WPMU DEV Products | The Blog Pros

July 5, 2020

How To Get The Most Out Of Smush Image Optimization

Optimizing your images manually would involve a lot of resizing, a fair bit of coding, and heaps of time. Luckily, Smush does all the hard work for you and plenty more besides, all of which you will find covered in this guide to help you get the most out of the plugin.

For example, while Smush may be best-known for compressing images (without losing quality), it can also help defer your offscreen images with its lazy-load feature, convert your images to next-gen formats (WebP), and serve your images from our super-fast CDN available with Smush Pro.

Luckily, you don’t need to dedicate much time or effort to your images when you have Smush installed. Most features can be activated with one click.

Whether you’re a new user or just hoping to uncover some cool features you might have missed, this guide will help you get the most out of this plugin.

We look at how to:

Smush All Your Images in Bulk
Automatically Compress New Uploads
Super Or Ultra-Smush For Double the Compression
Display Your Full Size Images
Convert Your PNGs to JPEGs
Smush From the Media Library
Optimize Directory Images
Lazy Load Your Images For a Boost of Speed
Utilize Smush’s CDN
Serve the Correct Image Sizes
Convert Your Images to Next-Gen Formats
Save Time With Automatic Smush Configs
Integrate With Popular WordPress Tools

So without further ado, here’s how to get the most out of Smush:

1. Smush All Your Images in Bulk

When you first install Smush, chances are you’ll have a backlog of images that need your attention.

The Bulk Smush feature scans your site for any images that would benefit from being compressed.

Screenshot of the bulk smush feature which shows 31 images which need smushing. — Each time you add new images, Smush will add them to this total.

All you have to do is click the button – Smush does all the hard work for you and lets you know when the job is complete.

If you have a lot of images to optimize, you’re also free to leave the plugin completely and come back to it, Smush will continue to compress your images in the background and you’ll be notified once the process is complete.

But rest assured, no matter how many images you have to optimize, thanks to built-in features like parallel image processing, which gives you 8x the normal processing speed, your images are in the best and fastest hands.

Screenshot showing the bulk smush successfully completed. — Much faster than compressing them yourself.

You can exclude certain image sizes from Bulk Smush if required. However, as Smush compresses without sacrificing quality, it may be beneficial to smush them all.

Screenshot of the various image sizes which are available to exclude. — Remove the ticks from the images sizes you want to exclude from being compressed.

One other feature worth noting is that when you click the Re-Check Images button, Smush performs an automatic scan of your Media Library to check if new images have been added since the last bulk smush.

Media Library Scan — Smush automatically scans your media library when you recheck images.

2. Automatically Compress New Uploads

Once you have used the Bulk Smush feature to catch up on your backlog of image compressing, you will seldom need to use it again.

This is because of the handy Automatic Compression feature. If you enable this, Smush will compress images as soon as you upload them to your site.

Smush also has a generous maximum file size limit of 256MB per image, so if you have any gigantic images to be uploaded, they’ll automatically be compressed and optimized for you too.

Screenshot showing the various image sizes that you can include when bulk smushing if you didn't want to select 'all'. — The days of routine image pruning can easily be a thing of your past.

3. Super Or Ultra-Smush For More Compression

If your main focus is on your site’s speed, you may want to take image compression a step further.

Super-Smush offers twice the compression of regular smushing by stripping out every bit of unneeded data, without reducing the quality of your images.

A screen showing the different Smush modes. — Take your image compression power to the next level.

Or, if you want to really amp up your compression powers, try the Ultra-Smush option for an impressive 5x compression on top of the already amazing Super-Smush. Ultra is only available with Smush Pro, but completely worth the upgrade if having the fastest possible sites is a priority for you.

New Ultra Smush delivers 5x greater image compression than Super Smush!Check it out here

If you don’t want to take it as far as Super or Ultra-Smush, you can instead strip the unnecessary metadata from your images, leaving only what is needed for SEO purposes. Photos often store camera settings in the file such as focal length, date, time and location – removing this will reduce your file size.

If you’re a photographer, you might want to keep this information, but it serves little purpose on most sites so is generally safe to remove.

4. Display Your Full Size Images

If you upload an image that is larger than 2560px in either width or height, WordPress will automatically scale it down to generate a ‘web-optimized’ maximum image size.

If you are purposefully adding larger images and want to override this, you can use the image resizing option.

