You might already have an established brand or website, so why not learn how to integrate them through creating a custom domain?
Word of warning, each domain registrar will have different avenues for how to create a CNAME. We can't give you examples of each one unfortunately, but we've added a couple of screenshots to give you a general idea!
By default, your Web Community will have a domain like YourCommunityName.disciplemedia.com (the section in green is, as you guessed, the name you chose when creating your Community).
With a custom domain, you can change this to anything you want if you’ve bought a domain in the past. However, we generally recommend that your Community lives on a subdomain like YourCNAME.TheDomainYouAlreadyOwn.com.
To create a custom domain for your Web Community, you'll need to update your Domain Name System (DNS) so that it has a Canonical Name (CNAME) is pointing towards the appropriate place on Disciple’s servers, such as YourCommunityName.custom.disciplemedia.com.
Take a look at the steps below for some guidance on how to create a CNAME: ⬇️
Navigate to the Appropriate Section in your Domain Registrar:
In your domain service's dashboard navigate to your DNS settings (sometimes called 'DNS Management'), then the custom resource records section (or CNAME section) and start to add a CNAME.
Google Domains:
For the Google Domains service you'll see something like this.
GoDaddy:
For the GoDaddy Domain service go to the DNS Management page and scroll down past your existing records until you see an add button.
Then choose CNAME from the dropdown and your screen should look like this.
Add a CNAME and Point it to Disciple’s Servers:
Now you'll need to create a CNAME with the hostname you want.
CNAME = Something of your choosing.
Points To = YourCommunityName.custom.disciplemedia.com.
What people will type = YourCNAME.TheDomainYouAlreadyOwn.com
It is really important to include 'custom' in the URL you are pointing to.
&
Yes that's right, unless you're told otherwise, you also need to add a full stop at the end of it all .
These changes can take about 48hours to implement depending on your domain registrar, but it's normally much quicker.
Using Cloudflare?
Cloudflare offer a proxy service, please do not use this as this is not a service we support and it has to be disabled for us to implement your Custom Domain.
Applying your Custom Domain:
Now that you have set that up, head back to the Console, click on Configure, then go to Branding and select the Settings tab.
Paste in your URL, click publish and wait for your domain to apply. This can take up to 72 hours to apply so don't worry if it doesn't sync instantly.
That's it, now you just need to tell your members where to find you!
As always, if you receive an error or you get stuck, you can always reach out to your friendly Support team at help@disciplemedia.com.