The Wildcard DNS Record is used to match requests for non-existent domain names. Wildcard DNS Record is specified by using a “*” as the leftmost label (part) of a domain name, e.g. *.example.com. This type of record allows all subdomains to share the same set of web content with a single DNS entry.
Why do you need a Wildcard record?
Let us explain it again, the wildcard DNS record is a kind of record that answers DNS requests for subdomains you haven’t already defined. In other words, with *.yourdomain.com wildcard record, it won’t matter whether someone accesses your site through ww.yourdomain.com or wwwwww.yourdomain.com.
How to create a Wildcard record?
Go to your Control Panel and click on “Add new record”. Type, as follow:
Type: A, AAAA, MX, TXT, CNAME, ALIAS or WR
TTL: 1 Hour
Host: *
Points to: (resource you need to setup — IP/hostname/something else)
Note: A Wildcard Record can be added only for A (or AAAA), MX, TXT, CNAME, ALIAS or Web Redirect.
Wildcard DNS for subdomains
We are supporting Wildcard DNS records not only for the root domain name (example.com) but for the subdomains too. Example setup for the wildcard record *.sub.example.com:
Type: A, AAAA, MX, TXT, CNAME, ALIAS or WR
TTL: 1 Hour
Host: *.sub
Points to: (resource you need to setup — IP/hostname/something else
How to start managing Wildcard DNS records for your domain name?
- Open free account from here — free forever
- Verify your e-mail address
- Log into your control panel
- Create new Master DNS from the [add new] button — read more here
- Add or modify the Wildcard DNS records you need as it is described in this article
Support of Wildcard records
ClouDNS provides full support for Wildcard DNS records for all our DNS services, including the listed below. Just write to our technical support, if you need any assistance with your Wildcard records configuration. Our Technical Support team is online for you 24/7 via live chat and tickets.
FAQ
Question: Is a Wildcard DNS record a bad practice?
Answer: Despite the claims by some SEO specialists, that using the wildcard DNS records may refer badly to your website rating, there isn’t any technical obstacle for using it. Moreover, many clients find this feature very handy and they take benefit of it all the time.
Question: What will happen if I have specified subdomains and a Wildcard DNS record also?
Answer: Wildcard records don’t override existing records. For example, if you have some record for example.domain.com and wildcard record *.domain.com, the hostname example.domain.com won’t be covered by the Wildcard.
Originally published at https://www.cloudns.net.
