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Nimbo > Knowledgebase > Apps & Features > Site DNS - manage your domain's DNS records
Site DNS - manage your domain's DNS records
Site DNS is a tool in your Nimbo manage area that lets you view and change the DNS records for the domain connected to your website - without contacting support and without leaving Nimbo.
DNS records are the settings that tell the internet where to send traffic for your domain. They control things like which mail provider receives your email, which server a subdomain points to, and the verification records that services such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or Mailchimp ask you to add.
You'll find it in the manage area under Apps > Site DNS.
Who can use it
Site DNS appears in your apps menu only when your domain's DNS is hosted with Nimbo — that is, when your domain is pointed at our nameservers.
If you don't see it, one of the following applies:
- You haven't connected a domain yet. Connect one first, then Site DNS becomes available.
- Your domain is connected with an A record. In this setup your DNS still lives at your domain provider (the company you registered the domain with), so your records have to be changed there. Sign in to your registrar's control panel to make the change.
- Your account is suspended, or the feature has been switched off for your site. Contact support if you think that's a mistake.
Which record types are supported
Site DNS gives you a tab for each supported record type.
| Type | What it does | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| A | Points a host to an IPv4 address | Sending a subdomain such as shop.yourdomain.com to another server |
| CNAME | Points a host to another domain name | Connecting a third-party service, e.g. help.yourdomain.com to a helpdesk provider |
| MX | Routes email for your domain to a mail provider | Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or your own mail host |
| TXT | Holds text values used for verification and email authentication | SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and "verify you own this domain" records |
NS (nameserver) records are not shown or editable. They control where your DNS is hosted, and changing them would take your site and email offline. If you need them changed, contact support.
Some records are also hidden or locked because they keep your website and hosting working:
- The main website address (the @ record for your domain) is shown but locked — you can see it, you can't change or delete it.
- Records created automatically by your hosting — such as www, mail, webmail, ftp, cpanel, webdisk, autodiscover and autoconfig — are hidden so the page stays focused on the records you added.
- SSL automation records (_acme-challenge) are reserved and hidden. They renew your certificate.
How to add a record
- Go to Apps > Site DNS in the manage area.
- Choose the tab for the record type you want: A, CNAME, MX or TXT.
- Click Add A record (or CNAME / MX / TXT).
- Fill in the new row:
- Host — the part in front of your domain. Enter shop to create shop.yourdomain.com. Enter @ (or leave it blank) for the domain itself. If you type the full shop.yourdomain.com, that's fine too — it's tidied up for you.
- Points to / Mail server / Value — the destination or value your provider gave you.
- Priority (MX only) — a number from 0 to 65535. The lowest number is tried first.
- Click Review changes. A summary appears listing every add, update and removal in plain English.
- Check the list, then click Apply changes.
You can queue several changes at once — add a couple of records, edit another, remove one — and they're all listed in the same review step before anything is applied. Up to 60 changes can be applied in one go.
How to edit or remove a record
- To edit, type over the values in the row and click Review changes.
- To remove, click the delete button at the end of the row (or clear its fields), then Review changes.
Removing every MX record stops email for your domain from being delivered, so the review step shows an explicit warning when that's about to happen.
What each record type expects
A record — an IPv4 address such as 203.0.113.10. IPv6 (AAAA) isn't supported here.
CNAME record — a hostname such as target.example.com. A CNAME can't be used on your main domain (@), only on a subdomain, and a host with a CNAME on it can't have any other record. If you try, you'll get a message explaining the clash.
MX record — a mail server hostname such as mail.example.com, plus a priority number. Most providers give you two or more MX records with different priorities; add them all.
TXT record — the exact value your provider supplies, for example v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all. Long values such as DKIM keys are handled for you and don't need to be split up. TXT values can be up to 2048 characters.
Checks that run before anything is applied
Site DNS validates the whole batch before it touches your records, so you never end up half-applied:
- Host names and values are checked for the right format for their record type.
- Duplicate records — the same type, host and value — are rejected.
- CNAME conflicts are caught before they break the host.
- Protected and hosting-managed records can't be changed, even indirectly.
- If a record changed elsewhere since you opened the page, you're told to reload and review again rather than overwriting someone else's change.
If any part of the batch fails validation, nothing is applied and the reason is shown.
How long changes take
Your website stays online while you work. DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to be seen everywhere on the internet, because other networks cache the old values for a while. If a change doesn't seem to have worked, give it a couple of hours before troubleshooting.
Common tasks
Connect email to Google Workspace or Microsoft 365
Open the MX tab, remove the existing MX records if your provider tells you to, then add each MX record from your provider with its matching priority. Add any TXT record they supply for verification and SPF.
Verify your domain with a third-party service
Open the TXT tab, add a record with host @ (unless they specify a different host) and paste their verification string as the value.
Point a subdomain at another service
Use the CNAME tab if the service gives you a hostname, or the A tab if it gives you an IP address. For example, host shop pointing to shops.provider.com.
Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC
All three are TXT records. SPF usually goes on @, DKIM on a host such as selector._domainkey, and DMARC on _dmarc. Use exactly the values your email provider gives you.
Troubleshooting
"Site DNS" isn't in my apps menu
Your domain either isn't connected yet, or is connected by A record so its DNS is managed at your registrar.
"The main website address is managed by Nimbo"
You tried to change the @ A record that keeps your site online. That one is locked by design.
"That record is managed by your hosting"
The host you used is reserved for hosting services (such as mail or webmail). Use a different host name.
"A CNAME can't be used on your main domain"
CNAMEs only work on subdomains. Use an A record on @, or pick a subdomain host.
"Some records changed since you loaded this page"
The records were updated elsewhere while you had the page open. Reload and make your change again.
My change hasn't taken effect
Wait a few hours. If it's still wrong after that, check the record was entered exactly as your provider supplied it.