Articles on: Custom domain

How to connect custom domain

Welcome to our friendly guide!
This document will walk you through the easy process of connecting your custom domain to the Unicorn platform.



Preparation

Step 0 – Ensure You Have the Following:



An active paid subscription on the Unicorn platform.
A purchased domain name from a domain provider, such as Namecheap or GoDaddy.

Enabling Your Custom Domain

Step 1 – Enable custom domain



Navigate to Website Settings > Custom domain tab.
Enter your domain or subdomain name into the Custom domain field
Click the Save button.
A table with the IP address 52.223.5.197 and CNAME james.cname.unicornplatform.com should appear for domain name.

For the subdomain, only the CNAME record will be displayed.



Step 2 – Set up DNS



Go to your domain provider DNS dashboard



The appearance and location of this dashboard may vary slightly depending on where you purchased your domain, but generally, they all have a similar look and feel.

For guidance, you can refer to the following:

NameCheap - How can I set up an A (address) record for my domain?
GoDaddy - Add an A record
Google Domains - Configure A records

Adding A type record



For the domain only

Add record with the following properties:

Type: A
Host (name) - @ (or leave empty if you domain registrator doesn't allow it.)
Value (data): the IP address 52.223.5.197
Disable "Proxy status" if you are using Cloudflare.
TTL: Set it to the lowest possible value



Adding CNAME type record



Adding CNAME record is required the domain and subdomain

Type: CNAME
Host (name):
www - for DOMAIN name
sub-domain-name - for SUBDOMAIN
Value (data): james.cname.unicornplatform.com
Disable "Proxy status" if you are using Cloudflare.
Also setting the TTL to the lowest possible value.



Be sure to save the changes.

DNS records in Cloudflare

If you are using proxy in Cloudflare, please make sure you have the encryption mode set to "Full".
Guide how to set encryption mode to full

🏁 Finish – Just sit back and wait.



You only need to wait up to 1 hour. (Most often it takes less time, it depends on the provider and the priority you set)


🤷🏼‍♀️ Troubleshooting



I can't enter "@" as my host



Some domain providers don't accept @ as host/name. In that case, you should enter your root domain (yoursite.com) instead.

DNS records with root domain as hosts

Delete the default records



If you already have any A type or CNAME type DNS records that have their host (or name) listed as @ or www – delete them.

Delete such records if any

Also delete any A or CNAME type records with their host/name listed as your root domain yoursite.com, or as www.yoursite.com.

Delete such records if any

If you use Namecheap, you should also delete the default "URL Redirect" records if any. They may cause errors.

My DNS records are correct, but I still see the error





Unfortunately, DNS records don't get updated immediately. They always take some time to propagate. Usually, it takes no more than 1 hour.
If more than an hour has passed and the custom domain is still not connected, please contact us in the support chat.

It still doesn't work!



If you can't resolve the issues on your own, feel free to contact us. Our support team will be happy to help you out 🙂


F.A.Q.



Can I connect subpages (mysite.com/mypage) as custom domains?



Unfortunately, it is not possible.

Can I connect subdomains (e.g. promo.site.com) as custom domains?



Yes, you can connect subdomains.

Updated on: 24/10/2024

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