Setting up and using free temporary subdomains

To review a project before you have its final domain, you can create a free webalias.es or webalias.site subdomain when the name is available. cPanel can also automatically assign an address ending in cpanel.site. All of these are temporary addresses to work with until the final domain is ready.

The correct names of our aliases are webalias.es and webalias.site, without a hyphen.

Some situations where these subdomains are useful:

• Showing work in progress to the end client.
• Building a new website without relying on the final domain, which still shows the live site.
• Building a project before the domain points to our systems.
• Putting off choosing the project's name until the end of development.

Temporary subdomain format

We don't currently restrict the subdomain format, so you can use any name you need. If for some reason the name is restricted or in use, the system will tell you to choose a different one.

The format is nombredeseado.webalias.es or nombredeseado.webalias.site. Addresses ending in cpanel.site are generated by cPanel and aren't chosen manually.

These addresses are for publishing and reviewing a website, not for receiving email. That is why the client area doesn't include them in email health. It does check their certificate and web security.

Setting up the new subdomain in cPanel

To set up a new subdomain, log in to cPanel, go to the Domains section and click Create a New Domain at the top right.

In the form's Domain field, enter the subdomain you want, for example miproyecto1.webalias.es.

Tick Share document root to show the same files as the main domain. For a separate website, untick it and choose its own folder, for example public_html/nuevaweb. Check that the folder doesn't contain another website before installing the project.

Click Submit to create the domain.

If the subdomain isn't allowed or is in use, you'll see an error saying so; in that case, try a different name.

AutoSSL will try to obtain and install a certificate for the new subdomain. Issuing isn't instant or guaranteed within a fixed time; check its coverage in SSL/TLS Status before using HTTPS, and check the error there if it stays pending.

Once the DNS resolves and the certificate has been issued, the new subdomain is ready to use.

Removing it when you no longer need it

Before removing it from Domains, change the application's URL to the final domain and check links, images, forms and admin access. Removing the name from cPanel doesn't delete the files in the folder.

Reviewing a website in development

Don't treat a temporary address as private. Protect access if the project contains information that shouldn't be published yet, and check whether it sends emails or takes real payments during testing.

cpanel.site addresses depend on the Temporary domain option in the versions that include it. The webalias.es and webalias.site aliases are added by typing the permitted name; they aren't the same feature. If your version shows a selector, check the type before continuing.