How to Add Subdomains and Addon Domains
Unisolva hosting plans support both subdomains and addon domains, letting you host multiple websites or sections of a site under a single hosting account. This article explains the difference and shows you how to set each one up.
Subdomains vs. Addon Domains
Subdomains
- A subdomain is a prefix on your existing domain - e.g. shop.yourdomain.com, blog.yourdomain.com, or staging.yourdomain.com
- Unlimited subdomains are available on all Unisolva hosting plans
- Subdomains use your existing domain's DNS - no extra domain registration needed
- Common uses: staging sites, separate sections of a business, client portals, API endpoints
Addon Domains
- An addon domain is a completely separate domain (e.g. mysecondsite.com) hosted on the same cPanel account
- Each addon domain has its own public_html subfolder, can have its own WordPress installation, and behaves as a completely independent website
- Addon domain limits depend on your plan: Starter = 1 domain (no addon domains), Standard = up to 3 domains, Business = up to 5 domains
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???? Note The domain count in your plan (1/3/5) includes your primary domain. Example: Standard plan (3 domains) = 1 primary + 2 addon domains. |
Adding a Subdomain
- Log in to cPanel at yourdomain.com/cpanel
- In the Domains section, click Subdomains
- In the Subdomain field, type the prefix you want (e.g. "shop" for shop.yourdomain.com)
- Select the parent domain from the dropdown
- The Document Root (folder path) is filled in automatically - leave as default or customise if needed
- Click Create - the subdomain is active immediately
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???? Tip After creating a subdomain, you can install a separate WordPress on it via WordPress Toolkit or Softaculous, or simply upload files to its folder in File Manager. SSL is issued automatically for new subdomains via AutoSSL - this may take a few minutes. |
Adding an Addon Domain
- Ensure the domain you want to add is registered and its nameservers are pointed to Unisolva (ns1.totalsolvex.com / ns2.totalsolvex.com)
- Log in to cPanel at yourdomain.com/cpanel
- In the Domains section, click Addon Domains
- Enter the full domain name (e.g. mysecondsite.com) in the New Domain Name field
- The Subdomain and Document Root fields are auto-filled - leave them as default
- Create a password for the new domain's FTP account (optional)
- Click Add Domain - the addon domain is created
- A new folder is created in your public_html directory for this domain
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???? Note If you receive an error saying your account has reached its domain limit, you will need to upgrade your hosting plan to accommodate more domains. See: How to Upgrade or Downgrade Your Hosting Plan (Billing category). |
Removing a Subdomain
- In cPanel, go to Domains > Subdomains
- Find the subdomain in the list and click Remove
- Confirm the removal
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⚠️ Warning Removing a subdomain does NOT delete the files in its folder. You must manually delete the folder in File Manager if you want to clean up disk space. |
Removing an Addon Domain
- In cPanel, go to Domains > Addon Domains
- Find the addon domain and click Remove
- Confirm the removal - the domain is detached from cPanel
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⚠️ Warning Removing an addon domain does not delete its files. The folder and all website files remain in public_html. Delete the folder manually in File Manager if no longer needed. |
Verify It Worked
- The subdomain or addon domain appears in cPanel > Domains
- Navigating to the subdomain/domain in a browser loads the correct folder content (or a blank page if no files have been added yet)
- After a few minutes, an SSL certificate is issued automatically by AutoSSL - the domain is accessible over https://
Related Articles
- How to Connect Your Domain to Unisolva Hosting
- How to Manage DNS Records in cPanel
- How to Install Applications with Softaculous (Web Hosting category)
- Unisolva Hosting Plans Compared - Starter, Standard & Business (Web Hosting category)
