Add another domain to cPanel (addon domain) with the Domains tool

An addon domain is a separate website with its own domain name that lives inside your cPanel account. In current cPanel versions you create it in the Domains tool; the old Addon Domains page was merged into it. The new site gets its own folder, email addresses and free SSL.

Before you start

• A hosting plan that allows more than one domain. The Addon Domains counter in the cPanel Statistics panel shows how many you can add.
• The domain registered with MdmHost (register a domain) or another registrar.
• The nameservers from your MdmHost welcome email.

Create the domain

1. Open cPanel → Domains → Domains and click Create A New Domain.
2. Enter the domain, for example secondsite.com, without www or https://.
3. Untick Share document root (/home/user/public_html) with "maindomain.com". If you leave it ticked, the domain shows your main site instead of its own (that is how an alias works).
4. Check the Document Root. cPanel suggests secondsite.com, which means /home/user/secondsite.com. You may change it, for example to public_html/secondsite, but keep it consistent.
5. Leave Subdomain as suggested; cPanel uses it internally.
6. Click Submit.

Point the domain to MdmHost

• Easiest: at the registrar, set the nameservers to the MdmHost nameservers from your welcome email. cPanel already created the DNS zone.
• Keep DNS elsewhere: create an A record for @ and www with the shared IP shown in cPanel General Information. See manage DNS records in Zone Editor.

DNS changes usually show within an hour but can take up to 24–48 hours. Check progress with the WHOIS checker.

Upload the website and secure it

1. Open File Manager, go to the new document root and upload the site, or install WordPress there with Softaculous.
2. Once DNS points to the server, AutoSSL issues a free certificate within a few hours. Check Security → SSL/TLS Status.
3. Create mailboxes for the domain in Email Accounts, choosing it from the domain list.

Manage or remove the domain

The Domains list shows every domain, its document root and a Force HTTPS Redirect switch. Click Manage to change the document root or remove the domain. Removing it does not delete its folder or email; delete those separately if you no longer need them.

Troubleshooting

• "The domain already exists": it is on another cPanel account on the server or was added before as an alias. Contact support.
• New domain shows the main site: the document root is shared. Change it under Manage.
• Default "index of" or cPanel page: no index file in the document root yet.

Next steps

• Create subdomains
• Point extra domains to the same site (aliases)
• How AutoSSL secures new domains