An addon domain is a second website on a cPanel account you already have. The extra domain gets its own folder and its own site. It is not a redirect, and it is not a second hosting plan. Your main domain stays where it is.
Shared plans include a set number of sites. If cPanel will not accept another domain, the account has hit that limit. Compare the allowance on shared cPanel hosting before you delete something to make room.
Add the domain in cPanel
Current cPanel uses one Domains screen. Older accounts still show a separate Addon Domains icon. Use whichever one you see.
- Log in to the client portal, open the hosting product, and launch cPanel.
- Open Domains.
- Click Create a New Domain.
- Type the new domain without www.
- Clear Share document root. Leaving that box ticked serves the main site on the new domain, which is not what you want for a separate website.
- Check the directory cPanel suggests. It is usually a folder named after the domain. Leave it unless you already have files elsewhere.
- Submit.
If your cPanel still has Addon Domains under Domains, open that instead. Enter the new domain, a short subdomain label, and the document root, then click Add Domain. The result is the same: a folder that belongs to that domain only.
Point DNS at the account
cPanel can host the domain before the rest of the internet knows about it. At the registrar, set the nameservers to the pair in your welcome email. The values and the reason there are two pairs are in What Are HSJ Host’s Nameservers for cPanel Hosting?
If the domain is registered at HSJ Host, change the nameservers from the client portal rather than inside cPanel. Allow a few hours, and up to 48 hours, for DNS to settle. Until then the domain can load for you and not for someone else.
Put a site in the new folder
The new domain starts as an empty folder. Install WordPress into that domain with Softaculous, and choose the new domain in the dropdown. The WordPress install guide covers the directory field. Leave it blank so the site opens on the domain itself.
Email for the new domain is created separately. Follow how to create an email account in cPanel and choose the new domain when you make the mailbox.
Addon domain, alias, or subdomain
- Addon domain: a different website, in its own folder.
- Alias, sometimes called a parked domain: the same website as the main domain, on a second name.
- Subdomain: a prefix on a domain you already host, such as shop.yourdomain.com.au, also with its own folder.
Create an alias only when both names should show one site. Create an addon domain when the second name is a separate business or a separate WordPress install.