View a domain's summary
Every domain you register on InstaWP has a Summary page — a single view that shows the domain's status, renewal details, nameservers, registration information, connected sites, and WHOIS contact. It's the fastest way to check the health of a domain and jump to any setting you need to change.
In this documentation, we will explore:
- Open the domain summary
- Domain details
- DNS / Nameservers
- Overview
- Contact information
- Domain status reference
Open the domain summary
Step 1: Log in to your InstaWP account and click Domains in the left sidebar. Your registered domains are listed with their expiry date and status.
Step 2: Click the domain name to open it. You'll land on the Summary tab by default. A per-domain sidebar (Summary · Sites · DNS · Nameservers · Contacts · Settings) lets you move between the domain's pages.
The Summary page is organised into four cards:
| # | Card | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Domain details | Expiry, status, auto-renewal and renewal price |
| 2 | DNS/Nameservers | The nameservers the domain points to |
| 3 | Overview | Registration date, registration status and connected sites |
| 4 | Contact Information | The WHOIS contact and privacy protection |
Each card is explained below.
Domain details
This card shows the registration state of the domain and lets you manage its renewal.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Renew | Opens the renewal drawer so you can extend the registration for one or more years. |
| Expire Date | The date the current registration lapses. Renew before this date to keep the domain. |
| Status | The domain's current state — e.g. Active. See the status reference below. |
| Auto-renewal | Toggle automatic yearly renewal on or off. When on, InstaWP renews the domain before it expires so it never lapses. |
| Renewal Price | The yearly price to renew this domain. |
💡 Tip: Keep Auto-renewal enabled so a domain you rely on never expires by accident. You can also manage this from Domains → Enable/Disable Auto-renewal.
DNS / Nameservers
This card shows the nameservers your domain currently points to.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Nameserver list | The active nameservers for the domain. New InstaWP domains use InstaWP's own nameservers (e.g. ns1.instawp.com, ns2.instawp.com) by default. |
| Edit | Opens the Nameservers page to point the domain at custom nameservers (for example, Cloudflare or another DNS provider). |
👉 Note: To manage individual records (A, CNAME, MX, TXT, etc.) rather than the nameservers themselves, use the DNS tab. See Add/Update DNS Records.
Overview
This card summarises the domain's registration and where it's being used.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Registration Date | The date the domain was registered. |
| Registration Status | The validation state with the registry. Active means registration is complete. If it shows Pending Validation, a Resend button lets you re-trigger the verification email. |
| InstaWP Sites | How many of your InstaWP sites are connected to this domain. Click the gear icon to view and manage the connected sites. |
Contact information
This card shows the WHOIS contact on record for the domain and lets you control privacy.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Email / First name / Last name / Phone Number | The registrant contact details used for the domain's WHOIS record. |
| Privacy Protection | When enabled, your personal contact details are hidden from public WHOIS lookups and replaced with privacy-protection values. We recommend keeping this on. |
🔒 Privacy Protection keeps your name, email and phone number out of public WHOIS results. To update the contact details themselves, use the Contacts tab.
Domain status reference
The Status and Registration Status fields can show the following states:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | Domain is fully registered and ready to use. |
| Pending Validation | Registration submitted; awaiting validation from the registry. Use Resend to re-send the verification email. |
| Grace | Domain has expired but is within the grace period where it can still be renewed. |
| Expired | Registration has lapsed. Renew as soon as possible to avoid losing the domain. |
| Redemption | Past the grace period; recovery may be possible but usually at a higher fee. |
| Suspended | Domain has been suspended. Contact support for help. |
👉 Note: The time for a newly registered domain to become Active depends on the TLD. Most domains activate within minutes to a few hours.