Screenshot of the resize my full size images button — You can set your own new maximum image size.

Bear in mind that your theme may also have its own maximum image size – you will need to check this before enabling this feature.

Want to disable automatic resizing of images altogether? You can enable Disable scaled images. This means scaled versions of images will not be generated, and only your original uploaded images will be kept.

If you are uploading full-sized images, you can also choose whether or not these will be included in Bulk Smush.

Screenshot of the settings for smushing original images. — Another couple of simple one-click features.

Make sure you enable the Backup original images selection if you want to store a copy of all your full-size images, in case you ever wanted to return them to their pre-smushed forms.

Learn more about how WordPress handles images by checking out this blog post.

5. Convert Your PNGs to JPEGs

There are some circumstances where one of these two file types is more suitable than the other. However, if your main concerns for your site are memory usage and speed, then using JPEGs instead of PNGs should be beneficial.

If you upload your images as PNGs, Smush can check to see whether converting them to JPEGs will reduce the file size.

Screenshot of the png to jpeg button — The files will remain as PNGs if there is no reduction in the file size.

You can, of course, make the same conversion outside of WordPress. However, using Smush removes the hassle and converts all your files in one swoop.

6. Smush From the Media Library

If you would prefer to select individual images for compression, look no further than your own media library.

Here, you will find a new column labelled ‘Smush’.

Screenshot of the column which appears in the media library upon activation of smush. — You can compress your images one-by-one.

If you have auto-compression turned off, any photos which you upload should be ready to smush from within your media library.

You can smush your images individually, or alternatively single out images to be ignored from bulk smushing.

7. Optimize Directory Images

While your uploads folder is typically the main folder where images are found, they may also reside elsewhere in your directory.

For example, plugins that create their own image copies may store those images in the plugins folder.

In cases like this, the Directory Smush feature helps you easily identify and compress images stored outside the uploads folder.

A screen showing the directory Smush feature — Find and optimize images stored outside of the typical uploads folder.

Simply choose which directories and subdirectories you want to scan, and Smush will optimize and compress all of the images in bulk, it’s that easy.

A look at how Smush enables you to scan directories. — Optimize selected directories and subdirectories with a click.

8. Lazy Load Your Images For a Boost of Speed

If you have pages with a lot of images, displaying them all at once can put a lot of pressure on the server.

Deferring your off-screen images is a good way to allow the server to concentrate on loading the elements of your site above the fold so that your visitor can get stuck straight in.

Screenshot of the lazy loading feature activated. — It takes one click to deactivate if you find it’s not right for your site.

If there are certain types of images or certain output locations you wish to exclude from lazy loading, you can easily add them here.

Screenshot of the different media types and output locations you can exclude. — Remove the ticks from any of the options that you don’t wish to include.

You can also exclude certain various post types, specific URLs, and CSS classes and IDs.

Basically, if you want to enable lazy loading, you can fine-tune exactly how and where it is enabled.

Once you have chosen which images will lazy load, you can then decide how you want the pre-loading images to appear.

Screenshot of the display animation options. — If you don’t want any form of animation, simply select ‘None’.

9. Utilize Smush’s CDN

The closer you are to the server that is providing your content, the faster it will load. A CDN (Content Delivery Network) is a series of servers which are spread around the globe, and when a browser makes the HTTP request, the content is served from the closest server to its location.

Smush Pro boasts a 121-point CDN, with a few extra tricks up its sleeve. It can automatically resize your images as well as convert them to Google’s own next-gen format, WebP.

Check out the video below to learn more about our CDN.

If all you want is for your images to be served from the CDN, you do not need to delve any further into these.

However, there are a few useful tools that can be of benefit to your site, so they are worth checking out.

You can activate and configure the Smush Pro Image CDN right from your dashboard.

Screenshot of the CDN just after activation. — Once you have activated the CDN, you will see more options within Smush.

This will store and serve copies of all your JPG, PNG, and Gif images from the Smush edge servers – drastically improving speed.

Don’t Leave Your Background Images Out

As standard, only images used on your posts and pages will be served through the CDN.

If you want your background image to be served from the same speedy CDN as the rest of your images, Smush has you covered.

Screenshot of the background images option. — Your background images will reach your visitor quicker if served through our CDN.

You will need to ensure that your background images are properly declared with CSS in your theme’s files.

