Our LocalSite team is about to get started on building you a new website! What's next?

Before moving ahead any further, we'll need to make sure we have access to a number of platforms. In this article, we'll outline what these are, why we need them and some common examples. 

Domain Provider Logins

The domain provider is where your domain name (ex. www.onelocal.com) currently is hosted with. Your domain name is how a customer will access your website, and is pointed to your website files that are located on your hosting provider’s server. 

During the process of pushing your new website live (or, in the case of a Site Takeover where OneLocal will be taking over your website hosting), we will need to access your domain account to input new settings to ensure your domain is pointing to your new website (or your website’s new location).

You can try the ICANN lookup* to find out more info about your Domain name. 

Some common domain providers include: 

Website Logins - (Content Management System, or CMS)

The CMS is where you login to your website. 

A CMS allows you to manage your files. In some cases, this will be the same as your hosting provider (ex. Wix is a website builder AND also hosts your files). In other cases, sites have a CMS that is not in the same location as the server where the actual files are stored. 

It’s important to have access to your CMS to enable us to make any sort of changes to your website!

If you manage your website, but can’t remember offhand which CMS you used for your website, you can use BuiltWith for this as well. BuiltWith will display information on a website’s Content Management System. Identifying the CMS can help jog your memory. Additionally, searching through your email inbox, you may find login credentials for your CMS (or at least a way to reset your password and gain access that way). 

Some common CMS' include: 

Hosting Provider Logins

Your hosting provider is where your website files are actually stored, and the location that the domain is connected to. It’s important to have access to your hosting provider to ensure we can make changes to website files, transfer website files to a new host (in the event of a Site Takeover), and backup files to ensure content access during your new website creation (in some cases, especially cases where your website hosting is ending soon).

A few hosting providers also provide Domain names, AND in some cases also are a CMS! If you're ever in doubt, don't hesitate to reach out to your Marketing Specialist! You can also try reaching out to your previous website management team.

Some common Hosting Providers include: 

Instagram Logins

Additionally, Instagram credentials are needed for Instagram integration into a page. We use a tool called Juicer to integrate your social feed into your website, so if you have an account, we will need access to this as well. If not, we can create an account with your email address. 

What If I still can't tell? 

If you didn’t manage your website, try reaching out to the last person or company that did. They should be able to tell you who your domain provider is, where your website files are hosted, and give you any logins that you are missing. 

If you don't know or can't figure out who any of these providers might be, please don't hesitate to reach out to your Marketing Specialist for help! We'd be happy to help identify where your website information may be living. 

Summary
Always provide us with your Domain logins, Hosting Provider logins, CMS logins, and Instagram logins. They each play a crucial part in allowing us to properly manage your new or existing website.  

If you can’t remember where your site was built, reach out to whomever managed your website in the past. Alternately, you can use BuiltWith, a Chrome browser extension that displays a wealth of information about your website, including the Website Hosting Provider, Name Server (Domain Provider), and Content Management System (CMS).  

 *ICANN is a non-profit that "helps coordinate the Domain Name System (DNS), often referred to as 'the phone book of the Internet'." (read more here) 

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