Managing Domains and Subdomains in DirectAdmin

DirectAdmin gives you several ways to host more than one site or address on a single account: additional domains, subdomains, and domain pointers. They sound similar but solve different problems. This guide explains when to use each and walks through the setup for all three.

The three concepts, briefly

Adding an additional domain

An additional domain hosts a fully separate website on your existing account. Its files live in a different folder, it has independent DNS, and it functions as if it were on its own hosting plan.

1. In DirectAdmin, open Account Manager → Domain Setup.
2. Click Add Another Domain.
3. Enter the domain name (e.g. anotherbusiness.com) — without www or https://.
4. Choose bandwidth and disk space allocations (or leave at “Use account default” to share the pool).
5. Click Create.

DirectAdmin creates a new folder at /home/yourdausername/domains/anotherbusiness.com/public_html/. Upload your second site’s files there. Don’t forget: you’ll also need to point the new domain’s nameservers to ns1.iwebvault.com and ns2.iwebvault.com at the registrar.

After DNS propagates (usually under an hour), anotherbusiness.com serves the new site. You can install WordPress here independently — see our DirectAdmin WordPress install guide and pick the new domain in the Installatron dropdown.

Creating a subdomain

A subdomain is a “child” of your existing domain — blog.yourdomain.com, shop.yourdomain.com, app.yourdomain.com. Use them when:

• You want a separate section of your site with its own folder (blog, app, store).
• You want to install a second WordPress or different software at a memorable URL.
• You’re staging — staging.yourdomain.com for a development copy of the live site.

1. Open Account Manager → Subdomain Manager (or Subdomain Management on older skins).
2. Choose the parent domain (if you have multiple).
3. Enter the subdomain name only (just blog, not blog.yourdomain.com).
4. Click Create.

Files for the subdomain live at /home/yourdausername/domains/yourdomain.com/public_html/blog/. Upload content there. Subdomains use your existing DNS — no additional registrar work needed. They’re typically live within minutes.

Domain pointers (multi-domain to one site)

A domain pointer makes one domain serve the content of another. Use cases:

• You own yourdomain.com and the localized variants (yourdomain.co.uk, yourdomain.de), and want all of them to land on the same site.
• You bought misspelling-protection domains (yourdmain.com) and want them to redirect.
• You rebranded and want the old domain to serve the new one’s content.

1. Open System Info & Files → Domain Pointers.
2. Click Add Pointer.
3. Source Domain: the domain you want to point from (e.g. yourdomain.co.uk).
4. Target: the existing domain on your account.
5. Choose whether to make it an Alias (serves same content, URL stays the same) or a Redirect (301 redirects to target).
6. Click Create.

Update the source domain’s nameservers at its registrar to point at iWebVault. Within an hour, both URLs serve the target’s content.

Choosing between additional domain, subdomain, and pointer

Quick decision guide:

• “Different business with its own site” → Additional Domain.
• “Same business, separate section” (blog, store, app) → Subdomain.
• “Multiple spellings of the same brand” → Domain Pointer (alias mode).
• “Old brand redirecting to new” → Domain Pointer (redirect mode).

The wrong choice usually creates SEO problems. Two domains serving identical content without proper canonicalization is a duplicate-content issue Google may penalize. If you genuinely want both to be indexed independently, they’re different sites — use Additional Domain. If you want one canonical site, use Domain Pointer in redirect mode.

DNS for each type

Each type interacts with DNS differently:

• Additional domains get their own DNS zone, automatically created. Nameservers at the registrar must point to iWebVault.
• Subdomains use the parent domain’s existing DNS — DirectAdmin auto-creates an A record. No registrar changes needed.
• Domain pointers use minimal DNS; the source domain’s nameservers point to iWebVault, then DirectAdmin handles the rest.

If you’ve added a domain but it’s not loading, see our “domain not resolving” troubleshooting guide.

SSL for additional domains and subdomains

iWebVault uses Let’s Encrypt AutoSSL, which automatically issues certificates for every domain and subdomain on your account once DNS is verified. Allow up to an hour after adding a new domain for the SSL certificate to issue. You can force-trigger it from Account Manager → SSL Certificates.

Common issues

“Domain already exists on the server”. The domain is hosted on another account on the same server. Open a ticket — we can help remove the orphaned record (common when a previous owner still has it on file).

New subdomain shows the main site instead of its own folder. Browser cache or a stale wildcard. Try in incognito; if still wrong, check that /home/yourdausername/domains/yourdomain.com/public_html/yoursubdomain/ exists and contains your content.

Pointer domain shows source content (not target). DNS hasn’t propagated yet, or the pointer’s DNS is still being served by the registrar’s nameservers. Verify with dig yourdomain.co.uk NS — should return iWebVault nameservers.

SSL certificate failed for new domain. Wait an hour, then check SSL Certificates in DirectAdmin. If still failing, the domain’s DNS may not be fully propagated — Let’s Encrypt verifies via DNS, so propagation must be complete first.

What’s next

• Setting up DNS records for the new domain? DNS records explained.
• Migrating a domain in? Transfer vs nameserver change.
• Installing a separate WordPress on the new domain? WordPress install in DirectAdmin.

Once you’ve added your second domain successfully, the third and the tenth work the same way. DirectAdmin scales to multiple sites cleanly — the per-domain folder structure stays organized even with dozens.