Here is the order to do things in, whether you are launching something new or moving an existing site.
1. Find your details
Your welcome email contains your hosting details. Everything else – invoices, services, support – is in the client area, and cPanel can be reached from there without needing to remember a separate password.
2. Log in to cPanel
Client area, then My Services, then the service, then the cPanel button. See How do I log into my Havenswift Hosting cPanel account.
3. Point your domain here, or wait
If the domain is registered with us, this is done for you. If it is elsewhere, change its nameservers – but read Nameservers: what they do and what breaks when you change them first, especially if your email is currently somewhere else.
You do not have to point the domain immediately. You can build the site first and preview it using your hosts file – see Accessing a website by changing your local hosts file.
4. Set up email
Create your mailboxes in cPanel before you switch the domain over, so mail works from the moment it arrives.
5. Put the site up
Upload by FTP or File Manager, or install an application. Content goes in public_html.
6. Check the certificate
Once the domain points here, a certificate is issued automatically within a short time. Then force https – see Forcing your site to use https.
7. Two things people forget
- Check the contact address on your account is one you will still read in a year
- Take a backup once the site is working, and download it
