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[Self-Fulfilling] How To: Enable a Custom Domain

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Jessica
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The last step in getting your Art Storefronts site live is connecting a Custom Domain. If you don’t have a custom domain name or you were thinking of not using one, we need to urge you to change your mind. Creating a custom domain name allows you the make your brand stronger and it stops people from knowing you use Art Storefronts as your e-commerce site.

 

While there are many different domain registrars, they are not all created equal and they won’t all do exactly what you want them to do. The easiest and one of the lest expensive registrars is GoDaddy. If you aren’t working with them, we strongly suggest you rethink that and transfer your domain to them. They’re friendly, easy and their support, if anything go awry, is fantastic. They’ll do everything we need them to and it makes the experiences as seamless as possible.

 

Please Note: This step IS NOT optional. It MUST be done. A custom domain name is an important part of your branding. Don’t skip this.

 

This article is only going to cover how to set up GoDaddy because it is so easy. You can use a different registrar so check the Related Articles section for any other registrars.

 

 

Registrar Set Up

  1. First, you need to make sure you are on com and then you can go ahead and click on the button titled Sign In. You’re going to have to log in to your account to complete these next steps.


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  2. On the next page, enter your Username and Password. These are case sensitive, and you need to make sure you type them in perfectly or you aren’t going to be able to sign in to your account. Then you can go ahead and click on the Sign In 
    button.


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  3. Then you’ll be logged in and you should see a list of your domains. There should be a button labeled DNS. You’re going to need to click on the button labeled DNS for the domain you want to work on.


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  4. The following page will show you several different options. First, look and see if you have an option under the Type section that is labeled as CNAME. If you have a CNAME section, there should be a pencil next to it. Click on the pencil icon. 


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  5. This is going to allow you to edit the CNAME First, before you edit anything else on the record, find the column titled Host. In this column, you MUST enter www and if you don’t, your custom domain won’t work.


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  6. Points To is the next section and in this box, you absolutely MUST enter in artstorefronts.com. If you don’t use www.artstorefronts.com in this box it isn’t going to work, and your custom domain won’t apply properly.
    Warning: If you put ANYTHING other than www.artstorefronts.com in the Points To box, it WILL NOT WORK. You cannot use things like IP addresses or anything else. Putting any other information here is WRONG.



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  7. TTL is the final box here. DO NOT make any changes to this box at all.


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  8. When you’re sure the Host box and the Points To box are correct (and you should double and triple check this) you can click on the button labeled Save.


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  9. Now, scroll down the page until you find a section labeled Forwarding and click on the pencil next to DOMAIN. We must forward your site so when a customer goes to yoursite.com or yoursite.com it all shows up correctly.


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  10. The first box you’re going to be seeing is Forward To and in the drop-down menu, you need to make sure it says http:// and NOTHING
    Warning: If this section says anything other than http://, your custom domain name WILL NOT work AT ALL.



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  11. Next to the http:// box, there is another box and in it, you need to enter in your custom domain name that INCLUDES the www in front of it. For example, my custom domain name is mercurialdesigns.co and in the box I MUST enter mercurialdesigns.com for it to work properly.
    Warning: If you FAIL to include the www in front of your custom domain name, it WILL NOT work properly. You MUST follow this EXACTLY.



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  12. Below that, there’s a section labeled Forward Type, and this is going to be set to Permanent (301). DO NOT CHANGE THIS. DON’T TOUCH IT. Please leave this as is.


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  13. Settings is up next, and you need to select Forward Only.
    Warning: Do NOT use the forwarding with masking option. It will keep the domain from working with Art Storefronts.



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  14. The final option is Update my Nameservers and DNS Settings to Support This Change and make sure there’s a checkmark beside it.


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  15. Finally, when you’re sure you’ve filled everything out properly, you can click the Save button.


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Connect your Domain to ASF

  1. Make sure you are logged in to your Art Storefronts Control Panel. This is sometimes called the back-end of the site or the Site Manager.

    When you’re sure you’re in the right spot, look at the top of the page and find the tab titled SITE ADDRESS and click on it.


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  2. You’re going to see a new page and there’s a button labeled +ADD NEW and you’re going to need to click on this.


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  3. A pop-up will appear, and it will have a blank field. In that blank field, you need to enter YOUR custom domain name with the www in front of it.
    Please Note: You MUST include the www in front of your domain or this isn’t going to work.



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  4. Click on the button labeled CREATE.


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  5. You should now see that your custom domain name has been added to your Art Storefronts
    Please Note: When you connect your custom domain to your Art Storefronts website it can take up to 24 hours for it to propagate.



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Troubleshooting

  1. My custom domain isn’t working. I keep getting an error when I try to go to my custom domain name.
    1. First, you need to go back to GoDaddy and make sure your CNAM record has www and artstorefronts.com. If it doesn’t, it wasn’t don properly and you should make those changes.
    2. If your CNAME record is correct, you need to check your forwarding. In the forward box, you need to have http:// and the box that contains the domain name you need it to be yoursite.com. If it doesn’t have the www it won’t work
    3. If the CNAME and forwarding are correct, navigate to your ASF site, click on the SITE ADDRESS tab and make sure you’ve added your custom domain name with www in front of it.
    4. If all of this is done, make sure you’ve waited 24 to 48 hours for it to propagate.
  2. My page won’t save my domain name on the ASF site.
    1. You may need to use an approved browser. If you’re using anything other than Firefox or Chrome, you should stop and use either Chrome or Firefox.
    2. If you’re using an approved browser, you may need to clear your cache. Check out how to clear the cache by using the article on How To: Clear your Cache.

 

What do I do next?

Congratulations! Your website is now live! Great job! Now, you can move on to asking for a Technical Site Audit.

 

A Technical Site Audit is something that our support team will do to make sure your website is set up 100% correctly and you’re ready to start your marketing journey. If you’re ready to learn about Tech Site Audits, please check out the article How To: Request a Technical Site Audit.

 

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