Custom domains

Connect a domain you own to a published website. The records to add, how verification works, and how to fix common problems.

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A published website lives at yourname.buildpad.site. With a custom domain it lives at a domain you own instead, like twoends.com. You add one or two DNS records at the company that manages your domain, Buildpad checks them and gets the certificate, and the site answers on your domain.

Custom domain

twoends.comVerifying

Add these two DNS records at your DNS provider. Changes usually show within a few minutes.

TypeNameValue

CNAMEwwwcname.buildpad.site

A@178.156.216.23

Check

The custom domain dialog shows the records to add and ticks each one off as it is found.

Who can use it

Custom domains need an active plan, and your trial counts. Without one, the Use a custom domain link in the publish popover opens the plans dialog instead. See Plans.

Adding a domain

Open the publish popover from the website's status pill and click Use a custom domain. The link is also on Buildpad's publish card once a site is live.
Type the domain and click Add domain. Leave out https:// and any path. twoends.com, www.twoends.com and a subdomain like shop.twoends.com all work.
Add the records shown at your DNS provider. Buildpad looks up where your domain's DNS is managed and names the provider in the instructions when it recognizes it.
Wait for the status to reach Active. Changes usually show within a few minutes.

You can add the domain before the site is published. Visitors see the not published page on your domain until you publish.

Bare domains and subdomains

A bare domain like twoends.com is served at www.twoends.com. The bare name redirects there, so both reach the site. A bare name can only hold an address, not a pointer to Buildpad, which is why it needs two records.
A subdomain like shop.twoends.com is served exactly as typed and needs one record.

Buildpad shows the domain without www, and the published address becomes https://www.twoends.com.

The records

Type	Name	Value	Needed for
CNAME	`www`	`cname.buildpad.site`	Bare domains
A	`@`	`178.156.216.23`	Bare domains
CNAME	the subdomain, like `shop`	`cname.buildpad.site`	Subdomains

Some providers want the full name, www.twoends.com, instead of www, and @ means the domain itself. Use the copy button next to each value in the dialog.

Buildpad reads the records from your domain's own nameservers, so a record you just saved shows up on the next check instead of after caches expire.

Statuses

twoends.comPending

The CNAME record has not been found yet

twoends.comVerifying

Records found, the certificate is on its way

twoends.comActive

The domain is live with a certificate

twoends.comError

Check the records, or remove and add it again

A domain moves from Pending to Active. Error means something needs your attention.

Status	Meaning
Pending	The CNAME record has not been found yet.
Verifying	The record is in place and the certificate is being issued, usually within a few minutes.
Active	The domain is live with a certificate. For a bare domain the dialog still reminds you if the A record is missing.
Error	The certificate could not be issued or the domain was blocked. Check the records, or remove the domain and add it again.

The status also shows as a chip next to the domain in the publish popover.

Checking

The dialog checks on its own every 15 seconds while it is open, and Buildpad re-checks every domain every 5 minutes in the background. Check runs a check right away. After one, the button reads Checked just now for a short while.

Removing a domain

Open the dialog and click Remove domain, then Remove to confirm, or Keep. The site goes back to its buildpad.site address, which keeps working alongside the custom domain the whole time. A website has one custom domain: adding another replaces it, and a domain can be connected to only one website.

Troubleshooting

The site loads on www but not on the bare domain. Look for an AAAA record on the bare domain and remove it. The dialog notes this when it sees one next to the A record.
Your registrar already forwards the bare domain to www. That counts as the A record, so you can leave the forwarding in place.
Typos. The CNAME value is exactly cname.buildpad.site, with no https:// and nothing after it. Check for a stray space or a missing letter.
Nothing changes after adding the records. Give it a few minutes and click Check. If your provider shows the record but Buildpad does not find it, make sure it is on the right domain and that an older record with the same name was removed.
It says to use the address field. Names ending in buildpad.site are not custom domains. Change them in the publish popover instead.
That domain is used by another website. Remove it from the other website first.
Error status. Remove the domain and add it again. If it comes back, the records are usually the cause.

When a subscription ends

The website is paused and visitors on your domain see the paused page, but the domain stays connected. When a plan is active again the site resumes on your domain with nothing to redo. If you want the domain for something else in the meantime, remove it from the dialog.

Tip

Add the domain before the site is finished. The records and the certificate take a few minutes to settle, so by the time you publish the domain is already Active.

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