GoDaddy DNS setup

When you create a Wild Apricot account, you are provided with a free website address. If you already have your own custom domain address, you can use your custom domain name in place of your free Wild Apricot address. If you are using GoDaddy as your domain registrar, follow these instructions to set up your GoDaddy account and Wild Apricot account to use your custom domain as the address for your Wild Apricot site.

Setting up your GoDaddy account

To set up your GoDaddy account to use your custom domain as your Wild Apricot site address, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your GoDaddy account at http://www.godaddy.com.
2. Click the down arrow beside the account icon and click the My Products option.  
3. For the domain that you'd like to use as the address for your Wild Apricot site, click the DNS button.  
4. Within the row where Type = A and Name = @, click the pencil icon to enter edit mode.
   If there is no such row, click  Add Record to add one.
   Note: You should have only one A record entry. Otherwise, problems may occur.
5. Enter 34.226.77.200 in the Points to field, then click Save.
6. Within the row where Type = CNAME and Name = www, click the pencil icon. If there is no such row, click Add Record to add one.
7. Enter sites.wildapricot.org in the Points to field, then click Save.
8. Within the row where Type = TXT and Name = @ (or your domain name), click the pencil icon. If there is no such row, click Add to add one.
9. Enter @in the Host field.
10. In the TXT Value field, enter v=spf1 mx include:wildapricot.org ~all then click Save.
11. Click Add and select CNAME as the Type.
12. In the Host field, enter default._domainkey.
13. In the Points to field, enter dkim.wildapricot.org .

Adding your custom domain to your Wild Apricot account

To add your custom domain name to your Wild Apricot account, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Website module (by clicking the Website menu) then click the Settings option.
2. Within the Settings screen, click Domain name (under Site settings).
3. From the Domain name management screen, click the Add custom domain name button.
   
4. Enter your domain name, then click the Save button.
   If you add a custom domain name without the www prefix, we will automatically add domains both with and without the www prefix. 
5. If you want to automatically install a custom security certificate from Let's Encrypt for your custom domain, make sure the option to install a free SSL certificate from Let's Encrypt is checked. If you use a custom domain without a custom security certificate, visitors who access your site by manually entering https will typically see a security warning displayed by their browser (e.g. "not secure" or "connection not private").  For more information on Let's Encrypt security certificates, click here.
6. Click the Save button to save your changes.
7. If you don't want to use both domains, you can remove one by clicking the Remove button beside the appropriate entry. If you want to keep both, you must designate one at the primary domain by clicking the Set as primary link beside the domain name.
   

While the process on Wild Apricot's end takes only a few minutes to complete, the process on your registrar's end can take 24-48 hours. During this time, your free Wild Apricot can function as a backup option.