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Your site starts on a Hiveku address. To put it on a domain you own, such as www.yourbusiness.com, you connect the domain in Hiveku, then add one or two DNS records where you bought the domain. Hiveku does the rest, including the secure connection (HTTPS). This guide connects a subdomain, order.northwindroasters.com, to Northwind’s website to show each step, and shows how Northwind’s main domain looks once it is live.

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Open your site’s settings

Open your website, click its name at the top of the page, then Settings. Custom domains is on that page.
The site's name at the top, Northwind Coffee Roasters, outlined, and its menu open with Settings outlined at the bottom

Settings, in the site's menu

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Connect the domain

1

Type it

Click Connect a domain and type the domain under Your domain. The line under the box says what Hiveku will set up. Type yourbusiness.com and Hiveku sets up both: www.yourbusiness.com becomes the address, and yourbusiness.com sends visitors there. Type www.yourbusiness.com and the same happens while Also send yourbusiness.com to www.yourbusiness.com stays ticked. Any other name, such as order.yourbusiness.com, is set up exactly as you type it.
2

Choose where it points

More options shows Environment. Leave it on Live site for the site your visitors see. Development gives that version of your site its own address, and so does Staging when your site has a staging version.
3

Click Connect

Custom domains with Your domain order.northwindroasters.com outlined, More options open with Environment Live site outlined, and the Connect button outlined

order.northwindroasters.com, for the live site

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Add the DNS record

The domain appears on the card with Add this DNS record and the record to add: its type, then its Name and Value, each with a copy button.
order.northwindroasters.com, Main address, Add this DNS record with its explanation, outlined; and the DNS record, CNAME Not added yet, Name order and its Value, outlined

The record to add where you manage DNS

1

Open your DNS settings

Sign in where you manage DNS for your domain, usually where you bought it.
2

Add the record

Add a record with the same type, name and value. If your DNS is on Cloudflare, set it to DNS only (gray cloud).
3

Let Hiveku finish

Hiveku checks for the record by itself, even after you close the page. Once it finds the record, the card reads Setting up the secure connection, which usually takes a few minutes, and then Live. Some domains show Going live for a moment in between. If the site has never been published, the card reads Publish your site until you publish it.

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See it live

A live domain shows Live and a green tick. Main address marks the address your site uses, and a second domain, such as the one without www, says it sends visitors there. Show DNS records shows the records to keep in place.
www.northwindroasters.com, Main address, Live, Your site's address, Secure (HTTPS), renewed automatically, outlined; and northwindroasters.com, Live, Sends visitors to www.northwindroasters.com, outlined

Northwind's own domain, live

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Change or remove a domain

The … menu on a live domain has Remove, and on a live domain that isn’t the main address, Make this the main address too. While a domain is still being set up, it has Stop setting up instead. Then delete its DNS records where you manage DNS.
The domain's ... menu, outlined, open with Stop setting up, outlined

Stop setting up, while the domain is not live yet

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Good to know

  • Paid plans. Custom domains come with paid plans. On the Free plan, the card says so and links to the plans.
  • Something wrong? A domain that needs you reads Needs your attention and says what to fix, with Check again or Try again.
  • More: Publish Your Changes and Custom domains for every setting.