Registering Your Web Domain and Hosting Your Website

Your community's website normally lives at a web address ending in hoastart.com (or your platform's domain). If you'd rather use your own web address -- for example, www.yourcommunity.org -- you can connect a custom domain instead.

Turning On a Custom Domain

1. Go to Manage Site > Site Setup.
2. Click Site Settings.
3. Turn on the Enable Custom Domain toggle.
4. Enter your web address in the Custom Domain field that appears.
5. Click Save.

Your custom domain needs to point to HOA Start's DNS to actually work -- entering it here is only the first step. How you complete that connection depends on where your domain currently sits:

If Your Domain Isn't Registered Yet

Let HOA Start know the domain you'd like. We'll check that it's available and register it for you at no extra charge for your first domain; each additional domain is $30/year.

If You Want to Transfer an Existing Domain

Provide your domain name, its EPP (transfer authorization) code, and your administrator contact information. You'll also need to unlock the domain and turn off privacy protection at your current registrar before the transfer can complete. Transfers can take up to 60 days if the domain was recently transferred, had its ownership or registrant information changed, or is within 60 days of expiring.

If You Want to Keep Managing Your Domain Yourself

You can point your existing domain at your HOA Start site without transferring it. We'll provide a CNAME record (to connect the domain) and a TXT record (for authentication) for you to add at your current domain provider.

Contact HOA Start support to start any of these processes -- they'll guide you through whichever option fits your situation.