Managing DNS records — A, CNAME, MX, TXT explained.

Most domains need 4-5 DNS records to work properly. Here's what each does and when to use it.

A record

Maps a hostname to an IPv4 address. The most common record.

Name: @           Type: A    Value: 203.0.113.10
Name: www         Type: A    Value: 203.0.113.10

@ means the root (yourdomain.com itself). www is a separate record for www.yourdomain.com.

When to edit: pointing your domain at a different server.

AAAA record

Like A, but for IPv6. Optional but recommended.

Name: @    Type: AAAA    Value: 2001:db8::1

CNAME record

Aliases one hostname to another hostname (not an IP). Useful when the target IP might change.

Name: shop     Type: CNAME    Value: shopify-store.myshopify.com
Name: blog     Type: CNAME    Value: yourdomain.com

Cannot use CNAME on the root (@) — that's against the spec. Use A or AAAA there.

MX record

Tells the world where to deliver mail for your domain.

For Rivervo Business email, copy the exact MX value from the project's Email tab — don't type it from memory.

Name: @    Type: MX    Priority: 10    Value: mail.yourdomain.com

Lower priority = higher preference. If multiple MX records exist, mail tries the lowest first, falls back to higher numbers.

For Google Workspace mail:

@  MX  1   aspmx.l.google.com
@  MX  5   alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
@  MX  5   alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
@  MX  10  alt3.aspmx.l.google.com
@  MX  10  alt4.aspmx.l.google.com

TXT record

Free-form text. Used for verification (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365), SPF, DKIM, DMARC.

@    TXT    "v=spf1 +a +mx include:_spf.google.com ~all"

Where to edit your records at Rivervo

Where your records live depends on your domain's nameservers. Check them on the project's Domain tab → Where it points.

Rivervo nameservers (ns1.rivervo.com / ns2.rivervo.com) + a Rivervo website

DNS lives on your hosting:

1. Project → Website → DNS zone (or type «dns» or a record type like «MX» in Search this website — the form opens with that type chosen)
2. Add a record: choose the type (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, SRV, CAA), the name and the value; Edit or Delete existing ones. Records marked Managed by us (mail, SSL) are kept up to date for you
3. Changes are live on our nameservers right away; other resolvers pick them up as their cached copies expire (see TTL below)

The registrar's own DNS (domain registered at Rivervo)

New panel (rivervo.com/panel): project → Domain tab → DNS records → Add record. Supported types: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SRV. Each record has a TTL (5 minutes to 1 day; 1 hour by default). Edit or delete records from the same list.

DNS records can only be edited while the domain is active — not before registration completes, and not after it expires until it's renewed.

Another company's nameservers (Cloudflare, another host…)

That company answers for your domain, so edit the records there. The panel shows "Another company answers for this domain".

TTL — Time To Live

Each record has a TTL value in seconds. 3600 (1 hour) is a reasonable default. Lower values (300 = 5 minutes) make changes propagate faster but increase DNS query load.

Set TTL to 300 the day before you plan to change records — when you make the change, propagation is much faster.

Validating records

After saving, check propagation:

dig +short yourdomain.com
dig +short -t MX yourdomain.com
dig +short -t TXT yourdomain.com

Or use whatsmydns.net to see what resolvers around the world currently report.