How to add a custom URL to your site

All sites on the U of M Hosting Platform are given a URL of <sitename>.sites.uofmhosting.net. 

However, it's easy to request or get a custom URL for your site.

Here are 3 common scenarios: 

  1. You already have a domain name and want to use it for your site: If possible, please transfer the domain name to uofmhosting.net. We will manage DNS for you. Email uofmhosting@umich.edu to start this process.
  2. You want a domain name but don't own it yet: Please email uofmhosting@umich.edu with the details. We will order your domain name for you, and charge it to your existing shortcode. 
  3. You want a URL at umich.edu: Please contact hostmaster@umich.edu and request that the hostmaster for the university creates a cname record for your URL and associates it to your website on the U of M Hosting Platform. 

For example, if you have the site coolsite.sites.uofmhosting.net, and you wanted coolsite.umich.edu, your email might look like this:

Hi Hostmaster,

Please create a cname record for coolsite.umich.edu and point it to coolsite.sites.uofmhosting.net.

Thank you,

Sarah Smith
Department Administrator

 

You can CC uofmhosting@umich.edu on your hostmaster email in case there are technical questions.

Because of the high profile of umich.edu websites, you may be asked to provide more information justifying your website's use of this domain, or your request may not be approved. Consult the U-M Standard Practice Guide entry on domain names: http://spg.umich.edu/policy/601.15-1

How to add your URL to your U of M Hosting site

For all 3 scenarios described above, you must add the URL to your site's records on www.uofmhosting.net.

Instructions:

  1. Log in to www.uofmhosting.net.
  2. Click the name of the site you want to add the URL to.
  3. Click on the URL's tab.
  4. Click Add Domain.
  5. Enter your new domain name (URL) there. Do not include www or http://. For the example above, you would add coolsite.umich.edu. If you had your own domain, you might add mydomain.com.