Custom domain setup

Pro Tip: Already have a custom domain but can't remember who the provider is? Check out How do I find my domain name provider? below.

Before you begin

Correctly setting up a custom domain can be tricky, further complicated by the fact that the domain setup process is different from one domain provider to another. 

Because WildApricot does not have any control over the DNS settings for your custom domain, you will need to contact your domain provider directly if you need assistance configuring your DNS records. 

You can also use our WildApricot Partner Network directory to contact a consultant for assistance. Select Custom domain setup from the Services menu in the directory, and you'll see a list of consultants you can contact directly for help. 

1. Register your domain name

Choose a domain name registrar or DNS provider and register your custom domain name.

2. Configure your custom domain's DNS records

We recommend that you contact your domain name provider directly and ask for their assistance with the setup, or contact a consultant from our Partner Network.

Don't know who your domain name provider is? Click here then enter your domain name in the field and click the Search button. Look for the name of your domain name provider in the Registrar field.

You can use the following information as a sample template when communicating with your DNS provider, and adjust the specifics as required. 

The A record, SPF/TXT record, and DMARC record information provided in the example below will be unique to your account.

Please assist me with my domain name setup 
by modifying / adding the following DNS records to it:
 
1) CNAME
Name: www
Value: sites.wildapricot.org
 
2) DKIM record (a second CNAME record)
Name: default._domainkey
Value: dkim.wildapricot.org
 
3) A record
Name: {yourdomainname}
Value: 34.226.77.200
 
4) SPF record (a TXT record)
Name: {yourdomainname}
Value: v=spf1 mx include:wildapricot.org ~all

5) CAA record
Domain: letsencrypt.org

6) DMARC record (a second TXT record)
Name: _dmarc.{yourdomainname}
Value: v=DMARC1; p=none; adkim=r; aspf=r; 

Replace all occurrences of {yourdomainname} in the examples above with your own custom domain name. With some domain registrars, the name is not required. 

Important Note: To view an example of a DMARC record with a rua tag, please see the DMARC rua tag section below.

All DNS records must be configured within your DNS provider account. The way you access your account and its DNS record settings is different for each DNS provider. Links to the help centers for common DNS providers are below: 

We have also provided more detailed examples for two domain registrars – see GoDaddy DNS setup and Network Solutions custom domain setup

Need help with your DNS records or your custom domain?
Our Partner Network can assist you. Visit the WildApricot Partner Network directory, select Custom domain setup from the Services menu, and you'll see a list of consultants to contact directly for help.

CNAME record
Set up the following CNAME record to point the www version of your domain to sites.wildapricot.org.

Name: www
Value: sites.wildapricot.org

Copy this code exactly as shown above – do not replace sites.wildapricot.org with anything else (except the legacy domain memberlodge.org).

Note: This only sets up www.yourdomain.org and not yourdomain.org.

"A" record
If you want yourdomain.org (without the leading www) to work as well, you need to set up an A-record for yourdomain.org to point to our server IP address 34.226.77.200.

For example:

Name: @
Value: 34.226.77.200

The required value of Name could vary from provider to provider. In most cases, you would use @ or yourdomain.org. It may also not be required, in which case it would be blank. Follow up with your domain provider support for more details.


DKIM record
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is a method of authenticating emails sent from your domain, reducing the chance of your messages being identified as spam or junk. DKIM associates your domain name with your messages, thereby vouching for its authenticity. Add a DKIM record as a second CNAME record in your DNS settings.

To set up DKIM authentication for your domain, add the following CNAME record:

Name: default._domainkey
Value: dkim.wildapricot.org

SPF record
You need to create an SPF (TXT) record for your domain. This specifies that WildApricot servers are allowed to send emails on your behalf. Without an SPF record, the From email address will be automatically generated from the free sub-domain we provide you (@wildapricot.org), and you will not be able to use a custom From email address that is based on your custom domain. (For more information about the From email setting, see Organization details.)

If your domain currently does not have an SPF record, you should add one as follows:

Name: @
Value: v=spf1 mx include:wildapricot.org ~all

Copy the code exactly as shown above – do not replace wildapricot.org with anything else (except the legacy domain memberlodge.org), and make sure there's a space between wildapricot.org and ~all.