10. Serve the Correct Image Sizes

Ideally, you should never serve an image larger than what will be displayed on the user’s screen. Using original or full-size images when a smaller image will do makes your pages take longer to load while your browser waits for the images to render.

Smush’s CDN houses a handy feature to resize your image to fit the container, without needing to touch a line of code.

Screenshot of the automatic resizing option. — As the resizing is done from the CDN, your original images will remain full size.

11. Convert Your Images to Next-Gen Formats

JPEG 2000, JPEG XR, and WebP are modern image formats with superior compression capabilities. This means they produce much smaller image files so you can greatly improve your page speed.

Images served in the WebP format can benefit from more than 25% compression, and when you think about the number of images on your site, that’s a tonne of space that can be saved.

Smush Pro gives you two options for converting your images to next-gen formats.

1.Convert images with Smush Local WebP

The Local WebP feature in Smush Pro enables you to serve images from your Media Library in next-gen WebP format, without needing the Smush CDN.

A screenshot of the LocalWebP feature from the main Smush dashboard — Serve images in next-gen formats without the need for Smush’s CDN.

The conversion to WebP is lossy when converting from JPEG images, and lossless when converting from PNG images.

Note that once you have configured this feature, you will need to run a Bulk Smush again for your existing images to get a WebP version created for each one.

Local WebP also only works for images in your Media Library and cannot create WebP versions of images found in other directories.

2.Convert images with Smush CDN

Smush’s CDN offers the option to convert your images to WebP in just one click.

Screenshot of the webp conversion button. — All the legwork is taken care of by Smush.

Not all browsers support next-gen formats, which is something you would usually have to bear in mind when deciding to make the switch.

However, if you enable the WebP Conversion feature, Smush will automatically check whether or not a browser supports this format, and if not, will serve it in the original one. This ensures that none of your visitors are compromised.

12. Save Time With Automatic Smush Configs

If you manage multiple sites, this feature will save you hours of time by allowing you to apply your preferred Smush settings to any site with a click.

All you have to do is follow the already mentioned steps in this article and set Smush up exactly how you want it.

Then navigate to Settings > Configs and simply hit ‘Save Config’ to save your current settings as a new config, which you can apply to other sites instantly.

A screenshot showing the Smush Configs module — Set up Smush with your ideal settings and apply to other sites with a click.

You can also choose from a number of default configs and you can integrate with The Hub site management tool to easily apply your configs to multiple sites at once.

13. Integrate With Popular WordPress Tools

A screen showing brands that Smush is compatible with — Smush plays nicely with and enhances your favorite WordPress tools.

Smush is fully compatible with your favorite WordPress tools and has direct in-plugin integrations with Gutenberg, Amazon S3, Gravity Forms, WPBakery builder, and NextGen Gallery.

Like most Smush features, all of these integrations can be activated with a click and allow for more specialized and targeted image optimization for the tool you’re integrating with.

Support at Your Fingertips

Now you know the ins and outs of this little plugin, it’s time to get stuck in and see how your site can benefit.

Smush is a very user-friendly plugin, so you should have no trouble managing your images.

If, however, you find yourself in need of some friendly advice, members should look no further than our awesome support team who are available 24/7.

And when you’re ready to take your image optimization to the next level, give Smush Pro a try and automatically unlock advanced features like our 121-point CDN, 5x Ultra Smush – plus – free access to the entire WPMU DEV suite of plugins and site management tools.

You can also check out the plugin documentation and view new updates and features coming soon in our roadmap.

April 27, 2020

A Guide To WordPress DNS Management With WPMU DEV Hosting

WPMU DEV Hosting includes complete DNS management. If you’re not sure what DNS is and why you need it, Do Not Stress! Here’s all you need to know.

With our DNS Manager, simply point your nameservers to us and we’ll automatically set up and manage all your DNS records for hosting, domains, and email (plus free wildcard SSL for your subdomain multisites…. skip to this section to find out all about it).

In this post, we explain:

What is DNS and how does it work?
How can DNS benefit you?
How to set up and manage DNS for your domain name.

Let’s start with…

What is DNS and how does it work?

Unless working with IP addresses and networking is in your blood, most people wouldn’t know DNS from DNA.

The fact is, DNS is an essential part of what makes the Internet work.

Most people use DNS every day to surf the web, get their work done, run their business online, check emails, watch a movie on their tablet, or idle away their time playing games on their smartphone.

