A domain transfer changes the registration provider. Website hosting, DNS hosting and email are separate services. If your domain stopped working, first identify which of those changed.
Check the authoritative DNS provider
Look up the domain's nameservers and compare them with the provider where you edited the records. Changes in an inactive DNS zone will not affect public DNS. Registrar-provided nameservers can be valid; their presence alone does not mean the domain is broken.
If you moved DNS, recreate the required website, email and verification records at the new DNS provider. Check DNSSEC with support if validation started failing after the nameserver change.
Check the website
- Use the website IP supplied for your hosting service in its A record. Check any AAAA record too; an old IPv6 address can send some visitors to the wrong server.
- Configure the root domain and any names you use, such as www.
- For a DirectAdmin hosting service, add the domain to the correct hosting account. A domain registration alone does not create a website.
- If DNS is correct but content is wrong, check the hosting account, site configuration, redirects and CDN or application cache as well as the browser cache.
Check HTTPS
Request a certificate for the required names in DirectAdmin's SSL Certificates area. Read any validation error rather than waiting an arbitrary number of hours. DNS, an incorrect IPv6 record, certificate-authority restrictions and the configured validation method can all affect issuance.
Check email
Use the exact MX, SPF and DKIM records supplied by your actual email provider. Do not assume that mail is hosted on the web server or that mail.yourdomain.com is the correct MX destination. Hosted Email customers should use their service's Setup tab.
Publish only one SPF policy at a given domain name. If multiple services send mail for the domain, combine the authorized senders into that policy rather than adding another SPF record.
DNS timing and errors
Cached answers remain until their previous TTL expires. Lower a TTL in advance and allow the old TTL to expire before a planned change. Lowering it after a change does not clear existing caches.
NXDOMAIN means that the queried name does not exist in the DNS response. SERVFAIL can indicate a nameserver or DNSSEC problem. A transfer lock by itself does not cause either error.
If you need help, open a support ticket with the domain name, the exact error, what changed and when, and which DNS provider you used. Do not send passwords.
