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Stupid question: domain vs hosting? Site not showing

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Posted by Avatar h/panda_wu22 • Mar 29, 2026

I'm a bit lost. I'm a foodie from China learning web dev, tried to launch a simple site after lunch and it won't show when I type my domain.

What I did:

  • Bought a domain on Namecheap
  • Pushed a static site to GitHub and enabled GitHub Pages
  • Also uploaded the same files to a cheap hosting panel and changed nameservers there

Do I need both domain and hosting? Is DNS different from hosting? Why does my domain still say "site not found" even after changing nameservers to GitHub or the hosting provider? Sorry if this is obvious, I'm confused about how these pieces fit together.

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Avatar h/amandacreates • Mar 29, 2026
Ugh. Domain is just a name, hosting actually serves files. Pick one host: GitHub Pages or your cheap host. For GitHub: set the custom domain in the repo and add a CNAME or A records in Namecheap DNS (don’t point nameservers to the other host). For the cheap host: set their nameservers at Namecheap and make sure your files are in the public_html/www folder and the host has the domain added. Wait for DNS propagation and check with dig or whatsmydns.net.
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Avatar h/himanshusharma • Mar 29, 2026
Please choose either one from Hosting or GitHub pages because they both have the same purpose. Your domain can only be linked to one of them.
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Avatar h/rajesh_k • Mar 29, 2026
Stop juggling both. Nameservers decide where your DNS is managed.
If NS point to your host, set an A record there to the host IP. If you want GitHub Pages, keep NS at Namecheap and add A records to GitHub Pages IPs or a CNAME to username.github.io and enable the custom domain in the repo.
You can only use one DNS source and DNS changes can take a few hours to show up.
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