Getting Started

1) First, request your free Domains account:

• Click “Login” and enter your PennKey information
• Then go to “Request Your Domain” and fill out the request form, providing a brief explanation of what you want to use your site for. Someone on our team will review your request and respond once your account is activated. 

2) Approved users will be added to the Domains @ Penn Canvas course which contains important information and policies for using the service. Review this information carefully before creating your site!

3) Once you’ve completed the Canvas course, return to Domains @ Penn and click the “Request Your Domain” button again – you’ll now be prompted to choose a domain name for your site in the format “[yourSiteName].domains.upenn.edu”

4) You’ll the be free to explore the cPanel webserver hosting interface for managing your apps and domain. Check out our resources to see what is possible with the wide range of tools available

• Domains @ Penn offers one-click install for common web creation apps like WordPress for blogs, Omeka for digital collections, Scalar for long-format digital book publishing. If you want something more custom, there is even the flexibility of configuring your own web content from scratch using the cPanel file hosting services.

6) The last step is to start building! You will find answers to almost all of your questions on our support documentation site, and we also offer regular office hours for digital publishing, so check out the RDDS events calendar to find a time that works best for you. If you have other questions, you can also contact Research Data and Digital Scholarship any time at libraryrdds@pobox.upenn.edu.