Approval of your institutional domain is an important milestone, but it is not the entire website launch. We help you connect the registered name to the hosting, DNS and email services you have chosen. Use this checklist after your .edu.ng, .gov.ng or other institutional domain is actually approved.
IN THIS ARTICLE
01 Confirm the registration and account ownership
Check the exact registered name, intended institution and authorised contacts. Keep the registration reference and renewal or service responsibilities documented. A consultant can manage technical work while the institution retains appropriate control over its domain and account recovery.
02 Prepare DNS before directing traffic
Identify the authoritative DNS service and confirm the active nameservers. Prepare the website records, mail routing and provider-verification records required for your selected services. Do not copy another institution's DNS values or invent MX, SPF or DKIM records.
If the domain is signed with DNSSEC, review the signing and DS-record relationship before changing providers. Follow our DNSSEC migration guidance and ask us about uncertainty before making a change to a live domain.
03 Publish and test the website
- Confirm the domain is mapped to the correct website or NabWP installation.
- Deploy the approved content and remove temporary test pages and public backups.
- Issue or install the appropriate certificate and test HTTPS at every intended public hostname.
- Test navigation, contact forms, downloads and any admissions or service portal using non-sensitive test data.
- Review the site on a phone and in a signed-out browser session.
04 Create and verify business email
Choose the mail service and licence or mailbox plan appropriate to the institution. Website hosting, Google Workspace, Zoho and OX can have different setup requirements. Create the intended mailboxes before treating a published email address as usable.
Send a harmless external test to a new mailbox and send a reply back. Check authentication records using the chosen provider's exact instructions. A working website does not prove the email route works, and changing MX records does not create users automatically.
05 Record the operating responsibilities
| Responsibility | Record before launch |
|---|---|
| Domain and hosting | Account owner, renewal contact and authorised administrators |
| Website maintenance | Update process, backup location and restore procedure |
| User administration, staff departure and recovery process | |
| Support | Who contacts us and which service reference to use |
06 Questions we receive
Should we replace all contacts after the developer finishes?
Review the handover deliberately. Keep reachable institutional contacts and retire access that is no longer needed. A government-domain record change may need an authorised request, as explained in our update-letter guide.
What should I send when a launch test fails?
Provide the domain, failed action, time and redacted error. Do not send student records, government records or passwords merely to demonstrate a basic routing problem.
Related articles
- Register a .edu.ng domain with us: requirements and letter template
- Register a .gov.ng domain with us: approval steps and letter template
- Change nameservers for a domain registered with us
- Preparing a hosting handover for a development team
- Send our support team useful screenshots and logs without exposing secrets