How-to · Beginner · 5 minutes per record
How to Edit DNS Records
Add and amend A, CNAME, MX and TXT records without knocking anything over — a practical, jargon-free walkthrough with the classic mistake flagged before you make it.
Straight answer first
The job: add and amend A, CNAME, MX and TXT records without knocking anything over. Time to allow: 5 minutes per record. Skill needed: beginner.
The walkthrough below covers every step, the mistake most people make, and the shortcut worth keeping. On Hosting Seller plans several of these steps are already done for you, and we say where.
Written by the Hosting Seller staff · Checked 1 August 2026
Beginner
Difficulty level
Quick
Time to allow
5
Stages
24/7
Help at any hour
You do not need to be technical for this. The walkthrough is written for first-timers, tested on our own platform, and honest about which parts are genuinely fiddly and which are merely unfamiliar.
One promise before you start: nothing in this guide is irreversible. Where a step could bite, we say so and give you the undo.
The whole job at a glance
From start to finish, you will open the cpanel zone editor, learn the four you'll actually use, paste values exactly as given, think about the ttl before you edit and prove it from the outside.
No stage needs code or a terminal unless the guide says so outright, and where it does, the exact commands are printed. The full step-by-step sits below; the sections around it give the context that makes it stick.
Where this goes wrong, and how not to
Adding a second record instead of editing the one already there. Two A records for the same name means visitors get sent to the old server and the new one in turn, which looks like an intermittent fault rather than a mistake.
It is worth learning because it is not some rare edge case — it is the single most common reason this task turns into a support ticket. Knowing it up front turns the whole job from risky into routine.
The trick worth borrowing
Keep a plain text note beside your zone saying what each record is for — this TXT is the Google verification, that CNAME belongs to the newsletter tool. Tidying up 'records nobody recognises' is how working integrations die.
Small habits like this are the real difference between people who find hosting easy and people who find it stressful. The tools are identical; the working method is not.
What runs by itself here
We have automated the steps that do not deserve your time: certificates issue and reissue themselves, the installer handles application setup, the daily backup covers the what-if, and per-site settings live in a panel instead of a config file. The guide above covers what remains — the part that is actually about your site.
Stuck halfway through at an odd hour? That is exactly what round-the-clock human support is for — tell us where you are in this guide and we will pick it up from there.
A good platform makes every guide shorter
Tutorials age badly when they are written against imaginary hosting. These are written against ours: the same panel, the same installer and the same defaults you will meet.
Bring an existing site and we shift it across at no charge — usually inside 24 hours, with nothing going dark while we work.
- Step by step, tested exactly as printed
- The snag flagged before you reach it
- The dull steps are already automated
- People on hand at any hour if you stall
Why Hosting Seller
On every plan, as standard
Automation where it belongs
SSL, backups and installs run themselves here, so the guide covers only what is genuinely yours to do.
Written from real tickets
Our guides come off the support desk, so the snags flagged here are the ones people genuinely hit.
5 steps, no filler
Each stage is a few minutes of steady clicking, with the fiddly parts marked as fiddly.
Scoped honestly
Add and amend A, CNAME, MX and TXT records without knocking anything over is a beginner-level task — this guide budgets 5 minutes per record and says which steps the platform absorbs.
No jargon toll
Terms are explained where they appear or linked to the glossary — nothing assumes you already know.
Help on the counter
Stuck on step three at midnight? Support answers at any hour, mid-guide included.
First Steps
From choosing to live
- 1
Open the cPanel Zone Editor
In cPanel, Zone Editor shows every record held for your domains. Read each row as one answer your domain gives the rest of the internet when it is asked a question.
- 2
Learn the four you'll actually use
A sends a name to an IP address. CNAME makes one name an alias of another. MX decides where email goes. TXT carries verifications and mail policy. Nearly every job you will ever do touches only these four.
- 3
Paste values exactly as given
Copy the value straight from whichever service asked for it. A stray space, a missing trailing dot on a CNAME, a swapped digit — these fail silently and cost an afternoon to find.
- 4
Think about the TTL before you edit
TTL is how long the rest of the internet is allowed to remember an answer. Lower it a day ahead of a planned change, put it back afterwards, and changes then happen when you want them to.
- 5
Prove it from the outside
Check the record answers correctly from somewhere that is not your own machine — dig, nslookup or any web lookup tool — before you tell the waiting service to try verifying again.
In the Box
Packed with every plan
- PHP versions picked per site from the panel
- A 99.9% uptime commitment, watched by monitoring day and night
- One-click installs for WordPress and 400+ other applications
- DDoS filtering handled out at the network edge
- WordPress Toolkit, with updates applied for you
- Real people on the counter, every hour of every day
- WebP image optimisation built in and costing nothing
- A 30-day money-back guarantee on every hosting plan
- A free SSL certificate on every plan, reissued before it lapses
- Spam and virus filtering fitted to every mailbox
Across the Counter
The questions we get asked most
How does an A record differ from a CNAME in practice?
An A record points a name straight at an IP address. A CNAME says 'this name is another name for that one' and follows wherever the target goes. Use a CNAME for services that move IPs behind a hostname they keep stable for you.
I made the change and nothing happened — why not?
Three causes cover nearly all of it: something is still holding the old answer until its TTL runs out, you edited a provider that is not the delegated nameserver, or there is a typo in the value. Check delegation first — only the nameservers in charge get asked.
What does round-the-clock support actually stretch to?
People at the counter at every hour, and a scope that takes in the practical work: mailbox setup, DNS records, WordPress trouble, restores. Not 'the server responds, ticket closed'. Ask us something hard before you order — the reply is a fair sample of what you would get afterwards.
Can I set the PHP version myself?
Yes — PHP versions are chosen per site from the control panel, so an old application and a current one can sit side by side on the same account. Extensions and per-site settings live in the same screen, and none of it needs a support ticket.
How do I pay, and does it bill again on its own?
Orders go through a secure checkout by credit or debit card, and the renewal is taken at the same price you first paid. Every invoice sits in the client area for you to read, and switching auto-renewal off is a toggle in your account rather than a phone call.
What happens to my files if I leave?
The site and the files stay yours. Pull a full backup from the panel whenever you like, before or during cancellation. Domains remain registered in your name for the term you paid for and can move to any registrar once the standard 60-day window has passed.
Is there a refund if it does not suit?
Yes — thirty days. Put the hosting through real work, and if it is not right, ask for the money back and you get it; there is no retention script to survive first. Domain registrations are the one carve-out, because registries take that fee the moment the name is placed.
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