Bare domains, two domains and the main address

A bare domain is your domain with nothing in front: yourchoir.org rather than www.yourchoir.org. Connecting one takes two DNS records instead of one, and needs a DNS provider that allows a particular kind of record. This page is for whoever looks after the choir's domain, and assumes you have read Use your own domain name. Starter and Premium plans

Which should I connect?

You want	Do this
The simplest route	Connect www.yourchoir.org only, and have your DNS provider forward yourchoir.org to it. See If your provider cannot do it.
Both forms to reach your site directly	Connect both, one at a time. A site can have two domains.
The site to be known as yourchoir.org, without www	Connect the bare domain, and make it the main address.

Connect a bare domain

1. On your account page, under Your own domain, type yourchoir.org in Domain (or Connect another domain, if you already have one) and press Connect this domain.
2. The box for the domain says it "is waiting for two DNS records". Add both where your domain's DNS is managed.

They look like this. Copy the values from your own account page: these are only examples.

	Record 1	Record 2
Type	CNAME	TXT
Name	yourchoir.org	_cf-custom-hostname.yourchoir.org
Value	sites.example.net	a long string of letters and digits

Record 1, the CNAME at the root. This points your domain at us. It is a record at the very top ("root") of your domain, and the rules of DNS do not ordinarily allow a CNAME there, so most DNS providers refuse it. Some have a way round it:

• Cloudflare allows it and calls it CNAME flattening. You add an ordinary CNAME record with the name @ or yourchoir.org.
• A few other providers offer the same thing as an ALIAS or ANAME record. Choose that type and give it the same Name and Value.

As the page puts it: "Cloudflare does (it calls it CNAME flattening), and its DNS is free, so if your DNS is elsewhere we recommend moving it to Cloudflare to use the bare domain."

Record 2, the TXT record. This proves the domain is yours. It is needed because a root record of the kind above cannot be seen from outside, so we cannot tell from record 1 alone that you control the domain. A TXT record is a line of text and affects nothing else.

If the second record is not shown yet, the page says "A second record, which proves the domain is yours, will be shown here in a moment: press "Check now"." Press Check now and it appears.

3. Press Check now. The notices are the same as for a www domain, ending in "Your site is live at yourchoir.org." See Check, and wait.

Some providers ask only for the part in front as the Name: for the root that is usually @, and for the TXT record _cf-custom-hostname.

note

A domain counts as bare when it has two parts (yourchoir.org), or three where the last two are a country's ending, such as yourchoir.org.uk or yourchoir.on.ca.

If your provider cannot do it

If your DNS provider has no CNAME flattening, ALIAS or ANAME, you have two choices, and the page names both:

• Move your DNS to Cloudflare. Your domain stays registered where it is; only its DNS records are managed at Cloudflare, which costs nothing. Then follow the steps above.
• Connect www and forward the bare domain. Disconnect the bare domain here, connect www.yourchoir.org instead as in Use your own domain name, and use your provider's "forwarding" or "redirect" feature to send yourchoir.org to https://www.yourchoir.org. Most registrars have one.

Connect both forms

A site can have two domains, which is enough for the bare domain and www. Connect them one at a time:

1. Connect the first and wait until it is live.
2. The field under your domains is now labelled Connect another domain. Type the second name and press Connect this domain.
3. Add its record or records, and press Check now.

The hint on the page reads "You can connect both yourchoir.org and www.yourchoir.org, one at a time."

Once you have two, the field disappears. To connect a different one you must disconnect one first.

The main address

Your site can answer at up to three addresses: its .cmcms.org address and two domains of your own. One of them is the main address. It is used for:

• the links in the emails your site sends, such as login links and the link to the member portal in an announcement;
• the address your site gives as its own, for example to search engines;
• the Open its admin panel button on your account page.

Visitors can use any of your addresses. The main address only decides which one the site itself uses when it writes a link.

How it is chosen:

• Before you connect a domain, it is the .cmcms.org address.
• The first of your domains to go live becomes the main address automatically.
• With two live domains, you choose.

Change the main address

1. On your account page, under Your own domain, find the live domain that is not the main one. The main one is marked "This is your site's main address: the one its own links and emails use."
2. Press Make this the main address in the other domain's box.

The page reloads with "Your site now uses that domain as its main address."

Links in emails that have already been sent keep the old address, which goes on working as long as that domain stays connected.

Download the records as a file

If your DNS provider can import records from a file, you need not type them. Under the records, the page says: "If your DNS provider can import records (Cloudflare can, under DNS, Records, "Import and Export"), download these records as a file instead of typing them in."

1. Follow download these records as a file (or this record, for a domain with one).
2. A file named after your domain, ending .zone.txt, is saved. It holds the same records in the standard "zone file" form.
3. Import it at your DNS provider.

For a bare domain, wait until the TXT record is shown on the page before downloading, so that the file contains both.

Disconnect a domain

1. On your account page, under Your own domain, press Disconnect followed by the domain's name, in that domain's box.

The page reloads with "That domain is disconnected." There is no second question, so be sure before you press.

What happens:

• Your site stops answering at that domain. Visitors there see a plain default page, not your site: see Domain problems.
• If it was the main address, the main address moves to your other live domain if you have one, and otherwise back to your .cmcms.org address.
• The domain is free to be connected again, to this site or another.
• The DNS record at your provider is not touched. Remove or change it yourself.

You can also use Disconnect on a domain that is still waiting, to start again.

A site that goes back to the Free plan has all its domains disconnected in the same way: see When a site goes back to Free.

If something goes wrong

See Domain problems.