Subdomains

Introduction: a subdomain lets you split your site logically into several distinct sections.

A subdomain takes the form: subdomain.yourdomain.com, where subdomain is the name of your subdomain and yourdomain.com is your domain name. Examples: a few practical examples of subdomains: http://forum.yourdomain.com (used to install a forum application on a subdomain) https://accces.yourdomain.com (used for secure access in a subdomain) http://prive.yourdomain.com (used for private access to a section of your hosting account)

Why create a subdomain?

1. A subdomain lets you logically split your site into different sections
2. Each subdomain can have its own FTP access, different from the main FTP access
3. An SSL certificate can be installed on a specific subdomain to secure transactions there
4. Each subdomain can have its own DNS entries, which allows some advanced setups

How do I create a subdomain?

1. Sign in to cPanel

2. Under the Domains heading, click Subdomains

3. In the Create a Subdomain section, enter the name of your subdomain in the Create a Subdomain field and choose the main domain concerned in the drop-down menu.

4. The Document Root field is filled in automatically with the value public_html/subdomain, where subdomain is the name given in step 3. This is the folder that will hold the files of your subdomain. So suppose you put a file test.html in the directory public_html/subdomain/. That file will then be reachable on the Internet at this address: http://subdomain.yourdomain.com/test.html. We recommend that you keep the suggested Document Root unless you have a good reason to change it!

5. Click Create to create your subdomain.

Managing subdomains

You can manage your subdomains on the same cPanel page, under Modify a Subdomain.

You will find all the subdomains created there, with management tools for each of them on their right. The Document Root column holds a link that lets you edit a subdomain's content directly with cPanel's File Manager. In the Actions column you will find two tools: Manage Redirection and Remove. The Manage Redirection option lets you redirect the subdomain to another address. For example, you could create a subdomain google that is redirected to google.com; the address google.mydomain.com would then take you to the google.com site. The Remove link lets you delete the subdomain in question.