Cartoon of Devman juggling many devices at once — DNS is so essential to the Internet we should grow extra limbs just to try and keep up!

Let’s say you want to call your friend Steve for a chat. You type in “Steve” into your phone contacts’ search box. When Steve’s name comes up, you click the call button, and next thing you know…your phone is dialing Steve’s number.

How did your phone know Steve’s number?

Easy…when you created a new contact for Steve, your phone added Steve’s number to his contact record along with other details, like his profile picture, etc.

You don’t have to remember Steve’s number (or even what his face looks like) to dial him–just type in his name and your phone’s contact management system works out the rest!

DNS works in a similar way.

DNS stands for Domain Name System (or Service or Server, depending on who you talk to and what you are referring to).

Basically, DNS makes it easy for someone to do things like find your website, or send you an email using your domain name (e.g. www.YourDomainName.com or you@yourdomainname.com).

It does this by creating and maintaining a directory of records containing all the information associated with your domain name.

Now, because there are over 360 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs), it’s impractical to store and maintain every record for every domain name in one single directory.

This directory would have to be super-gigantic, and keep transient information up-to-date like who the current technical administrator for the domain is, who’s currently hosting the website, and emails associated with the domain, etc.

So, one company called ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) keeps a central database of domain name records and sets all the policies, standards, and protocols for making domain names work securely across the Internet.

ICANN then assigns the responsibility of maintaining accurate DNS records for all individual domain registrants to domain name registrars and web hosting companies.

These companies must abide and follow ICANN’s rules and protocols and agree to share this information with other servers, computers, and web browsers all around the world. Allowing users to access domains, websites, emails, etc. on the World Wide Web.

To paraphrase Wikipedia’s definition…

DNS provides a naming system for computers, services, or other resources connected to the Internet or a private network to associate various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities.

Let’s briefly examine some of the key concepts in the above definition.

What’s in a Name?

It’s important not to confuse an IP address with a DNS address.

An IP address is an address assigned to any computer (including servers) or internet-enabled device to identify it on a given network.

This can often be an interchangeable and temporarily assigned address.

For example, a search for “IP address” in Google displays the IP address currently assigned to my laptop.

Example of an IPv6 IP address. — This is the IP address currently assigned to my computer device.

A DNS address, on the other hand, translates domain names and hostnames into IP addresses (forward DNS), or IP addresses into their associated domain names/hostnames (Reverse DNS) with the help of a DNS server.

This allows users to easily find a website by entering the domain name into their web browser, instead of trying to remember a bunch of numbers and letters associated with the domain’s IP address.

An example of a DNS name used for hosting a website is “ns1.yourhostingcompany.com”.

The above allows a hosting company (e.g. YourHostingCompany.com) to host a bunch of websites, domain names, and email services under one DNS server address (e.g. ns1.yourhostingcompany.com), and manage all of their clients’ domain records.

To see the result of a DNS server in action, open up your web browser and type in this IP address: 142.250.191.78.

Depending on your location, you should be taken to Google.com. Somewhere in the process, a Domain Name Server translated the IP address (142.250.191.78) into its corresponding domain name (Google.com).

Managing the DNS records of millions of domains worldwide is a distributed service.

This complex networking system allows Internet users all around the world to find websites by simply typing a domain name into their browser, and makes sure emails are sent and received correctly in the blink of an eye.

To learn all about DNS, check out our Ultimate Guide to DNS or watch this really cool video:

(DNS totally explained!)

Now that you know what DNS is and how it works, let’s talk about the benefits.

How Can DNS Benefit You?

We’ve just seen that some of the benefits of DNS include things like:

Making finding websites easier by using domain names instead of trying to remember long IP addresses.
It’s fast, secure, and allows companies and people all around the world to set up websites, emails, servers, etc.
It allows you to take advantage of an already-built complex and expensive infrastructure. So you can just enjoy all the wonderful things the Internet makes available.

Being able to use DNS and manage your own DNS records means that you can also easily do the following:

Set up web hosting for your site and email for your domain (this can be on the same server or a different server depending on your hosting configuration and your needs.)
Transfer your website from another web hosting company (for example, you can host all your sites with WPMU DEV)

In addition to the above, there are some unique challenges that you can encounter when trying to go beyond just setting up basic sites.

For example, what if you need to install and configure a WordPress Multisite network where each of the subdomains requires using their own custom domain?

