Connect a Bluehost domain (DNS tab and Advanced DNS records)

Did you buy your domain at Bluehost, or does Bluehost manage its DNS? This guide shows, step by step, where to create in Bluehost the records Acatudy asks for.

Before you start

• In Acatudy, go to My academy → General → Details & domain, type your address in Your own domain (for example www.brightpathtutoring.com) and click Add domain. A custom domain is included in Basic and Professional (1 domain) and Institutional (3 domains).
• Open How do I link my domain? on that card and keep it at hand: it shows your CNAME target (like brightpath.acatudy.com) and the IP address for a root domain.
• Bluehost's DNS records only apply if the domain uses Bluehost's nameservers (ns1.bluehost.com and ns2.bluehost.com by default). Check them in Domains → Nameservers. If they point to another provider, create the records there.

Step 1. Open your DNS records at Bluehost

1. Open your domain

   Log in to the Bluehost Portal, click Domains in the left menu and select your domain.

2. Open the DNS tab

   Open the DNS tab and find Manage Advanced DNS Records.

3. Add or edit a record

   Click + Add record, choose Single and click Add when done. To change or remove an existing record, use the vertical ellipsis icon → Edit or Delete. If your account uses cPanel, the same records are in Hosting → cPanel → Zone Editor.

Step 2. Point www to your academy (CNAME)

Add this record (or edit the existing www record if there is one):

Choose CNAME, type www as the host and your academy address as the value. Bluehost's articles don't name the form fields the same way everywhere (Host or Name, Points To or Value), but they're always the same three fields. If a www record already exists, edit it instead of adding a second one.

Using another subdomain, such as learn? Use it as the name instead of www, and add that same address in Acatudy. With this CNAME no TXT record is needed.

Step 3. Remove records that get in the way

• If the domain was used with Bluehost hosting, its A and CNAME records on @ and www point to that hosting. Edit or delete the ones on the name you point to Acatudy, and any AAAA record there.
• Bluehost warns that removing a host record interrupts any service tied to it, so leave MX and mail-related records alone.

Don't touch MX, SPF or DKIM records: they run your email.

Step 4 (optional). The root domain

brightpathtutoring.com (without www) and www.brightpathtutoring.com are one domain: if the root also points to Acatudy, it works on its own, redirects (301) to the address you added keeping the path, shares its HTTPS certificate and doesn't count as an extra domain. So you no longer need to forward the root to www from Bluehost.

Create the A record on the root

If you set up a redirect for the domain (Websites → Manage Site → Domains → Redirects), delete it first: it conflicts with the A record. Since www already has the CNAME, the root doesn't need the TXT. Create this record, replacing any existing A record on the root:

Edit the existing A record on @ instead of adding a second one. Bluehost's help doesn't mention CNAME or ALIAS records on the root, so use the A record.

Prefer the root as your main address? Add brightpathtutoring.com in Acatudy instead of www, create the same A record and the TXT record (see below). If you also create the CNAME on www, www redirects to the root and the TXT isn't needed.

Step 5. Verify in Acatudy and get HTTPS

1. Wait for propagation

   Bluehost's help says DNS record changes take effect in a few minutes but can take up to 8 hours; nameserver changes take 24 to 48 hours. Leave the default TTL.

2. Verification is automatic

   Acatudy checks pending domains every 10 minutes for 14 days. To check right away, click Verify on the Your own domain card: the badge changes from pending to verified.

3. HTTPS is automatic too

   Once verified, we issue a free Let's Encrypt certificate and renew it for you, usually within minutes (we retry every hour if the DNS isn't ready). There's nothing to install at Bluehost.

4. Check it yourself (optional)

   Run nslookup -type=CNAME www.brightpathtutoring.com in a terminal, or use Google's Admin Toolbox Dig: the answer should be your academy address.

The TXT record (required with an A record on the root)

If you use an A record on the root, Acatudy requires a TXT record to prove the domain is yours (the IP address is shared by all academies). With the CNAME on www you don't need it, not even for the root. The card shows its Host (e.g. _acatudy-verify.brightpathtutoring.com) and Value (acatudy-verify=…).

Choose TXT and paste the value. Bluehost's help doesn't say whether it appends your domain to the host: type it without the domain, and if the lookup later shows the domain twice, edit it.

Common problems at Bluehost

Still not verified after 24 hours, or verified without HTTPS? Open a ticket in Support from your panel with the domain and a screenshot of your DNS records at Bluehost (see Support and response times).

Official documentation and related guides

Bluehost official documentation consulted for this guide:

• Guide to the DNS tab in the Account Manager
• DNS management: add, edit or delete DNS entries (cPanel Zone Editor)
• Domains tab: nameservers
• Redirect a domain

In Acatudy: Connect your domain: guides by provider (www vs root, nameservers, TTL and troubleshooting) and Connect your own domain.