Why Use a Custom Domain

Using a custom domain for your Cmssy site offers several important benefits:

• Professionalism — A custom domain like yourcompany.com looks far more professional than a subdomain. It shows visitors you're serious about your online presence.
• Branding — Your domain is part of your brand identity. A memorable domain reinforces brand recognition every time someone visits or shares your URL.
• SEO Benefits — Search engines favor established custom domains. Over time, your domain builds authority and improves your ranking in search results.
• Email Matching — With a custom domain, you can use matching email addresses (e.g., hello@yourcompany.com) for a consistent and trustworthy brand experience.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• A Cmssy account with a paid plan — Custom domains are available on all paid plans.
• A domain registered with any registrar — You can use GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, Google Domains, or any other domain registrar.

Step 1: Access Domain Settings

To get started with connecting your custom domain:

1. Log in to your Cmssy admin dashboard.
2. Navigate to Workspace Settings from the sidebar.
3. Find the Custom Domains section in the settings panel.

This is where you'll manage all domain connections for your workspace.

Step 2: Add Your Domain

In the Custom Domains section:

1. Click Add Domain.
2. Enter your domain name, for example: example.com.
3. Optionally, add the www variant as well: www.example.com.
4. Click Save to register the domain with your workspace.

Cmssy will display the DNS records you need to configure in the next step.

Step 3: Configure DNS Records

Go to your domain registrar's DNS management panel and add the following records:

The CNAME record for www points your www subdomain to Cmssy's proxy servers. The A record for the root domain (@) points directly to Cmssy's IP address.

Step 4: Verify DNS

After adding the DNS records:

1. Return to the Custom Domains section in Cmssy.
2. Click Verify next to your domain.
3. Cmssy will check that the DNS records are correctly configured.

DNS propagation may take up to 48 hours, but in most cases it completes within 15–30 minutes. If verification fails, wait a bit longer and try again.

Step 5: SSL Certificate

Once your domain is verified, Cmssy handles SSL automatically:

• Automatic SSL provisioning — A Let's Encrypt certificate is generated for your domain.
• HTTPS enabled by default — All traffic is automatically redirected to HTTPS.
• No manual configuration needed — Certificate renewal is handled automatically.

Your site will be accessible via https://yourdomain.com within minutes of verification.

Common DNS Providers

Here are brief instructions for popular domain registrars:

GoDaddy

1. Go to My Products → select your domain → DNS.
2. Click Add Record and enter the CNAME and A records as shown above.
3. Save changes.

Namecheap

1. Go to Domain List → click Manage next to your domain.
2. Select the Advanced DNS tab.
3. Add the CNAME and A records.
4. Save all changes.

Cloudflare

1. Select your domain in the Cloudflare dashboard.
2. Go to DNS → Records.
3. Add the CNAME record with DNS only mode (grey cloud icon — not proxied).
4. Add the A record.

Google Domains

1. Go to My Domains → select your domain → DNS.
2. Scroll to Custom resource records.
3. Add the CNAME and A records.
4. Save.

Troubleshooting

Domain Not Verifying

• Check DNS propagation — Use tools like dig or nslookup in your terminal, or online tools like whatsmydns.net, to confirm your records have propagated.
• Clear browser cache — Sometimes stale DNS entries are cached by your browser.
• Wait longer — Propagation can take up to 48 hours in rare cases. Be patient.

SSL Issues

• Conflicting CDN — If you're using a CDN like Cloudflare in proxy mode, it may conflict with Cmssy's SSL provisioning. Switch to DNS-only mode.

WWW vs Root Domain

• Both www.example.com and example.com should be configured. Add both the CNAME (for www) and A record (for root) to ensure visitors can reach your site regardless of which URL they use.

Best Practices

• Always configure both www and root — This ensures visitors can access your site from either URL variant.
• Set up email separately — Custom domain email (e.g., via Google Workspace or Zoho) requires separate MX records and won't conflict with your Cmssy DNS setup.
• Use DNS-only mode if using Cloudflare — Cloudflare's proxy mode can interfere with Cmssy's SSL certificates. Use the grey cloud (DNS-only) for the CNAME record pointing to Cmssy.