Orchid eCommerce DNS Setup: After your Orchid eCommerce mock website is approved, follow these steps to point your domain to the Orchid hosting environment. Your Orchid implementation consultant will provide the exact IP address or CNAME target to use.
About Namecheap DNS
Namecheap is a popular domain registrar with built-in DNS management (BasicDNS). All DNS record changes are made through the Advanced DNS tab in your domain management panel.
Before You Start
- Confirm you have admin/owner access to your domain registrar account.
- Get the target IP address (for A records) or CNAME hostname (for CNAME records) from your Orchid implementation consultant.
- Note your current DNS records before making changes — screenshot or write them down as a backup.
- If you use email on this domain (e.g., you@yourdomain.com), do not change MX records — only modify A and/or CNAME records as instructed.
- DNS changes can take 15 minutes to 48 hours to fully propagate worldwide.
Step-by-Step: Update A Record (Root Domain)
- Sign in to your Namecheap account.
- Click Domain List in the left sidebar.
- Click Manage next to your domain.
- Select the Advanced DNS tab.
- In the Host Records section, find the A record with Host @.
- Click the pencil icon to edit, or if none exists, click Add New Record and select A Record.
- Set Host to @.
- Enter the IP address provided by Orchid in the Value field.
- Set TTL (30 min is the default).
- Click the green checkmark to save, then click Save All Changes.
Step-by-Step: Update CNAME Record (www subdomain)
- In the same Host Records section, find the CNAME record with Host www.
- Edit it or add a new CNAME record.
- Set Host to www.
- Enter the Orchid hostname in the Value field.
- Save changes.
Important Namecheap Notes
- Disable parking page first. Namecheap's parking page creates its own A record for @. Remove it before pointing to Orchid.
- No CNAME on bare domain (@). It will break MX records and email delivery.
- URL Redirect records conflict with A and CNAME records on the same host. Remove them.
- Namecheap auto-appends your domain name to values. Don't enter "example.com.example.com" — just enter the target hostname.
- Remove conflicting records. A CNAME blocks all other record types on the same host.
TTL and Propagation
TTL options: 1 min, 5 min, 20 min, 30 min, 60 min. Default is 30 min. New records on BasicDNS propagate in about 30 minutes. Nameserver changes take 24–48 hours (up to 72 hours worst case).
Verifying Your DNS Changes
After saving your records, verify propagation:
- Open a terminal or command prompt.
- Run:
nslookup yourdomain.com(replace with your actual domain). - Confirm the returned IP address matches the one provided by Orchid.
- Alternatively, use an online tool like whatsmydns.net to check global propagation.
If your domain still shows the old site after 48 hours, clear your browser cache, try an incognito window, or contact your Orchid consultant.
Need help? If you're uncomfortable making DNS changes, your Orchid implementation consultant can walk you through it on a screen-share. Submit a support ticket to schedule.