If you want to use the members area only instead of the full website that is fine. This will be set up using the temporary address http://yourgroup.makingmusicplatform.com
As this domain is temporary you will need to choose a different domain name for the members area, something like http://members.mygroup.com. We have outlined the two options below, including what you need to consider regarding emailing. Please note that either way your Platform will be separate from your current website and therefore, you would need to add a link from your current website to your new Platform so that members can easily access the members area.
1. Set up a sub-domain as part of your current website
If your domain name for your main website is (for example) mygroup.com, you may want to use a sub-domain (e.g. members.mygroup.com) for your Making Music Platform. To do this you would need to create that sub-domain in your own website's DNS system (this is normally easy to do via your online account with your domain name provider). Once done, let us know what the new domain name of the Platform will be, and we can change the information in our system.
2. Register a new domain name
You may decide that adding a sub-domain is not suitable for your group and want to set up a completely different domain name for the members area. To do this you would need to know the domain name which you would want to use. If you have asked Making Music to manage your domain name then we can register and manage the renewal process for you, just let us know what name you would want to use. If we do not manage your domain name, then you would need to register the domain yourself using services like GoDaddy or 123Reg. Once you own the domain name let us know what it is, and we will change the information in our system.
You will also need to decide whether to retain your existing email provider, or switch to the Making Music Platform for your emails. The Platform provides a full suite of emails - mailboxes, forwarders and mailing lists. These can exist on your regular domain name (e.g. mygroup.com), or a sub-domain (e.g. members.mygroup.com). If you choose to retain your existing email provider for all email addresses, then you will miss out on the excellent integration between the Platform's member database and email system.
To get the full email functionality of the platform we would recommend that the Platform is used as your designated email provider instead of your current provider. If you want this, then you would need to make a small change to just the DNS configuration of your current domain name. Contact us when you are ready for this to happen (if we manage your domain name we will do this for you and if we don’t manage your domain name we will provide the technical information required to do this yourself). Once this change has been made your Making Music Platform will become your email provider, and your previous email provider will no longer be involved.
If you want to retain your existing email provider and use Making Music Platform for emails, then you would need to set up a sub domain as outlined above. This will allow you to use the email addresses set up in your current domain e.g. president@mygroup.com as well as having a separate set of emails addresses set up in your Platform e.g. mailinglist@members.mygroup.com. These will both operate separately from one another.
