Once you’ve got a Moodle site, you need a way for users to find it, and the process for this involves configuring your domain name DNS. As the terminology (and technology) can be confusing if it’s not something you’ve dealt with before, this is a quick guide to how it all works.

DNS terminology

DNS (Domain Name System): The phonebook of the Internet

Domain Name: The main website address (e.g. e-learndesign.co.uk)

Domain registrar: A company that manages domain name registration

DNS records: All information associated with a domain name

URL: A specific page on a website (e.g. e-learndesign.co.uk/our-services)

IP address: The Internet equivalent of a phone number

SSL certificate: Digital authentication of identity to allow for encrypted connectivity

How DNS works

The process around DNS is comparable to mobile phone services, so when a user wants to access a website, the steps go something like this…

Step 1: Type or copy/paste the URL (i.e https://e-learndesign.co.uk/our-services) into a browser

Step 2: The browser queries the DNS (i.e. looks up ‘e-Learn Design’ in the phonebook) and gets an IP Address (phone number) as a result

Step 3: While not normally visible to the user at any point, the IP tells the browser exactly where it needs to look to find the site the user is asking for

In Moodle site terms, this gives you two options:

Option 1: Use the domain you already own and add a subdomain.

When you originally registered your domain (i.e. yoursite.org), you were given login details to a domain control panel. This is where you can add ‘extensions’ (or aliases) that let you present connected services (like your Moodle site) using a yoursite.org link (e.g., training.yoursite.org). This will be your Moodle URL.

Option 2: Buy a new domain.

You can use this exclusively for your Moodle site, totally separate from your organisation’s existing web pages. You still need to update the DNS records, but those changes will apply only to this option.

TIP: public sector DNS issues

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Configuring your DNS

With all that in mind, you need to make sure your DNS is configured correctly, and that’s all done through the Domain registrar control panel. From start to finish, the steps are as follows:

Step 1. Tell us if you want to use a subdomain of your existing domain or a new domain.

Step 2. We’ll set up the DNS routing on our servers and give you the details you need to add to your DNS records (and tell you where to put them) so the two ‘ends’ are connected:

A-record update: If you are just using the default domain name (yoursite.org) for your Moodle site

CNAME update: If you want to use something other than the default (i.e. training.yoursite.org)

Step 3. Log in to your domain control panel, then update your DNS records as instructed.

Step 4. Once the changes have propagated (just like changing a SIM card, it may take a little while for the world to catch up), we’ll set up your SSL certificate, and your new URL will be live.

TIP: If your control panel offers the option to create a new subdomain (unless you have been explicitly instructed to do so), DO NOT click that button! It adds a whole new set of DNS records that will need to be managed, offering a level of complexity that isn’t necessary for most clients…

Important to remember

We always set up new Moodle sites on a temporary domain to give you time to choose your Moodle URL, then tell us what it is.

Temporary domains will block plugin installation by default. This is because, for security reasons, there needs to be an official ‘acknowledgement’ of ownership of the site (which is what the DNS change is for).

If you need to stay on the temporary domain for an extended period of time, let us know so we can change permissions accordingly.