Your platform starts on a memberarea address. It works, and you can run a business on it. But the address is the first thing a customer reads, so most people move to their own domain early.
Choose the address first
Use a subdomain of a domain you already own. Something like:
members.yourbrand.comacademy.yourbrand.comcommunity.yourbrand.com
A subdomain is the practical choice because your main domain usually points at
your existing website. Sending yourbrand.com here would replace that site.
Pick the word your customers would say out loud. "Members" and "academy" both read well. Anything longer gets mistyped.
Add it in memberarea first
- Open Settings, then Login domain.
- Enter the full address, including the subdomain.
- Press Connect domain.
The platform now knows to expect traffic for that address, and shows you the DNS record to create. Nothing works yet, which is expected.
Then point the DNS at us
DNS lives with whoever you bought the domain from. Sign in there and find the DNS or nameserver settings.
- Create a new record of type CNAME.
- Set the name or host to your subdomain, for example
members. - Set the value or target to the address shown in your domain settings.
- Save it.
The wording differs between providers. Some call the first field "name", others
"host" or "subdomain". Some want just members, others want the whole
members.yourbrand.com. If both are offered, follow the examples your provider
shows.
DNS changes travel across the internet at their own pace. Minutes is common, a few hours happens, and up to 24 hours is possible. There is nothing to speed it up from our side.
The certificate
Once the record resolves to us, the HTTPS certificate is issued automatically. You do not buy one, upload one or renew one. The padlock appears in the browser by itself.
If your domain sits behind a proxy such as Cloudflare, the certificate can only be issued once the proxy lets the check through. Setting that record to "DNS only" while the domain connects is the usual fix, and you can turn the proxy back on afterwards.
After it connects
Once the status next to the domain reads Connected, press Set as primary. That is the step that sends members to the new address. If it shows anything else, press Check connection.
Your platform answers on the new address. Bookmark it, put it in your emails and use it in your links.
Sessions belong to the address they were created on. After the switch, everyone signs in again on the new domain. That includes you.
The old memberarea address keeps working, so links you sent earlier do not break.
When something does not work
The browser shows a warning about the certificate. The domain resolves but the certificate is not issued yet. Give it a few minutes.
You reach a different site. There is another record for the same subdomain, often an old A record. Remove it and leave only the CNAME.
Nothing happens at all. The record has not spread yet, or the name field holds the whole address where the provider expected only the subdomain.