I just want to confirm that the client is paying for hosting with webflow and hosting through a separate company simply to have a custom domain?
Why are they paying for hosting through a separate company?
They should only be paying the domain registration fees.
Because webflow requires a TXT file or change. How is that done without a hosting package, which is what the hosting company responded and said? The client wants a custom domain name.
Honestly, this is a bit insane that a client needs to pay for hosting twice simply to add a custom domain. I was going to move my site to Webflow but this is a deal breaker and not even one of the costs I’ve seen alluded to in why Webflow is overly expensive.
I’ve changed and created many name servers over the years and never had to deal with a txt or verification file or path. Why did they even think this level of complexity was a good idea?
No, you do not need hosting.
Either your registrar is scamming you or very confused.
Your DNS service is generally included as part of your domain registration fee, it makes no sense for it to be part of a hosting package.
You should consider moving your domain to Cloudflare’s free DNS service, or somewhere that won’t scam you. Or at least point your nameservers there so that you have full DNS control without your registrar trying to charge you added fees.
I think you’re asking about the TXT verification record?
Webflow includes free SSL as part of their hosting services, and to issue that SSL certificate they have to prove that you own the domain. That’s done by verifying that you have DNS control. It’s a pretty standard practice.
I’d ditch that registrar fast.
The DNS service, which I have access to does not allow for the nameservers to be changed to the ones suggested by Webflow.
I’ve actually never seen this type of format for nameservers.
Webflow doesn’t recommend any nameservers, as it does not host your DNS.
I can see your 2 A’s, CNAME, and TXT, all looks ok in your screenshot. I’m not sure where you’re having problems.
What’s the domain?
This is the domain http://samratbarua.com/
When I click “verify domain”, the process starts and then fails at the TXT verification stage. Under publish, I cannot select “custom domain” under production.
This is the notification I receive when I try to “verify domain” to allow a custom domain to be selectable.
“host your DNS”
If Webflow doesn’t “host” the DNS then who does? That would be the registrar and if there is no hosting plan how can there be domain name servers?
I suspect this is why CloudFlare is returning 0 records.
So your first step is to see if your DNS is setup correctly, and you can do that using any DNS checker.
I usually use this one, and I would check both the bare domain and the www subdomain, like this-
https://www.whatsmydns.net/dns-lookup?query=samratbarua.com&server=google
https://www.whatsmydns.net/dns-lookup?query=www.samratbarua.com&server=google
Currently you can see that you don’t have any DNS records established at all;
DNS Lookup - Check All DNS records for any domain
You’re confusing nameservers with hosting, they are not related.
Internet 101…
You have your domain registrar for your domain name.
You have a nameserver provider which lets you connect that domain name to websites, email servers, etc.
99.9% of the time those two are the same company, and managed through the same login, because a domain name is useless without a nameserver.
Then separately you have hosting providers for whatever services you need. You might have multiple hosts for different things, 10 different websites, email services, FTP, learning platforms, etc. all running under the same domain name.
Webflow hosts your website, that’s all.
Just a note here, you’re not the only designer to find the whole area of domains, nameservers, deployment confusing. I have a special service exactly for that pain point if you want help.
Thanks for the response. I believe the problem is Nixihost. It’s either a scam to get customers to purchase hosting, or they have white-labeled a registrar process (if that’s a thing) and someone else controls the DNS manager, which they then claim they don’t have access to and why you need to purchase a hosting package.
I went to directnic, where my personal domains are registered, and found this section in the DNS manager. See SS. FYI, I don’t have any hosting packages or sites hosted with directnic, just use them as a registrar.
It has all the sections that would allow me to enter the client information Webflow is displaying. If other registrars are structured like this I now understand what you meant by items like TXT being pretty standard.
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Yep. TXT is essential for most forms of verification, plus anti-spam measures like SPF and DKIM records for email. It’s one of the most common DNS record types, along with A, CNAME, and MX.
FWIW, I often see confusion for users when they’re moving a site from a registar-hosted setup to Webflow.
Registrar hosting often includes cPanel, with its own DNS admin tools, but it’s part of the hosting plan.
