Make sure you're signed up for Campsite Pro.
If you already own a domain, you can now use your campsite but keep your domain and your traffic.
What is a Custom Domain?
A Custom Domain is a domain name (www.mybrand.com) you independently buy from a 3rd party domain registrar. They cost on average $10-$15 a year, depending on the seller and estimated domain name value.
Make sure you have purchased a domain name from a registrar and you have
an account login to make DNS changes.
Here are a few examples of
domain registrars:
What is covered in this support article:
Setting up a Custom Domain
Once you have a custom domain purchased, follow the steps below to set it up on Campsite.
-
Go to the
urls page
of your profile
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If you haven't already, set a subdomain for your profile. This is a
required step in the custom domain process. (ex.
myusername.campsite.bio)
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After your subdomain is set, click the 'Setup' button next to the
custom domain section.
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Enter your custom domain name and then click 'Save'.
Note: A custom domain must include a subdomain (i.e. links.mydomain.com). We don't support root domains at this time. - After you've started the custom domain process, we'll generate some CNAME records that you add to your DNS. This verifies you own the domain and gets a SSL certificate setup.
Adding DNS Records
- Log into your domain registrar.
-
Locate your Domain Name System (DNS) settings and enter the two CNAMEs
generated in Campsite.
The first CNAME record might not need '.aws.' at the end but
rather '.aws' to work. Add the two CNAME records listed on the Campsite domain settings page. Below is an example of what it could look like on your registrar.
-
It could take anywhere from 10-60 minutes for us to
detect and validate the CNAMEs once you've added them. If it's been an
hour and you're CNAMEs aren't validated, please
contact us. Like the example
below, you'll see "CNAMEs validated.".
Once you've added DNS records it can take up to one hour for your custom domain to become available.
Helpful Support Articles for CNAME Entry
Troubleshooting
My CNAMEs aren't being validated
If it's been a few hours and your CNAMEs aren't validated, please reach out to use so we can double check them.
My validation CNAME record is not saving
Your DNS provider might prohibit leading underscores in CNAME values
(points to), in this case you can just exclude the leading underscore.
(e.g. random-value.acm-validations.aws.).
NOTE: The CNAME name parameter
MUST ALWAYS begin with a leading underscore.
Some DNS providers add by default a trailing period to the CNAME value that you provide. As a result, adding the period yourself causes an error. For example, "random-value.acm-validations.aws." is rejected while "random-value.acm-validations.aws" is accepted. In this case you can just exclude the trailing period.
Common issues with domain registrars
Cloudflare
Cloudflare will proxy the DNS entries that are added by default. When that happens, we won't be able to tell you've added our CNAMEs. Make sure to set the "Proxy status" to off.
FAQs
Can I forward my root domain to my custom domain? (ex. mydomain.com -> links.mydomain.com)
Most domain registrars support domain forwarding or redirects of some kind. We highly recommend against using that feature. Instagram and Facebook will likely ban your domain if you use a URL that ends up in a redirect. Always use the custom domain URL you've set up inside of Campsite.bio when sharing on social media.
Adding custom HTML code
Once you've started the process of adding a custom domain you'll be able to add some custom HTML code. This can be useful if you'd like to add some JavaScript code to your custom domain. An example would be a snippet of code that needs to be added to verify your affiliate status.
With great power comes great responsibility! Be careful of what you enter in this field, as it could break something.
Still have questions? Contact us.