Begin a single site launch

WordPress single sites can be launched from within the VIP Dashboard with the self-launch tool.

Access

1. Navigate to the VIP Dashboard for an application.
2. Select the production environment from the dropdown located at the upper left of the VIP Dashboard application view.
3. Select the button labeled “Launch your site” in the upper left of the VIP Dashboard panel.

Launch a site in the VIP Dashboard

Complete the steps to self-launch a site in the VIP Dashboard panel titled “Launch your site”:

1. Add your domain to production

In this first step within the “Launch your site” panel, at least one custom domain should be listed as available. If the necessary custom domain for the launch appears as expected, select the button labeled “Next“. If the expected domain is not listed, navigate to the Domains & TLS panel to confirm that the domain has been added to the environment’s VIP Dashboard and the domain has been verified.

2. Set your primary domain

Select the custom domain that will become the primary domain for this site launch. Select the button labeled “Make Primary” to begin a search-replace operation on the database. The search-replace operation will update the URL values in the database with the new domain, but public traffic will not be able to access the site until DNS records are updated to point to VIP.

Before pointing a domain’s DNS to VIP, verify that the site loads and appears as expected from the front end. The site can be viewed in its current state by updating the local machine’s hosts file.

The browser might display a warning that the site at the new URL is not secure. This warning can be ignored and will not occur after the domain’s DNS is pointed and TLS is installation is complete.

After verifying that the site is loading as expected, be sure to remove the test lines that were added to the hosts file before updating the domain’s DNS.

3. Update your DNS to point to VIP

For a site to be accessible at the new custom domain, DNS for the domain must be updated with the DNS provider and pointed at VIP. DNS records for the domain should be updated with the values shown for either ALIAS, ANAME, A Records for root domains, or CNAME records for subdomains. Follow the instructions from the domain’s DNS provider to update the domain’s DNS records.

Once the DNS has been updated to point to VIP, the speed at which the new VIP site becomes visible to the public at the production URL will depend on the TTL that was set as part of launch preparation. DNS can take up to a full 24 hours to propagate around the world. A service like DNS Checker can be used to confirm that the DNS was pointed correctly and ensure that it is propagating successfully. 

Once the necessary DNS changes have been made, select the button labeled “Next”.

4. Provision a certificate for your site

Any issues with the domain’s DNS settings will be reported in this panel. Once all issues are resolved and a domain’s DNS is correctly pointing to VIP, a TLS certificate can be installed. After a TLS certificate is installed, select the button labeled “Continue”.

5. Launch your site

If the site has successfully completed site launch and is ready to receive public traffic, select “Mark as launched“. If the site is updated with the new site URL, but is not yet ready to receive public traffic, this step can be completed at a later time. All site launch settings completed prior to this step will be saved.