A site is one website or app on veldhost, with its own deploys, backups and certificate. You create it from one form in the portal. You do not need a domain: every site gets a free veldhost address that keeps working, and you can connect your own domain whenever you are ready.
Before you start
- On a team account, creating a site changes the bill, so it takes the Owner or Billing contact role. See roles and permissions. If you are signing up for the first time, you become the owner of a new account.
- Moving a site you already run somewhere else? Use Move an existing site to veldhost instead.
Create the site
- Open Sites and press + New site. On an empty account the page offers Create your first site instead.
- Under Start from, pick what to build: a one-click app, a framework starter, or a plain site you fill yourself. Each tile shows how much memory the app needs. If the plan you pick is too small for it, the tile says so and offers a Switch to … button. The first tile, Move an existing site here, takes you to the migration page instead.
- Under Configure, fill in:
- Name: what you call the site in the portal.
- Domain (optional): a domain you own. Leave it empty and the site lives on a free veldhost address; the Address line shows the form of that address before you order (its last characters are chosen when the site is created).
- Also: extra services for that domain. Managed DNS is free and ticks itself when you type a domain. Email hosting asks how many mailboxes you need and shows its price beside the box. Both need a domain.
- Under Plan, choose a plan. If your account already pays for one, the form shows On your plan instead, with a Change plan → link: the new site is added to that plan. Business is not ordered here; it is quoted by us.
- In the order summary on the right, check the price, tick I accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy., and press the button. Its label states what you are agreeing to pay:
- A new account sees Subscribe — free for …, with the trial length and the monthly price after it. You go to the payment page to add a card.
- An account that already pays sees Add site — …, with this site's cost and the new account total. Nothing is charged today; your next invoice includes a prorated charge for the rest of the current period.
From our Terms (section 5): "Every subscription starts with a 14-day free trial, so we set your service up straight away and nothing is charged while your withdrawal period is running."
Note: Register the domain, also under Also, does not register anything by itself. Registering a name for you is done on request; see Register a domain.
What you see next
After payment you land on the new site's page, where you can follow the build. On Sites the site shows one of these states:
- Reserved: we are holding the site until your payment goes through. An unpaid reservation is released by itself.
- Setting up: we are building it. This usually takes a few minutes, and you do not have to wait on the page.
- Live: the site answers on its address, with HTTPS.
- Setup failed: something went wrong while building. Open the site for the details, or contact us and we will finish it.
Cancelled on the payment page? Nothing was charged, and the form opens again so you can pick up where you left off.
Note: If we have reached our limit of new sign-ups for the month, a new account goes on the waiting list instead of to the payment page.