WordPress multisite domain mapping only addresses part of the solution. If you are using a custom domain as your multisite’s primary domain (e.g. mysupersmultisite.com), subdomain subsites will be created as subdomains of that primary domain automatically (e.g. subsite.domain.com). This requires a DNS record to be set up with your DNS provider for each of your subdomains.

The recommended way to do this is to install a wildcard SSL. Setting up SSL for WordPress Multisite subdomains, however, is very challenging. Trying to understand what you can and can’t do with an SSL certificate when it comes to setting up subdomains, add-on domains, wildcards, and matching things up so that what can access who is trickier than trying to figure out how to make a bowl of hot curry when all you’ve got to cook with are cucumbers and ice cubes.

The best way to avoid all the hassle is to let your hosting company take care of these challenges. Passing the buck without paying your host big bucks, however, requires smart DNS management tools.

Introducing … DNS Manager by WPMU DEV

We’re very proud to announce the exciting addition of smart DNS Management to our hosting services.

DNS is complicated. Life is complicated. We love life and hate complicated, so we’ve set out to make life a whole lot easier for you. Our new DNS hosting and management tool comes with built-in automation, expert configuration, and a whole lot of differentiation.

Until recently, our members found using subdomain multisite on our hosting challenging because it requires a wildcard SSL certificate. They had to buy an expensive certificate and have us manually install it. Free SSL from Let’s Encrypt supports subdomain multisite, but only by verifying the domain with a DNS record.

Now that you can host your DNS with us, this gives us the access we need to provide free certificates for wildcard multisite. You’ve just saved yourself a bunch of money and a ton of hassle!

Even if you manage the DNS at your domain’s registrar, just point your nameservers to us and we will manage and set up all your DNS records for hosting, email, and offer a free wildcard SSL for your subdomain multisites.

Our DNS management is smart enough to auto-fetch and populate the domain’s DNS records (see Add a Permanent Domain) including the MX records (see Updating DNS MX Records).

In fact, here are six very good reasons to manage your DNS with WPMU DEV:

Effortless Software Upgrades: Enjoy upgraded software without disruptions. As your dedicated hosting provider, we handle software updates with minimal or no downtime by managing your records efficiently.
Seamless Hardware Upgrades: Experience uninterrupted services during hardware upgrades. We ensure a smooth transition by upgrading your infrastructure and seamlessly switching you over without downtime.
Optimized Performance: As your comprehensive hosting and DNS provider, we optimize your site’s technology stack for superior performance. Expect significant improvements, potentially saving thousands of milliseconds in page load time.
Unified Management Hub: Access all your essentials in one place. Easily manage DNS records, hosting, WordPress, billing, client management, and customer portal – a time-saving, all-in-one solution.
Enhanced Security with DNSSEC (Coming Soon): Strengthen your online identity with DNSSEC-enabled DNS management. Protect your domain from threats by verifying DNS authenticity, ensuring trust and integrity in your online communication.
Expert Live Support Across Your Stack: Our legendary live support team is ready to assist. From problem-solving to guidance across your entire stack, you can rely on expert support for all your needs.

I’m Happy With My Existing DNS Provider… Why Should I Switch?

Let’s say that Cloudflare is managing your DNS records. Cloudflare are a great DNS provider. If you are looking for free Let’s Encrypt wildcard SSL certificates for subdomain multisite, however, you’re going to need to purchase a dedicated SSL certificate and wildcard SSL isn’t Cloudflare compatible without an expensive enterprise plan.

Switching your DNS to us is not required, but it’s a lot easier to configure your hosting and email records if you are using our DNS.

So… basically, if you’re looking for free Let’s Encrypt wildcard SSL certificates, or to save time on WPMU DEV hosting and email configuration, then use our DNS. Otherwise, a provider like Cloudflare is a great option and you don’t need to switch.

As a WPMU DEV member, you already get access to a complete suite of powerful WordPress plugins and blazing-fast hosting for all of your (and your client’s) sites. Our state-of-the-art hosting includes features like Site Cloning, WAF, IPv6, Email hosting, Backups, SSH, and more.

And all of this can be managed from The Hub (your central WordPress command and management center), saving you time and money.

Whether you’re an individual site owner, a web developer, or an agency hosting one hundred or more WordPress sites or Multisite networks with us, the ability to manage DNS for all your domains from The Hub puts you in complete control of your online presence.

And we’ve made our DNS management console really easy to use.

