A domain name is essentially the main element of a web address, for example u3a.org.uk. Some u3as will have registered a domain name of their choice, for example Hammersmith and Fulham have registered handfu3a.org.uk. Along with your domain name your u3a may be subscribed to hosting and email services.

Check that your u3a has access to the management facilities of your domain. This will be with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or domain name registrar. It is not unusual to have your domain set-up by a member who has moved on without making transfer arrangements.

If you are migrating to SiteWorks and your domain points to, or redirects to, your Site Builder site then it will need updating through your ISP/registrar to point to your SiteWorks site when it goes live. If you don’t do this then redirection should still happen, but it will be through a redirection chain – first to Site Builder and then to SiteWorks. This chain will be broken after 3 months when your Site Builder is withdrawn, so plan to do this when you migrate.

Technical bit – each ISP has their own interface for managing your domain name. Many will simply enable you to type your SiteWorks URL into a ‘redirect’ box. Others will offer more facilities that so along with a more complex interface.
Do note that you cannot redirect to your SiteWorks site (which is a subdomain of u3asite.uk) using an IP address because all the SiteWorks sites share the same IP address 185.139.7.11. Locating the servers that hosts an individual SiteWorks site is done internally by the Web servers for the IP address.