Connect a Custom Domain to your Organization

A Custom Domain is a domain you own and connect to your CloudCannon Organization, so visitors reach your Site at your own address (e.g., cloudcannon.com) instead of its Testing Domain. Once you have purchased a domain from a domain registrar, you can connect that Custom Domain to CloudCannon and use it on any Site in your Organization.

After you have connected a Custom Domain to your Organization, you can manage it from its Domain page and add your Custom Domain to a Site.

Before we begin, this article assumes that you want to host your website through CloudCannon and know which DNS Provider is right for your Custom Domain. For more information, please read our documentation on what web hosting is and what DNS is.

There are two ways to connect a Custom Domain to your Organization: from the Domains Browser, or from the Custom Domain page under your Site Settings.

Connect a domain from your Domains Browser#

If you do not have at least one Custom Domain connected to your Organization, the Custom Domains link in the App Sidebar opens the Connect a Custom Domain page directly, without the Domains Browser. If you don't have the base-domain:create permission, CloudCannon shows a Permission denied page instead.

To connect a Custom Domain from the Domains Browser:

1. Log in to CloudCannon.
2. Select the Organization to which you want to connect the Custom Domain.
3. Click the Custom Domains link in the App Sidebar. CloudCannon will open the Domains Browser.
4. Click the + Connect a Custom Domain button. CloudCannon will open the Connect a Custom Domain page.
5. Enter your Custom Domain name in the Base Domain field.
6. Select the CloudCannon DNS (recommended) or External DNS option under DNS Provider. The What happens next for [DNS Provider]? box below the options lists the next steps for the DNS Provider you select.
7. Click the Connect Custom Domain button.

CloudCannon will connect the Custom Domain to your Organization and open the Summary tab of the Domain page for this Custom Domain. A setup guide at the top of the Summary tab shows what to do next:

• CloudCannon DNS — Once CloudCannon has created the DNS zone for your domain, usually in a moment, the guide prompts you to add your existing records and shows the nameservers to set at your domain registrar. For more information, please read our documentation on configuring CloudCannon DNS.
• External DNS — Once you add a Subdomain, the guide names it, with an Open the DNS tab button that opens the DNS tab, where the records to add at your DNS Provider are listed. Until then, the Summary tab shows No subdomains on [Base Domain] yet with an Add subdomain button. The TXT records for the optional wildcard SSL Certificate of your domain are on the DNS tab. For more information, please read our documentation on configuring external DNS.

If another Organization has already connected the domain, CloudCannon shows an error that the domain is already connected to another CloudCannon Organization. For more information, please read our documentation on resolving ownership over a Custom Domain.

You can't connect a cloudvent.net address, such as the Testing Domain of a Site, as a Custom Domain. CloudCannon shows an error that the domain cannot be a cloudvent.net address.

Connect a domain from your Site Settings#

Connecting a Custom Domain from Site Settings also requires the site:settings:hosting:write permission for the Site.

To connect a Custom Domain from the Custom Domain page under Site Settings:

1. Log in to CloudCannon.
2. Select the Organization to which you want to connect the Custom Domain.
3. Click the Sites link in the App Sidebar. CloudCannon will open the Sites Browser.
4. Click the Card for the Site you want to add the Custom Domain to. CloudCannon will open the Dashboard for that Site.
5. Navigate to the Custom Domain page under Site Settings.
6. Select the Connect a new domain option in the Base Domain dropdown. CloudCannon will open the Connect a Custom Domain modal.
7. Enter your Custom Domain name in the Domain field.
8. Select the CloudCannon DNS (recommended) or External DNS option under DNS Provider.
9. Click the Connect Custom Domain button.

CloudCannon will connect the Custom Domain to your Organization, close the modal, and select the new domain in the Base Domain dropdown with a Just connected label. You can then choose the Subdomain and path for your Site and click the Add custom domain button. For more information, please read our documentation on adding a Custom Domain to your Site.

Domain connected email#

When you connect a Custom Domain, CloudCannon emails everyone else in your Organization who can edit the settings of the domain (the base-domain:settings:details:write permission).

[Name] added the Custom Domain [Base Domain] to [Organization]

CloudCannon sends this email to everyone who can edit the settings of the new domain except the person who connected it. The subject names that person. If no person connected the domain, such as when an API key connects it, the subject is The Custom Domain [Base Domain] was added to [Organization] instead. The email shows the DNS Provider of the domain and, for CloudCannon DNS, the nameservers to set at your domain registrar, with what to do next and an Open the Domain page for [Base Domain] button.