Let’s show you how…

Using WPMU DEV’s DNS Manager – A Quick Tutorial

Let’s go through a quick tutorial on how to use WPMU DEV’s DNS management console.

Configuring DNS for a Brand New Domain Name

For this example, we’ll set up DNS nameserver records to point a brand new domain name to WPMU DEV.

Once this is done, we’ll change the domain registrar’s nameservers to point the domain to WPMU DEV’s DNS server, so we can set up web hosting and manage DNS for the domain all from WPMU DEV.

To get started, log into your WPMU DEV member’s area, then go to The Hub > Domains and click on Connected Domains.

If you haven’t connected any domains from another registrar yet, click on Connect Existing Domain.

If you already have one or more domains connected to your account, click on the Connect Existing Domain button to add your domain.

The Hub - Domains - Connected Domains screen — Let’s connect an existing domain to The Hub…

Type in or paste your domain into the Domain field. After the system checks and validates your domain, click the blue arrow to continue.

As this is a brand new domain, there are no previous DNS records to verify, so let’s skip this step and click the blue arrow to continue.

Setup DNS - Verify DNS Records screen. — Nothing to see here-click the blue arrow to skip this step!

Our system automatically configures everything and displays the DNS server addresses you will need to enter into your domain registrar’s records.

This will point your domain to WPMU DEV’s nameservers and allow you to manage your domain’s DNS from WPMU DEV.

DNS Nameservers screen - WPMU DEV DNS — Almost there…we just need to point the domain to WPMU DEV nameservers.

Each domain registrar has its own process for managing nameservers. Refer to our documentation for guidance on editing nameservers using common domain registrars.

Godaddy nameserver records screen, — Change the nameserver records in your domain registrar.

After changing nameserver records in your domain registrar, come back to The Hub DNS console and click the Check nameservers button.

Check nameservers button WPMU DEV DNS — Check nameservers…

Nameserver changes can take 24-48 hours to propagate.

If the nameservers haven’t propagated the new records, you will get a message letting you know that your domain is still not pointing to WPMU DEV’s nameservers. Give it anywhere from a few minutes to a day and try again.

Message displayed if nameserver settings not propagated. — Nameserver changes can take 24-48 hours to propagate.

You can use a free DNS propagation checking tool like DNSChecker or WhatsMyDNS to check the status of your nameserver propagation.

For this example, we’ll use DNSChecker.org.

Enter your domain, select NS from the dropdown menu, then click the search button to check DNS.

DNS Checker - DNS Propagation Checker — Check nameserver propagation using a DNS propagation tool like DNSChecker.org.

In this example, my domain’s nameserver propagation happened really fast (in under 5 minutes).

DNS Checker DNS Propagation results — This domain’s nameserver changes have already propagated to the new DNS server…woohoo!

Once the changes have propagated for your new domain, your DNS should be all set up.

DNS setup — Your namerservers are propagating correctly … yay! (Note: this can take up to 48 hours).

For detailed guides for managing DNS records for both WPMU DEV registered domains and connected 3rd-party domains, see our documentation.

WPMU DEV DNS Manager – Additional Notes

If you are connecting your domain to a WPMU DEV hosted site, you can check if the DNS has been set up correctly for the site by going to Hosting > Domains, then clicking on the ellipsis icon next to the domain and selecting Recheck DNS.

Domains - Recheck DNS — Click Recheck DNS to view your DNS status.

If everything has been set up correctly, you should end up with a screen full of lovely green ticks like the one shown below.

Hosting > Domains screen showing new domain added successfully. — DNS successfully created and propagated … your DNS is all set up!

All that’s left to do now is choose which of the options you’d like to set as your primary domain (e.g. with or without the www extension), and you’re all good to go for hosting, site, and DNS!

Set your domain as primary. — Hosting, site, and DNS set up successfully … game, set, and match!

Viewing Your DNS Records

To view your site’s DNS records, go to Hosting > Domains and click on the DNS Records link.

View DNS Records — Click on the link in the Domains description section to view the DNS records for your current setup.

A window will pop up showing you the DNS records you should add to point your domain to your site. Hover over the record to copy it to your clipboard.

For more information on connecting domains to WPMU DEV hosted sites, see our documentation.

Editing Your DNS Records

To edit your domain’s DNS records, navigate to the Domains screen, then click on the ellipsis icon next to the domain, and select Add DNS Records.