If you already have an SPF record then simply modify it by adding include:wildapricot.org before ~all.

For example:

v=spf1 include:wildapricot.org include:_spf.google.com ~all

With some domain registrars, the name is not required, or it can be set to your domain (e.g. yourdomain.org).

Note: If you are already using an email hosting service to handle emails from your domain, you need to merge the include statements in your SPF record to include both WildApricot and your email host. View our article on Emailing from your custom domain.

DMARC record
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance) is a method of authenticating email messages. A DMARC policy is a TXT record that tells a receiving email server what to do after checking a domain's SPF and DKIM records. 

For an in-depth explanation of DMARC, view Cloudflare's article

DMARC policies can also contain instructions about where to send reports of emails that pass or fail DKIM or SPF. See the section below about the DMARC rua tag for more information.

Here is an example of what a basic DMARC record might look like for a custom domain of {yourdomainname}:

Name:  _dmarc.{yourdomainname}
Value:  v=DMARC1; p=none; adkim=r; aspf=r; 

What does this mean?

  • v=DMARC1 indicates that this TXT record contains a DMARC policy and should be interpreted as such by email servers.
  • p=none allows emails that fail to still go through, while p=quarantine indicates that email servers should "quarantine" emails that fail DKIM and SPF — considering them to be potentially spam. Another possible setting is p=reject, which instructs email servers to block emails that fail.
  • adkim=r means that DKIM checks are "relaxed." This can also be set to "strict" by changing the r to an s, like adkim=s.
  • aspf=r is the same as adkim=r, but for SPF.
  • Note:  aspf and adkim are optional settings. The p= attribute is required and indicates what email servers should do with emails that fail SPF and DKIM.
Important Note: The DMARC information provided in the example above is only an example, and the specific Name and Value settings will be unique to your account. As long as you have a TXT record that provides a DMARC policy in your DNS settings, your domain will pass WildApricot's domain status check for DMARC.

DMARC rua tag
The rua part of a DMARC policy indicates what email address your DMARC reports should be sent to.

The DMARC rua tag is used to designate an email address or addresses to send DMARC aggregate feedback reports to. These reports are incredibly valuable to any business that sends email, as a they provide a view into email delivery when reports are combined. 

Even if a business does not use the domain for sending email, setting up a DMARC record and receiving these DMARC reports can provide insight into domain spoofing or phishing attacks impersonating the domain, which may impact your business and reputation.

The rua tag is set as a comma-separated list of email addresses which you want DMARC aggregate reports sent to. Each email address you wish to send reports to should be formatted with a prefix of mailto: 

You can add an optional rua tag to the DMARC value in your DNS settings. A sample DMARC record with a rua tag for the custom domain {yourdomainname} might appear as follows:

Name:  _dmarc.{yourdomainname}
Value:  v=DMARC1; p=none; adkim=r; aspf=r; rua=mailto:something@{yourdomainname}; 

Important Note: The DMARC information provided in the example above is only an example, and the specific Name and Value settings will be unique to your account. As long as you have a TXT record that provides a DMARC policy in your DNS settings, your domain will pass WildApricot's domain status check for DMARC.


CAA record
A Certification Authority Authorization (CAA) record is used to specify which certificate authorities are allowed to issue certificates for your domain. 

If you don't have a CAA record within your DNS, you need to create one. The CAA record should include letsencyrpt.org and any other certificate issuing authority that you have ordered a certificate from.


AAAA (IPv6) record
If you have an AAAA (IPv6) DNS record specified, you should remove it as it would prevent WildApricot from being able to install a security certificate on your domain.

Important Note: To use your custom domain as your organization's From email address, your custom domain must be set as Primary in your WildApricot Domain name management settings, and the following 3 DNS records must be configured within your DNS provider account:

  • SPF (a TXT record)
  • DKIM (a CNAME record)
  • DMARC (a TXT record)

If WildApricot cannot verify that your custom domain includes all 3 of the required DNS records, your organization's From email will revert to your @wildapricot.org address until all 3 records are configured in your DNS provider account and verified as accurate by the WildApricot system.


