Manage the Sites on a Subdomain

A Subdomain on your Custom Domain either serves one or more Sites or redirects visitors to another domain. This article covers the Sites on a Subdomain: adding, swapping, moving, and removing them, changing the path at which each one is served, and deleting a Subdomain that serves Sites. For more information on how Subdomains work, please read our documentation on what a Subdomain is.

For Subdomains that redirect, please read our documentation on managing your Redirect Subdomains. To change a Subdomain's hosting option or certificate, or check its DNS, please read our documentation on configuring a Subdomain's hosting, HTTPS, and DNS.

Each Subdomain has its own page, which you open by clicking the Card for the Subdomain in the list on the Subdomains tab of your Domain page. The Custom Domain page under Site Settings also shows the page for the Subdomain that serves that Site, under the Subdomain settings heading, with the same sections and Context Menu options. If a change there takes the Site off the Subdomain, CloudCannon opens the [Site Name] is no longer on [Subdomain] modal, with the Stay here and Go to [Subdomain] settings buttons, or Go to subdomains if you deleted the Subdomain.

Before we begin, this article assumes you have added a Subdomain to your Custom Domain.

Add a Site to a Subdomain#

A Subdomain can serve several Sites, each at its own path. For example, example.com can serve your marketing Site at the root (⁠/⁠) and your documentation Site at /docs/. Every Site on a Subdomain shares the Subdomain's hosting, HTTPS, and DNS settings.

If the Site you add already has a Custom Domain, CloudCannon moves the Site to the new address. For more information, please read the section on moving a Site from another Subdomain.

You can also add a Custom Domain from the Custom Domain page under Site Settings. For more information, please read our documentation on adding a Custom Domain to your Site.

To add a Site to a Subdomain:

1. Navigate to the page for the Subdomain.
2. Click the Add a Site button in the Sites section. CloudCannon will open the Add a Site to [Subdomain] modal.
3. Select the Site you want to add from the Site dropdown.
4. (Optional.) Enter a path in the Subpath field. Leave this field blank to serve the Site at the root of the Subdomain.
5. Click the Add Site button.

CloudCannon will serve the Site on the Subdomain at the path you entered.

Swap the Site at a path#

You can replace the Site at a path with another Site in one step, so the path is never left without a Site. The Site you replace keeps its Testing Domain.

The Swap for another Site option is disabled unless you can both change the hosting of the Site and edit the settings of the Base Domain. Hover over the option to see which permission you're missing, then ask someone in your Organization who has it.

To swap the Site at a path:

1. Navigate to the page for the Subdomain.
2. Click the Context Menu for the Site you want to replace.
3. Select the Swap for another Site option. CloudCannon will open the Swap the Site at [Subdomain and path] modal.
4. Select the Site that takes over from the Site dropdown.
5. Click the Swap Site button.

CloudCannon will serve the new Site at that path. Sites whose hosting you can't change are disabled in the Site dropdown.

Change the path of a Site#

You can change the path at which a Subdomain serves a Site. Each path on a Subdomain is served by one Site, so the new path can't be a path another Site already serves. Before you save, CloudCannon shows the Subpaths on [Subdomain] after this change. If links to the old path would show a 404 page or another Site, CloudCannon warns you so you can update those links or keep the old path.

The Change Subpath option is disabled unless you can both change the hosting of the Site and edit the settings of the Base Domain. Hover over the option to see which permission you're missing, then ask someone in your Organization who has it.

To change the path of a Site:

1. Navigate to the page for the Subdomain.
2. Click the Context Menu for the Site you want to move.
3. Select the Change Subpath option. CloudCannon will open the Change [Site Name]'s Subpath modal.
4. Enter the new path in the Subpath field (e.g., /guides/⁠).
5. Review the paths on the Subdomain after the change.
6. Click the Change Subpath button.

CloudCannon will serve the Site at the new path.

Your Site's build output needs a folder that matches the new path. For more information, please read our documentation on building your Site for a path.

You can also change the path of a Site from the Custom Domain page under Site Settings. For more information, please read our documentation on reviewing your Site's Custom Domain.

Remove a Site from a Subdomain#

When you remove a Site from a Subdomain, CloudCannon stops serving that Site on the Subdomain. The Site keeps its Testing Domain.

The Remove from [Subdomain] option is disabled unless you can both change the hosting of the Site and edit the settings of the Base Domain. Hover over the option to see which permission you're missing, then ask someone in your Organization who has it.

