Fast DNS propagation for Subdomains
===================================

While using SiteWorx, there may come a time when it is necessary to launch a
subdomain (blog.domain.com) very quickly. Traditionally, the new subdomain
could take anywhere from 24-48 hours to fully propagate across DNS servers. It
is possible to create a wildcard "A" record for subdomains that would allow this
propagation to complete more quickly.

A wildcard record allows a SiteWorx user to define an IP address for all
subdomains that are not explicitly defined in other DNS records. This wildcard
record is denoted with an asterisk "*".

.. note::

   Enabling DNS Management for the SiteWorx account is a NodeWorx-level task,
   therefore should only be done by a system administrator.

   SiteWorx users who do not see DNS Records list as an option in SiteWorx
   should contact their hosting provider to be granted access.

.. contents::

To Define a Wildcard A Record
-----------------------------

#. Log into SiteWorx from the browser (https://ip.ad.dr.ess:2443/siteworx)
#. Navigate to **Hosting Features > Domains > DNS Records**
#. Next to the desired domain, click **View Records**
#. Select **A** from the Add a New Record dropdown

   .. image:: /images/sw-add-new-a-record.png
      :alt: add new a record button

#. Click **Go**. This will open the Add DNS 'A' Record form
#. Update the required fields:

   - **Host**: In this instance, this should be \*.example.com, replacing "example.com" with the 
     master or secondary domain the subdomain will be associated with
   - **TTL**: The number of seconds that a record will be considered valid by
     a server caching the information.
   - **IP Address**: The IP address of the server serving this content
     (usually the same as the main domain)

   .. image:: /images/sw-add-dns-a-record-form.png
      :alt: add a record form 

#. Click **Save**