3. Get a custom security certificate (SSL)

If you are using a custom domain name, you need a custom security certificate for your domain. Otherwise, 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").

We will automatically issue a free Let's Encrypt certificate for you when you add your custom domain using the instructions below. You can, if you want, order a security certificate from another provider. 

4. Add your custom domain to your WildApricot account

Note: To use your custom domain as your From email address, your custom domain must be set as Primary in your WildApricot Domain name management settings (below).

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

  1. In admin view, select Website then click Settings.
  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 Save.
  5. 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 as the primary domain by clicking the Set as primary link beside the domain name.

Note: To use your custom domain as your From email address, your custom domain must be set as Primary in your WildApricot Domain name management settings.

If your custom domain is not already secured using a custom security certificate, we will automatically issue a free one from Let's Encrypt. For more information, view Securing custom domains.

Important Note: While the process on WildApricot's end takes only a few minutes to complete, it can take 24-48 hours for your DNS provider to update changes to your DNS records. During this time, your free WildApricot From email address can function as a backup option.

How do I find my domain name provider?

If you have a custom domain name, but you cannot remember who the provider is, we recommend using the free Whois Lookup tool from DomainTools:

1. Navigate to https://whois.domaintools.com/

2. Paste or enter your custom domain (website address) in the search bar, then click Search.

3. Your domain Registrar (the company providing your custom domain name) will be displayed at the top of the Domain Profile results.


Optional settings

Subdomain
A subdomain is a type of domain address. For example, if you have an existing website at www.abc.org, you can set up WildApricot on a subdomain like memberarea.abc.org. For more information on how to set this up, contact your domain name provider.

Email hosting
For details regarding custom domains and email hosting, please view Email hosting with a custom domain.

DNS Servers

We do not provide DNS servers ourselves since most domain registrars already provide this service at no charge for every domain. However, if you have registered your domain through one of small reseller domain registrars you might not have direct access to your DNS settings, only the ability to change your DNS servers. The following are some options in this case:

  • Contact your domain registrar and ask if they can set it up manually for you - use their domain servers to point your domain to our server (via CNAME or IP address). This is the best option as many domain registrars can do this even if they do not provide web-based self-service interface for you to do it. The biggest challenge is to get hold of a knowledgeable service rep at the domain registrar - since this is a relatively rare situation, many service reps will have a hard time understanding what you need them to do.
  • Contact your hosting company (the one whose DNS servers you currently use) and ask them to change their name server settings to point website to us. Whether they would do it or not - and what would they charge - depends on a particular hosting company. This is the option to follow if you will still use the hosting company for email hosting.
  • Transfer your domain to another registrar which provides DNS servers and online access to their settings. This takes a few days and incurs a one-time charge (depends on each registrar).

Troubleshooting

Need help with your DNS records or your custom domain?
Our Partner Network can assist you. Visit the WildApricot Partner Network directory, select Custom domain setup from the Services menu, and you'll see a list of consultants to contact directly for help.

The following are some solutions to common issues with custom domain setup.

How to access your site when custom domain malfunctions
Your WildApricot account comes with a free domain (e.g. nycs.memberlodge.org) that can always be used to access your account if your account's custom domain name malfunctions. This domain is always available; it cannot be removed, but you can rename it if required (see Domain name management). If you do not remember this domain name, you can always find it in the emails that were sent to you when you first opened your WildApricot account.

Check your domain status and DNS records
On average, it might take up to 48 hours for DNS records on the Internet to pick up your new settings (though usually it happens much faster). If it is not working after this period, you might need to check your domain status and DNS records. 

Check your setup
One of the most common mistakes for custom domain setup is a domain redirect to your WildApricot domain.

Also, avoid setting up your custom domain by putting the WildApricot website within an iframe (aka domain masking).

Finally, make sure that you added your custom domain to the domain list and set it as primary.

Google Suite domains
The synthetic records used on some Google Suite domains can conflict with custom domain verification. These records are not essential and can be removed. If you are encountering errors setting up your Google Suite domain with WildApricot, consider removing the synthetic records from your Google Suite domain setup.

Search: WildApricot.com 

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