Managing DNS Records and Nameservers

DNS is the system that points your domain at a website, mail server, or other service. This guide explains the difference between nameservers and DNS records, and how to edit each in your Maxinames dashboard.

Nameservers vs DNS records

Nameservers tell the internet which DNS provider is authoritative for your domain. DNS records are the individual entries (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, and so on) that the authoritative provider serves.

If your domain uses Maxinames nameservers, you manage the records inside our dashboard. If you point your domain at a third-party DNS provider (Cloudflare, Route 53, your hosting company), you manage records there instead — Maxinames just delegates.

Change your nameservers

1. Sign in at manage.maxinames.com.
2. Open My Domains and click the domain you want to edit.
3. Choose Nameservers from the management menu.
4. Replace the existing entries with the ones supplied by your DNS provider, then save.

Changes typically propagate within an hour but can take up to 48 hours globally.

Edit DNS records

If you are using Maxinames nameservers, open the DNS Management tab on the domain. Common record types:

• A — points the domain (or a subdomain) at an IPv4 address.
• AAAA — same as A, but for IPv6.
• CNAME — aliases one hostname to another (often used for www and CDNs).
• MX — directs email to the right mail server.
• TXT — holds text data; used for SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and domain verification.

Common pitfalls

• Editing DNS records while your domain still points at another provider has no effect — make sure the nameservers are pointing at the provider you are editing.
• TTL values control how long resolvers cache a record. Lower the TTL 24 hours before a planned change to reduce propagation lag.
• Do not delete the SOA or NS records on a zone you are still using.

If a record change does not seem to take effect, see our article on DNS propagation.