Previewing your website before your domain points to Ruachost

While you build a new site or move an existing one to Ruachost, your domain may still point to your old host. You can see the copy on our servers in two ways.

Option 1: Use your preview address

Every domain on your hosting account has a free preview address. It’s your domain name followed by .ruachost.com:

Your domain	Preview address
example.com	http://example.com.ruachost.com
mybusiness.com.ng	http://mybusiness.com.ng.ruachost.com

Open the preview address in your browser to see the site on our servers.

Note

• Use http://, not https://. Preview addresses don’t have an SSL certificate, so https:// shows a security warning.
• WordPress and other apps that store their own address may redirect you to your real domain, or show pages without styling, because they load files from the domain’s address. Use Option 2 for these.
• Preview addresses are for testing. Don’t share them with customers or use them in links.

Option 2: Edit your computer’s hosts file

This makes only your computer load your domain from our servers, so everything works exactly as it will after the move, including WordPress.

First, find your server’s IP address in cPanel, under General Information on the right (Shared IP Address).

Windows

1. Search for Notepad, right-click it and choose Run as administrator.

2. Click File → Open and open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. (Change the file type to All Files to see it.)

3. Add a line at the end with your server’s IP address and your domain:

   203.0.113.10  example.com www.example.com

4. Save the file.

macOS and Linux

1. Open Terminal and run sudo nano /etc/hosts, then enter your computer’s password.
2. Add the same line at the end, with your server’s IP address and domain.
3. Press Ctrl + O and Enter to save, then Ctrl + X to close.

Close and reopen your browser, then open your domain. You’re now seeing the site on Ruachost.

Caution

Remove the line when you’re done, or once you’ve changed your domain’s nameservers. Otherwise your computer keeps loading the site from that IP address, even if it changes later.

When you’re ready to go live

Point your domain to Ruachost. See Pointing your domain to Ruachost from another registrar or Changing your nameservers.

Moving from another cPanel host? We’ll move your website for free. See Moving your website to Ruachost.