R2R.Net — The Digital Anchor
The primary domain and short-link router that anchors the entire addon-domain estate. Email templates, DNS parent zone, and the quiet infrastructure that holds everything together.
Back Story
Every multi-domain estate needs a root — a primary domain that acts as the parent in cPanel, the anchor in DNS, and the fallback when subdomains need short links or email routing. For this digital portfolio, that root is r2r.net.
On HostGator shared hosting, the primary domain determines the cPanel account identity. Every additional domain — kidane.co.uk, nay-na.com, myrecruiter.co.uk, recruit2recruit.net — is an "addon domain" that lives under r2r.net's file structure. The primary domain is also where email deliverability, SSL root certificates, and short-link redirections are configured.
The Build
- Configured r2r.net as the primary cPanel domain on HostGator (server gator4429, user hermon74).
- Set up 4 addon domains under the primary — each with its own docroot, database, and WordPress install — all sharing the same hosting plan.
- Established Cloudflare DNS zone for r2r.net with full MX, A, CNAME, and TXT records for email deliverability (Google Workspace) and subdomain routing.
- Created short-link templates for common destinations — a clean redirect layer so internal links (e.g., r2r.net/jobs) route to the correct addon domain without the user seeing the underlying folder structure.
- Designed email template foundations — consistent HTML email signatures and notification templates for use across all domain properties.
Headline Tasks
- Primary domain configured on HostGator cPanel with correct DNS zone delegation.
- 4 addon domains provisioned with isolated WordPress installs.
- Cloudflare DNS for all 5 live domains managed from a single zone structure.
- Google Workspace MX records verified for professional email across the estate.