If you remove the last Site on a Subdomain, CloudCannon asks what happens to the Subdomain:

• Leave it set up — The Subdomain stays set up with no Site. Its hosting and certificate stay connected, so you can add a Site back without waiting for DNS or a new certificate. Until then, visitors see a 404 page. This is the default. Choose this option to take your website down temporarily.
• Redirect visitors — The Subdomain becomes a redirect that sends every visitor to another domain, keeping the path and query string.
• Delete the Subdomain — CloudCannon deletes the Subdomain and its certificate, and sends its visitors to your Fallback Redirect.

If other Subdomains redirect to the Subdomain you are emptying, CloudCannon lists them in the Other Redirect Subdomains notice and deletes them too, unless you uncheck the Delete this other Redirect Subdomain or Delete these other Redirect Subdomains checkbox. The checkbox appears when you leave the Subdomain set up or delete it, and only covers redirects on domains whose settings you can edit.

If you redirect the Subdomain, enter its new destination in the Redirect visitors to field. If the destination itself redirects, CloudCannon shows Avoid a double redirect by entering [Destination] instead. below the field, which doesn't stop you from saving. If other Redirect Subdomains on the same Custom Domain point at the Subdomain, the Other Redirect Subdomains notice lists them, because CloudCannon will update them to redirect to the new destination. CloudCannon refuses a destination that would send visitors in a loop (Cannot select this Subdomain as it would create a redirect loop.), a destination that is the Subdomain itself (Cannot select this Subdomain as it would redirect to itself.), and a destination on one of your Custom Domains that isn't a Subdomain yet (Cannot select this Subdomain until you configure it on [Custom Domain].). For how loops form and how to fix one, please read our documentation on fixing a redirect loop.

To remove a Site from a Subdomain:

1. Navigate to the page for the Subdomain.
2. Click the Context Menu for the Site you want to remove.
3. Select the Remove from [Subdomain] option. CloudCannon will open the Remove [Subdomain] from [Site Name]? modal.
4. If this is the last Site on the Subdomain, select the Leave it set up, Redirect visitors, or Delete the Subdomain option. If you select Redirect visitors, enter the domain to which you want to send visitors in the Redirect visitors to field.
5. (Optional.) Uncheck the Delete this other Redirect Subdomain or Delete these other Redirect Subdomains checkbox to keep the Subdomains that redirect to this one.
6. Click the Remove from [Subdomain] button. If you selected Redirect visitors or Delete the Subdomain, click the Remove and redirect or Remove and delete button instead.

CloudCannon will stop serving the Site on the Subdomain.

Move a Site from another Subdomain#

If the Site you add to a Subdomain already has a Custom Domain, CloudCannon moves the Site from its old Subdomain to the new one. This applies when you add a Subdomain with a Site, add a Site to a Subdomain, swap the Site at a path, or change a Redirect Subdomain to serve a Site. The modal shows where the Site is now and where it moves to.

If the Site is the last Site on its old Subdomain, the modal also asks what happens to the old Subdomain, under the Previous Subdomain heading, with similar choices to when you remove a Site from a Subdomain:

• Leave it set up — The old Subdomain stays set up with no Site, and its visitors see a 404 page. This is the default.
• Redirect visitors — The old Subdomain becomes a redirect. Enter its destination in the Redirect visitors to field. Other redirects that pointed at the old Subdomain redirect to the new destination instead.
• Delete the previous Subdomain — CloudCannon deletes the old Subdomain and its certificate.

If you leave the old Subdomain set up or delete it, CloudCannon also deletes the Subdomains that redirect to it, unless you uncheck the Delete this other Redirect Subdomain or Delete these other Redirect Subdomains checkbox.

Choosing what happens to the old Subdomain requires permission to edit the settings of its Base Domain. Without that permission, the modal shows what happens to the old Subdomain, and CloudCannon leaves it set up.

Delete a Subdomain#

When you delete a Subdomain, CloudCannon stops serving it and removes its certificate. Any Sites on the Subdomain keep their Testing Domains. If the Subdomain was your Fallback Redirect, CloudCannon will make another Subdomain your Fallback Redirect, which you can change on the Subdomains tab. Visitors to the deleted Subdomain go to your Fallback Redirect.

To delete a Subdomain:

1. Navigate to the page for the Subdomain.
2. Click the Delete Subdomain button in the Danger zone section. CloudCannon will open the Delete [Subdomain]? modal.
3. (Optional.) Uncheck the Delete this other Redirect Subdomain or Delete these other Redirect Subdomains checkbox to keep the Subdomains that redirect to this one.
4. Type the Subdomain in the Type [Subdomain] to confirm field.
5. Click the Delete Subdomain button.

CloudCannon will delete the Subdomain.

You can also delete a Subdomain from the Subdomains tab of the Domain page, using the Delete Subdomain option in the Context Menu for the Subdomain.