Using Your Own Domain Name

Besides being free, one of the best parts about hosting your site with GitHub Pages 0:00 is that you can use your own domain name. 0:04 If you've purchased a domain name for your website, you can configure it so 0:06 that it points to your site hosted on GitHub Pages. 0:09 So, I'm gonna show you how by configuring the custom domain name I own, 0:13 frontendcourses.com, to point to the GitHub Pages server from my site at 0:17 guilh.githug.io. 0:21 That way, when we type the custom domain in the address bar, it will go to GitHub 0:24 pages, but the web address we see will always be frontendcourses.com. 0:28 When configuring a custom domain name with GitHub pages, 0:33 you'll need to follow three simple steps. 0:36 First, create a CNAME file containing your custom domain name. 0:38 Then point your custom domain's A record to GitHub's DNS, then wait for 0:42 the changes to take effect. 0:47 So, first, to redirect a custom domain to your GitHub page's site, 0:49 you need to create a CNAME file that specifies the custom domain. 0:54 So, I'm going to create the CNAME file in the root of my course's directory first, 0:59 then commit the file to my GitHub user pages website repository. 1:05 When creating the CNAME, you need to name the c name file in all upper case letters. 1:11 CNAME stands for canonical name, and it's a type of record used for 1:18 creating aliases for domains. 1:22 In the CNAME file is where we specify that a domain name is an alias for 1:24 another domain. 1:28 So for example, the domain for my website is currently the github domain, 1:30 guilh.github.io, but 1:35 I wanna use my domain name frontendcourses.com as the alias. 1:39 So I need to write that domain name in the CNAME file, and 1:45 that's all you have to write. 1:50 Now the www in the domain is optional in the CNAME, and 1:52 it's important to remember that the CNAME can contain only one domain. 1:55 Once I push the CNAME to GitHub, it will point the GitHub page's domain, 2:00 guilh.github.io to the frontendcourses.com domain. 2:05 Back in the terminal, if I run a git status, 2:10 it lists the new untracked CNAME file. 2:14 So now I'm going to add and commit this file to my local repository by typing git 2:18 add period, and git commit -m, 2:23 and as the commit messages say add see name. 2:28 And finally, I'll push it up to the project's master branch by typing git, 2:33 push, origin, master. 2:37 So now if I go back to my github repository and 2:44 refresh, we can see that the CNAME is now inside the repository. 2:47 Although I created a CNAME file and pushed it up to github, the rest of the web 2:52 doesn't know that my custom domain name points to this GitHub account. 2:57 To do that, I have to update the DNS, 3:01 or domain system record, for the frontendcourses.com domain. 3:04 I can do that by creating an address record, also called an A record. 3:09 An A record is used to point a domain to one or more IP addresses. 3:13 So I'm going to create an A record that points to the domain, 3:19 frontendcourses.com, to GitHub Pages IP addresses. 3:22 You'll usually create an A record through your domain name provider. 3:27 Keep in mind that domain name services are different, so make sure you read 3:30 the instructions provided by your domain name service before you begin this step. 3:34 And I've also posted helpful links about creating A records 3:38 in the teacher's notes of this workshop. 3:41 I registered my domain name with namecheap.com. 3:44 Using namecheap's domain manager I created 3:48 two A records that resolve to these two IP addresses. 3:52 Now, these are the GitHub IP addresses, which you can find on GitHub's website, 3:56 and I've also posted them in the teacher's notes. 4:01 Once I create and save the new domain savings, 4:03 it will map frontendcourses.com to these IP addresses. 4:06 Now, depending on your service, 4:11 it can take up to 25 hours for this to take effect, but 4:13 it's usually much faster, and often within a few minutes, so, let's take a look. 4:16 So, I'll open up a new tab and type frontendcourses.com. 4:21 Great. So, now it points to my GitHub pages site. 4:28 So, that's it. 4:33 My site is now live on the web. 4:34 If you want to learn more about DNS, A records, and CNAME, 4:37 I've posted links to Treehouse videos on those topics in the teacher's notes. 4:41 If you've just set up and hosted your very first website via GitHub pages, 4:46 congratulations that's a pretty big deal. 4:50 Hey, even I still get excited every time I see a new project I built 4:52 go live on the web. 4:55 It's a rewarding feeling. 4:56 So now that you're site is up on the web for the world to see, 4:58 be sure to share your site with the Treehouse community. 5:00 Thanks everyone. 5:03