Separately is the domain name, and the underlying, normal DNS configurator. Sometimes you have to kill the hosting first, so that the system will give you access to the normal DNS-only configurator.
You’d need to read Nixi’s docs to figure out how to create the setup you want, but a quick search turned up a lot of docs. It shouldn’t be difficult.
https://billing.nixihost.com/index.php?rp=/knowledgebase/41/How-to-Change-DNS-Zones.html
https://billing.nixihost.com/index.php?rp=/knowledgebase/136/Managing-DNS-Zones.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/webhosting/comments/ooh6a5/changing_nixihost_nameservers/
Thanks for the response and links. FYI, the client does not have Nixihost hosting. They simply used them as a registrar per my recommendation (I had never used them as a registrar) but I think I now understand why they are a cheaper registrar than Directnic and others.
AFAIK, Directnic started as a registrar and later added hosting. Nixihost appears to be the reverse. What Nixihost may have done is become a registrar reseller potentially offering customers a “do it all with us" solution for ease of use. At least that’s what I’d like to believe and that there is nothing nefarious happening here…
The problem with that as we’re discovering is that if myself, my client, or others do not want to host with them and only use them as a registrar the basic reseller registrar package they may be on does not come with a DNS manager, or it has been turned off so that when customers need to make changes they’re told they can’t unless they opt for a hosting plan with Nixihost and through cPanel and WHM per your links the customer then has the ability to make DNS changes.
When I presented the SS of the directnic DNS Manager Nixihost stopped responding. It’s now been hours since their last response, which is unlike them.
The first 2 links you shared refers to cPanel and WHM, meaning a hosting package is needed. The last link shows that Nixihost isn’t even using the generic DNS entries you would find with say directnic or other true registrars, which is why there is no “coming soon” page for the clients site and as you discovered there are “no DNS records at all”.
I tried adding custom nameservers to that area and it was only successful with two records or inputs, all 4 that Webflow needs failed, and while the two said successful nothing ever propagated or changed. This was before creating my post here.
When I asked about moving the registered domain earlier in my communications With Nixhost I was told the following:
ICANN requires that domains remain with their original registrar for 60 days after registration. Once 60 days have passed you will be able to unlock your domain and transfer it to the registrar of your choice.
I’m a reseller for a registrar as well, which gives me very low costs on domains for resale purposes. Same situation- if I want to use their DNS, it’s extra.
The best solution I’ve found is to use Cloudflare’s free DNS, which is incredible, and updates immediately. Then that gives me a staging platform for lots of other services if I want- domain level redirects, reverse proxies, special security headers… highly encourage you to try it.
You can keep your domain with nixi and just point to cloudflare’s nameservers. It’s a brilliant setup.
First assumption confirmed. According to Cloudflare, Nixihost is using 1API and after reviewing them they do indeed sell registrar reseller packages. I’ll add more information and updates to this shortly so those that may run into this issue can find solutions. I noticed a few hours ago Google has already crawled and indexed this question/post.
@memetican I just want to thank you once again for all your responses and help. I pointed the nameservers to Cloudflare and then back in Webflow everything just worked once I cleared the custom domain and added it again. It was super smooth.
Then, I ran into the “too many redirects” issue, but a quick Google search fixed that as well and Webflow has good documentation for that common issue. The site is now viewable but only with www. Before this weeks client hand off I will dive deeper in redirects either through Cloudflare or Webflow to see if it’s possible to have the site work with and without the www.
Thanks again, and please be well.
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Yes setting the www as the default domain is pretty important, Webflow often gets glitchy without that setup.
Your base domain is working great as well, and redirecting to the www properly. Browsers cache redirects so try from a different browser / pc if you’re still not seeing that redirect yet.
Nice work! And yeah, Cloudflare’s DNS is fantastic.
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@memetican, your support in this community is impressive!
I’m interested to hear more about Webflow being glitchy when not using www. I use Cloudflare’s CNAME flattening instead of A records to avoid using www as default if the site was configured that way prior to migrating to Webflow, and haven’t experienced any negative impact as yet.
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