your domain to a Fully Hosted website
- Mirrored — This mirrors a Fully Hosted website
- DNS Only — This removes hosting and allows you to point your DNS outside of DreamHost
To Fully Host a domain again that you formerly Parked, you must complete the following steps:
After changing the hosting type, the new DNS values will need to propagate online which could take up to 6 hours. View the following article for further details: