Domain Management Guide - LawtonChilesRedCrossClub/website GitHub Wiki

LCHS Red Cross Club — Domain Management Guide (Porkbun Registrar + Cloudflare DNS)

Purpose

This guide explains how to manage and renew the club’s custom domain (www.lchsredcross.org) when registered at Porkbun and managed with Cloudflare DNS.

Costs

  • First year: ~$6.68
  • Annual renewal: ~$10.72
  • Cloudflare DNS: Free

Registrar Account

DNS Provider

  • Provider: Cloudflare (Free plan)
  • Cloudflare provides DNS, DNSSEC, and extra security features.
  • Porkbun’s nameservers must be set to Cloudflare’s values.

Setup Steps

  1. Buy domain at Porkbun using club Gmail.
  2. Add domain in Cloudflare dashboard (Free plan).
  3. Set Porkbun nameservers → Cloudflare nameservers.
  4. Enable DNSSEC in Cloudflare, then copy values into Porkbun DNSSEC settings.
  5. In Cloudflare DNS:
    • Add CNAME record:
      • Name = www
      • Target = lawtonchilesredcrossclub.github.io
    • Add A records (for root domain):
      • @ → 185.199.108.153
      • @ → 185.199.109.153
      • @ → 185.199.110.153
      • @ → 185.199.111.153

Why 4 A Records?

GitHub Pages provides four different IP addresses.

  • They are part of a distributed server network (Anycast).
  • This improves reliability (if one IP/server goes down, others still respond).
  • This improves performance (visitors are routed to the nearest server).

⚠️ You must add all four A records.
If you only add one, the site may still work, but it will be less reliable.

  1. In GitHub repo → Settings → Pages:

Yearly Checklist

  • Verify domain still active in Porkbun
  • Renewal date updated in Domain Renewal Reminder (Wiki)
  • Auto-renew enabled or renewal completed
  • Cloudflare DNS still pointing correctly
  • HTTPS enforced and working

Renewal Reminder

  • Renewal handled in Porkbun (~$11/year).
  • Future officers should ensure billing is updated yearly.
  • Update the renewal date in the Wiki page.

Contingency Plan

If the domain expires accidentally:
• Log into Porkbun with club Gmail → manually renew.
• Reactivate DNSSEC and Cloudflare if needed.
• Test site after renewal.

Quick Reference

Domain: www.lchsredcross.org

Registrar: Porkbun

DNS: Cloudflare

Club Gmail: [email protected]

Renewal Cost: ~$11/year

Responsible: Org Owners (President + trusted officer/advisor)