4 min read#dns#custom-domain#website-basics

DNS in Plain English: What Those Two Records Do

A friendly explanation of A and CNAME records with simple analogies, plus what to do when your website does not appear after a change.

Field note: when you connect a domain to a website, someone usually hands you two lines of technical settings and says to paste them in. Here is what those lines mean, so the process feels less like a magic spell.

DNS as an address book

DNS stands for Domain Name System, and the simplest way to picture it is as a phone book for the internet. People remember names, computers use numbers. DNS records are the entries that connect the two.

When someone types your domain, their device asks the address book where that name lives, gets an answer and goes there. If the entry is wrong or missing, the visitor lands somewhere else or nowhere at all.

The two records you will meet

The A record points a name to a numeric address. Think of it as “this shop is at this street number.” It is typically used for the plain form of your domain, with nothing in front.

The CNAME record points a name to another name. Think of it as “this shop is the same as that shop over there.” It is typically used for the “www” form of your domain.

Your website host will give you the exact values. Paste them as given, because a single wrong character makes the entry point nowhere.

Why changes take time

Address books are copied and remembered all over the internet. When you change an entry, the old answer is still cached in many places, each with its own timer. The new answer arrives as those timers run out, which is why people talk about propagation.

That is also why the site might work on your phone but not on your laptop for a while. Different devices are reading from different copies.

If your site does not appear

Take it slowly and check in order. First, wait a reasonable time and try again from another network, such as your phone on mobile data. Second, check the records for typos and make sure the type matches what your host asked for. Third, look for an old record left over from a previous setup. Fourth, confirm that you edited the records at the place that your domain actually uses for DNS.

A worked example

This is an invented set of entries, shown only as wording. Example Bakery adds two records at its DNS provider.

Name “@” (the plain domain), type A, value: the address your host gives you. Name “www”, type CNAME, value: the hostname your host gives you. Old entry to remove: a record that points to a parking page.

Two new entries, one removal. That is usually the whole job.

Two more words you may hear

You may be asked about nameservers and TTL. The nameservers are the particular address books that your domain is told to use, and they decide where the records must be edited. The TTL, or time to live, is the timer that tells caches how long to remember an answer. A lower value makes later changes spread sooner, and some owners lower it a day ahead of a planned change. You do not need to tune either one for a simple setup, but knowing the words helps when you read a help page.

Common mistakes

  • Pasting values with extra spaces or missing characters.
  • Leaving the old record in place next to the new one.
  • Editing records at a provider the domain does not actually use.
  • Changing settings repeatedly while waiting, which makes problems harder to trace.
  • Assuming the site is broken when it is only waiting for caches to expire.

Try this today

  1. Find out where your domain’s DNS is managed, and bookmark that page.
  2. Take a screenshot of the existing records before you change anything, so you can restore them if needed.
  3. Add the two records your host provided, then test both the plain and the “www” forms after a wait.

Field notes

  • DNS is the internet’s address book, linking names to places.
  • An A record points to a number, and a CNAME points to another name.
  • Changes spread gradually because answers are cached.
  • Check type, value, leftover records and the right provider when something fails.
  • Screenshot your settings before changing them.

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