Custom Domains

Cobot gives you control over your online identity by hosting custom domains and subdomains.

Amanda avatar
Written by Amanda
Updated over a week ago

When you registered your Cobot account, you entered the name of your space. We generated a unique subdomain, which is the customizable part of the Cobot URL.

For example, if you entered Your Space, the URL of your Cobot Signup Page is now https://your-space.cobot.me/. Cobot is a White label solution, which means you can remove the 'cobot.me' part of your subdomain and replace it with something you own.


This guide will walk you through the following:


DNS Setup

Your first step is ensuring that your domain or subdomain points to Cobot so we can host it for you.

Using a domain:

Before you get started, it is important to note that not all hosting providers all you to set up ALIAS or ANAME records against your domain. Please check their help center documentation to ensure you can do this before moving forward. If you can't set up ALIAS or ANAME records, but can set up CNAME entries, then you should set up a subdomain instead.

  1. First, you must have a domain that you own. Maybe you already have a website; let's use https://your-space.com as an example. This will be the new URL that anyone clicking on your Cobot login or Signup pages will now see.

    1. You cannot already have a website built on your domain. You should set up a subdomain if you wish to embed your Cobot Signup and Login pages in your existing website.

  2. Now you can add it to your domain's ALIAS or ANAME records. You can usually do this on the company's website where you bought the domain. They might have a web interface where you can set this up yourself; if not, you may have to contact them directly. If you can set this up yourself:

    1. You need to add an ALIAS or ANAME records entry that points from your new subdomain, in this case, your-space, to domains.cobot.me.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

  • If you try looking for a webpage for domains.cobot.me, you will not find one. Do not worry; we promise it will work. Please continue the setup to the end.

  • Some companies require you to enter the entire domain https://members.your-space.com/, others only the subdomain members (with nothing before or after), or sometimes members. (with an added dot). You will need to check their guides for more details. If you don't find the information you need online, you may have to contact your hosting provider directly and ask them to set the record.

PRO TIP: To test whether your DNS has propagated correctly, visit https://www.digwebinterface.com and test the domain for your Cobot URL. If it lists domains.cobot.me propagation is complete.


Using a subdomain:

Subdomains are created when you add prefixes before any existing domain name. The domain your space is currently hosted under is cobot.me, and your existing subdomain is whatever you registered with. Let's use your-space as the example in this guide.

  1. First, you must have a domain that you own. Maybe you already have a website; let's use https://your-space.com as an example. You then need to decide on your desired subdomain name, like members.your-space.com. This will be the new URL that anyone clicking on your Cobot login or Signup pages will now see.

    1. Instead of members, you can choose anything you want. Still, there must be a subdomain, i.e., simply your-space.com will not work as this already exists for your website.

  2. After you have chosen a subdomain name, add it to your domain's DNS records. You can usually do this on the website of the company where you bought the domain. They might have a web interface where you can set this up yourself, if not, you may have to contact them directly.

    1. If you can set this up yourself: You need to add a CNAME entry that points from your new subdomain, in this case, members, to domains.cobot.me. Here is an example of how this would look:

IMPORTANT NOTES:

  • If you try looking for a webpage for domains.cobot.me, you will not find one. Do not worry; we promise it will work. Please continue the setup to the end.

  • Some companies require you to enter the entire domain https://members.your-space.com/, others only the subdomain members (with nothing before or after), or sometimes members. (with an added dot). You will need to check their guides for more details. If you don't find the information you need online, you may have to contact your hosting provider directly and ask them to set the record.

    • Here are guides for some of the most popular hosting solutions. If you don't find the information you need online, you may have to contact your hosting provider directly and ask them to set the record.

PRO TIP: To test whether your DNS has propagated correctly, visit https://www.digwebinterface.com and test the domain for your Cobot URL. If it lists domains.cobot.me propagation is complete.


Sending Emails From Your Domain/Subdomain

If you plan to send emails from your domain, you should set up an SPF record. Check out this guide for more details.


CAA Records

Some hosting services (although not all) require you to whitelist other services to create SSL certificates for your domain with an extra CAA entry in your domain setup.

The CAA entry has to look like this:

your-domain.com CAA 0 issue "letsencrypt.org"

Adding this entry will allow us to issue an SSL certificate for your domain to keep the communication secure.

Below is a list of guides for setting up CAA records at popular hosting providers. If you have trouble with this, don't hesitate to contact your hosting provider's support service for assistance.


Updating Your Domain in Cobot

Once you have completed the above, you are ready to add your domain/subdomain to Cobot. It's straightforward to do. Log in to the admin side of your Cobot account » Customize » Domain » Enter your new domain/subdomain name » Update Domain.

If your DNS is set up correctly, this typically only takes a few minutes. After that, your subdomain will automatically redirect to your custom domain. You will see this reflected in the URL of your Cobot account, regardless of what page you are on or if you are logged in as an admin or member. We'll take it from there.

If you do not see the change within 10 minutes, send us an email with the steps you have taken, which hosting provider you use, and whether you are using a domain or subdomain.


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