How can I test or preview my website before changing name servers?

Article Contents

• Overview
• URL dependency and using your HOSTS file for previews
  • Windows
  • Mac OS X

Overview

Below is a great way for you to access your hosting prior to changing the DNS for your domain name.  This allows you to preview your site before you change the DNS to make sure everything is working properly.

URL dependency and using your HOSTS file for previews

1. Sign into your Client Area.
2. Click on Service -> My Services
3. Click "View Details" next to your domain name.
4. The Shared IP or Dedicated IP address is listed there.

To test your website with your own domain name before DNS propagation has completed, you can use your local computer's HOSTS file. Your computer will use the entries in your HOSTS file before it looks up the DNS information for your domain. This article contains instructions for editing the HOSTS file on Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7, and Apple's Mac OS X.

When you are finished testing, remember to remove the custom lines that you added.

You can find your IP Address on the Service Details page mentioned above. (Note: If you don't have a dedicated IP, the IP listed is a shared IP and is not exclusively yours)

Windows

1. Locate the HOSTS file on your computer. Typically it is in one of the following locations:
   • Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7 - C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
   • Windows 95/98/Me - C:\windows\hosts
2. Open this file with a text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad.
   • Right-click on Notepad and select the option to Run as Administrator - otherwise you may not be able to open this file.
   Then, open the file. Consider performing a "Save As" so you have an original copy of the file that you can restore later. You will see two columns of information, the first containing IP addresses and the second containing host names. By default, a windows hosts file should be similar to the following:

   Filename: hosts

   127.0.0.1 localhost

   You can add additional lines to this file that will point requests for a particular domain to your site's IP address. Example:

   Filename: hosts

   127.0.0.1      localhost
   208.68.210.97  example.com
   208.68.210.97  www.example.com
                       

3. Save your changes.
4. Restart any currently open browsers. You may also want to flush your DNS cache. In Windows XP, go to Start, and then Run, then type "cmd" and hit enter. Type the following:

   ipconfig /flushdns

5. Visit your new site using http://example.com/ or http://www.example.com/

Mac OS X

1. Open Terminal, which is in Applications, then the Utilities folder.
2. You may want to first make a backup copy of your existing hosts file:

   sudo cp /private/etc/hosts /private/etc/hosts-orig

   Enter your user password at the prompt.

   Type the following command to edit your hosts file:

   sudo vi /private/etc/hosts

   Enter your user password at the prompt.

3. You will see a file with contents similar to the following:

   Filename: hosts

   ##
   # Host Database
   #
   # localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
   # when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
   ##
   127.0.0.1 localhost
   255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
   ::1 localhost
   fe80::1%lo0 localhost
                       

   Add your domain and IP address to the bottom of the file. For example:

   Filename: hosts

   ##
   # Host Database
   #
   # localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
   # when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
   ##
   127.0.0.1 localhost
   255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
   ::1 localhost
   fe80::1%lo0 localhost
   208.68.210.97 example.com
   208.68.210.97 www.example.com
                       

   vi tip:

   Press "i" to enter "insert mode" so you can type and copy/paste. Press "Esc" to exit "insert mode" when you are done modifying the file. Type ":wq" to save and quit.

4. You may also need to grant yourself sudo priveleges, if you got a permission error in Step 2. In your "Help" menu, search for "root" and select the instructions for "Enabling the root user." Follow these.
5. Restart any currently open browsers. You may also want to flush your DNS cache:

   dscacheutil -flushcache

6. Visit your new site using http://example.com/ or http://www.example.com/