The Hub - Domains - Add DNS Records — Click on the Add DNS records button to configure additional records.

This brings you to the Nameservers and DNS records screen.

DNS management screen — The DNS Management screen lets you configure nameservers and manage your DNS records.

Click on the ellipsis icon next to the record you would like to edit and select Edit from the dropdown menu.

This will bring up the Edit DNS Record screen for that record. Make your changes and click save to update your settings.

Your changes will automatically update after a while. If you experience any issues, check our DNS troubleshooting documentation or contact our support team.

In addition to editing DNS records, you can also import existing records, and add records.

Just for the A record … what’s your CNAME?

Click the Add Record button to select different types of records to add to the DNS manager.

WPMU DEV’s DNS manager lets you add and edit the following records:

A Record (Address Record) – Associates a domain with an IPv4 address. An A record resolves domain names to corresponding IPv4 addresses, enabling website accessibility.
CNAME Record (Canonical Name) – Maps an alias domain to its canonical (primary) domain. This is useful for creating aliases or subdomains that point to the main domain.
MX Record (Mail Exchange) – Specifies mail servers responsible for receiving emails. An MX record directs email traffic to the correct mail servers associated with the domain.
AAAA Record (IPv6 Address Record) – Associates a domain with an IPv6 address. This record resolves domain names to corresponding IPv6 addresses for websites supporting IPv6.
NS Record (Name Server) – Indicates authoritative DNS servers for the domain. An NS record specifies the servers responsible for providing DNS information about the domain.
TXT Record (Text Record) – Stores text information associated with the domain. This record is commonly used for various purposes, such as domain verification and information storage.
SRV Record (Service Record) – Defines the location of specific services within a domain. This enables the discovery of services like SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol), or other protocols.
CAA Record (Certification Authority Authorization) – Authorizes specific Certificate Authorities to issue SSL/TLS certificates for the domain. This enhances security by specifying which authorities can issue certificates for the domain.

To learn more about using these records, refer to this documentation section: Add or Edit DNS Records.

Migrating An Existing WordPress Site Or Domain

Let’s show you how the DNS tool can help you when migrating an existing site or domain over to WPMU DEV.

For this example, we’ll bring over a domain to WPMU DEV that is currently being hosted elsewhere.

First, log into your WPMU DEV member’s area, then go to The Hub > Domains > Connected Domains and click on the Connect Existing Domain button.

Enter the domain you’d like to bring to WPMU DEV and click the blue arrow button to continue.

The DNS Manager automatically scans your existing provider and allows you to import any common DNS records it finds automatically to your new DNS configuration.

As suggested, you can also add additional records or remove any records you don’t need before updating your nameservers.

Verify DNS records screen displaying scanned DNS records from existing provider. — All these DNS records will be imported from the existing provider when you click the button to continue.

The DNS Manager will automatically import all your DNS records. All you need to do now is configure your nameservers as shown earlier, then set up your hosting and migrate your site over.

Screen showing all DNS records for example domain name. — WPMU DEV’s DNS Manager screen.

For complete documentation on how to set up and manage your domains and DNS records, check out our documentation section.

Useful Tip: Check Your DNS Performance

You can check the speed of your DNS anytime you like. Just head over to DNS Performance and look at the results for Vultr:

Look for Vultr’s results in the DNS Performance chart. (Image: dnsperf.com)

DNS is Automatically Configured for WPMU DEV Registered Domains

When you register domains through WPMU DEV, the DNS is automatically configured. The same applies when you transfer a domain over to us.

The Hub's Registered Domains screen — DNS is automatically configured for all domains registered through WPMU DEV!

If you are an Agency plan member, DNS is also automatically configured for any clients purchasing domains through your Domains Reseller account on your website or white label client portal.

DNS Dearness

You don’t have to manage your DNS records through WPMU DEV, you can use another DNS management tool (e.g. your domain registrar), but you won’t have access to features like free email or multisite management, so…why not manage everything from The Hub?

Our DNS Manager is just part of our mission to deliver you the most convenient, reliable, fast, easy, and expertly-managed way to run all your (and your client’s WordPress hosting needs).

And like an “all-you-can-eat” electronic buffet, it’s all included as part of your WPMU DEV membership package.

WPMU members get access to our entire suite of sweet plugins, The Hub, white label hosting reseller status, access to 24/7 premium support, and more…all included with their membership.