Traxio does not sell domains, so every account starts with a domain you own somewhere else. Pointing it here is a change you make at your registrar — the company you bought the domain from — not in DirectAdmin.
Find your nameservers first
Your two nameserver addresses are in your welcome email and in the client area under Services. They look like ns1.traxio.co.uk and ns2.traxio.co.uk. Use the exact values shown for your account rather than copying them from anywhere else.
Changing the nameservers
The wording differs by registrar but the location is broadly consistent:
- Namecheap — Domain List → Manage → Nameservers → Custom DNS
- GoDaddy — My Products → DNS → Nameservers → Change → "I'll use my own"
- 123-Reg — Manage Domain → Change Nameservers
- Cloudflare Registrar — nameservers cannot be changed; use DNS records instead (see below)
Remove any existing nameservers, add both Traxio ones, and save. Some registrars require exactly two; if a third field is present, leave it blank.
Using Cloudflare instead
If you want Cloudflare in front of your site — a reasonable choice, since it reduces the Montreal-to-UK latency — leave your nameservers pointing at Cloudflare and add an A record there pointing at your Traxio server IP, which is shown in DirectAdmin.
This is fully supported. Our automated domain checks verify that requests reach our servers rather than inspecting your A record, so a proxied domain always passes.
One thing to set correctly: use SSL mode Full (strict) in Cloudflare once your Traxio certificate has issued. The "Flexible" setting causes redirect loops and leaves the connection between Cloudflare and your server unencrypted.
How long it takes
Nameserver changes usually take effect within one to two hours, occasionally longer. The frequently-quoted 48 hours is a worst case that is rare in practice.
To check progress, use an online DNS propagation checker and look up your domain's nameservers. Note that your own computer caches results aggressively, so your site may appear unchanged to you long after it has switched for everyone else.
What to do while you wait
Log in to DirectAdmin using the server hostname from your welcome email and get on with setup. You can install WordPress or upload files before DNS resolves — but wait for propagation before issuing SSL, because certificate validation requires the domain to reach us.
Common problems
- Still showing the old site. Almost always local DNS caching. Try a different network or mobile data before assuming the change failed.
- Registrar rejects the nameservers. Check for a trailing space or a typo. Some registrars require the trailing dot; most do not.
- Domain resolves but shows a default page. DNS worked; you have not uploaded an
index.htmlor installed anything yet. - Email stopped working. Changing nameservers moves MX records too. If your email is with another provider, re-add those MX records in the DirectAdmin DNS editor.
That last one catches people out regularly — see Editing DNS Records.
If you are wondering why we ask you to bring a domain rather than selling you one, that is deliberate, and it protects you.
Verifying propagation from your own machine
Online checkers show the world’s view; your own machine’s view is what decides whether you see the new site. On Windows, open a command prompt and run nslookup yourdomain.co.uk; on macOS or Linux, dig yourdomain.co.uk +short. If the answer is the Traxio server IP shown in DirectAdmin, you are resolving correctly and any “old site” you still see is browser cache. If it shows the old IP while online checkers show the new one, your local resolver is caching — flush it (ipconfig /flushdns on Windows) or simply wait.
To check nameservers specifically: nslookup -type=ns yourdomain.co.uk should list the Traxio nameservers once the registrar change has taken effect.
Keeping email elsewhere: a worked example
Suppose your email is with Google Workspace and you are moving only the website here. After switching nameservers, Traxio’s DNS answers for your domain — including for mail. So in the DirectAdmin DNS editor, delete the default local MX record and add Google’s MX records exactly as Workspace documents them, plus Google’s SPF include in your SPF record. Do this immediately after the nameserver change (or even prepare a note of the records beforehand), because until the MX records are corrected, incoming mail is being delivered to the empty mailboxes on this server instead of to Workspace. The same pattern applies to Microsoft 365 or any other mail provider — carry their MX and SPF entries into the DirectAdmin zone.
Pointing a subdomain somewhere else
Nameservers move the whole domain, but individual names can still point elsewhere afterwards. Want app.yourdomain.co.uk on another service while the main site lives here? Add an A record (or CNAME, if the service gives you a hostname) for app in the DirectAdmin DNS editor. This is normal, supported, and how most multi-service setups work — see Editing DNS Records for the mechanics.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to transfer my domain to Traxio?
No — and you cannot, because Traxio does not sell or hold domain registrations at all. Your domain stays at your registrar permanently; only the nameservers (or an A record) change. This is deliberate: it means the address is always yours to point elsewhere, and no hosting decision can ever hold it hostage.
Does changing nameservers affect my domain ownership or renewal?
Not in any way. Registration, renewal dates and ownership all remain with your registrar exactly as before. Nameservers only decide who answers DNS queries.
My registrar only offers their own DNS — what now?
Rare, but it happens with some bundled services. Use the A-record route instead: keep their nameservers and point an A record for @ and www at your Traxio server IP from DirectAdmin. Everything works the same; you just manage DNS at the registrar rather than in DirectAdmin.
How do I move the domain away later?
Change the nameservers at your registrar to the new host’s — the same operation in reverse. Take a backup of your site first, and note any custom DNS records (MX, TXT verifications) so you can recreate them in the new zone.