Connect a custom domain
Put your storefront, pages and checkouts on your own domain: add the domain, copy the DNS records, read the verification and SSL states, and make it the address used in links.
A custom domain serves your whole site (storefront, pages, product pages and checkouts) from an address you own, for example edu.yourdomain.com. When you finish these steps, the domain is verified, has an SSL certificate, and is the address Zanfia uses in links and e-mails.
Plan
A custom domain is included in every current plan. On an older plan without it, the Add a new domain button is replaced by Use your own domain with an upgrade button; a domain you connected earlier keeps working and verifying regardless of plan. See Change your Zanfia plan.
Connect the domain
Open the Domains tab
In the sidebar choose Your site → Settings and open the Domains tab (/site/address). The
first section is Custom domain. The section below it is the e-mail sending domain, which is a
separate setting described in Send from your own domain.
Add the domain
Click Add a new domain and type the domain after the https:// prefix, without a path and
without underscores. You can connect one domain for the whole site. A single page can also get its
own address (e.g. mydomain.com while your courses stay on platform.mydomain.com): in the page
editor, Settings → Page address → Connect your own domain (Pro plan and up). A subdomain such
as edu.yourdomain.com is the safe choice: typing a main domain shows the note "When connecting
your main domain, your site will be replaced by the Zanfia platform."
Save and verify
The field is tagged Not saved yet and a box says Save to generate DNS records and start verification. Click Save & verify. If the domain is already used elsewhere you get "This domain is already connected to another site or environment, so it can't be added here. Please use a different domain."
Add the DNS records at your domain provider
After saving, a card shows the domain, its status and a table with Record type, Record name and Record value. Create exactly these records in the DNS panel of the company where you registered the domain; the copy icon next to each value copies it. A row tagged Conflicting is a record that already exists at your provider and blocks verification: remove it there and keep only the rows without that tag.
Re-check
DNS changes take time to spread. Come back and click Re-check status until the domain shows Verified.
Use the domain in links
Under Base address used in communication, select your domain and click Save. This is the address shown in e-mails and links. The option can be selected only once the domain is Verified; before that it shows "Verify this domain before using it as your base address."
What each state means
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Not saved yet | The domain is typed in but not saved. No records exist yet. | Click Save & verify. |
| Verifying domains... | The check is running. | Wait a moment. |
| Unverified with a table of records | The expected DNS records were not found yet. | Add the records, remove any Conflicting ones, then re-check. |
| Unknown | The status could not be determined. | Click Re-check status. |
| "Domain verification is taking longer than expected." | The check did not answer in time. | Click Try again. |
| Verified and Generating SSL certificate | DNS is correct. The certificate is issued automatically, usually within a few minutes, sometimes up to about 2 hours. The status refreshes on its own. | Nothing. You can leave the page. If it takes longer than 2 hours, write to us. |
| Verified and No SSL certificate | DNS points at Zanfia, but the certificate has not come for over 30 minutes. Our team is notified automatically. | Nothing in your DNS. We will sort it out; you can also write to us. |
| Verified and SSL active | The domain is live. Hover the tag to see Valid until [date]. | Select it as the base address if you have not yet. |
While the domain is unverified or waiting for its certificate, your site keeps working on its Zanfia address. The domain itself opens only once its certificate is issued: usually minutes after the DNS switch, up to about 2 hours. If you are moving a domain that already hosts a website, switch its DNS at a time when a short break is fine, and write to support@zanfia.com if the certificate takes longer than 2 hours. If you cannot work out the records, the card itself points you to support@zanfia.com or your domain provider.
After the domain is live
| Topic | What changes |
|---|---|
| Links in the app | View store, Open live and copied page links use the base address you selected. |
| The Zanfia address | It stays as Built-in address on the General Settings tab and keeps working. |
| Switching back | Select Default address under Base address used in communication and Save. The same switch is available from the arrow next to the address on General Settings. |
| Removing the domain | Click the minus icon next to the domain and Save. |
| Apple Pay and Google Pay | With Stripe, a domain that is not registered there can hide these payment methods on it. The Stripe integration lists your domains and has a Sync domains button. See Connect Stripe. |
Good to know
Connect a subdomain if your main domain already hosts a website: connecting the main domain replaces that website with your Zanfia site. Changing the domain in the field hides the records card until you save again, because records are generated only for a saved domain.
All subdomains at once for single pages
A single page connects its own address in the page editor: Settings → Page address → Connect your own domain, then Also at my own domain, the address under Your address, and a method under Choose how to connect the domain (Pro plan and up). This address only is the default: 1 record per address. If you plan several pages on one domain, the advanced option connects every subdomain at once, so the next pages need no DNS changes.
Choose all subdomains at once
Click Advanced: all subdomains at once (wildcard), select All subdomains at once and click
Connect. The option covers the subdomains of the parent of the address you typed: for
course.yourdomain.com every name.yourdomain.com, for course.pages.yourdomain.com every
name.pages.yourdomain.com. It covers one level only. The main domain itself (yourdomain.com)
always connects with an A record, never this way. Your main website and email stay unchanged.
Add the 3 records once
The dialog lists the records with copy icons (shown below). Add them once at your domain provider; they serve every address under the parent. The NS records hand Zanfia only the SSL certificate for your subdomains: your domain's nameservers stay where they are. In Cloudflare turn the proxy off (grey cloud) for these records.
Connect the next pages without DNS changes
When you connect another page, the dialog offers Use a subdomain of yourdomain.com with a name taken from the page's address: edit it and click Connect. An address you type under the same parent connects with Connect now. The page works right away, or as soon as the domain itself is connected.
The records for a parent on your main domain (for a deeper parent the names carry its label, e.g.
_acme-challenge.pages and *.pages):
| Type | Name (host) | Value |
|---|---|---|
| NS | _acme-challenge | ns1.vercel-dns.com |
| NS | _acme-challenge | ns2.vercel-dns.com |
| CNAME | * | cname.vercel-dns-0.com |
Switch between single subdomains and all subdomains
In Your site → Settings → Domains, the Additional domains section shows each domain with Single subdomains or All subdomains.
- To all subdomains: Advanced → Switch to all subdomains (wildcard). It appears when pages use single subdomains of the domain. With pages under several parents, For which addresses? picks one. Only the addresses directly under that parent move; deeper addresses and the main domain keep their own records.
- To single subdomains: Switch to single subdomains. Every address gets its own CNAME record.
Confirm with Switch. Your pages keep working on the current setup while the panel under the
domain lists the records to add and the state of each address. The panel re-checks on its own while
it is open, or click Check now. Once the new records and certificate are ready, the pages switch
automatically and a window lists the old records you can delete. Do not delete the old records (the
pages' CNAME records, or * and _acme-challenge) before that. If no page works at its address
yet, the switch completes at once. After 48 hours without the new setup the tag reads Switching:
problem: the pages still run on the old setup, so fix the records or click Cancel switch.
What to expect with all subdomains
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| An address under the parent that no page uses | It shows a 404 page. |
| A page that already had its own CNAME under that parent | It keeps its own record and keeps working: an address's own CNAME takes priority over *. |
A * record already exists at your provider | The dialog shows Replace the * record: replace it with the * record from the table. With This address only it does not matter. |
An _acme-challenge record already exists at your provider | Another service renews your domain's certificate through DNS, so All subdomains at once is not offered. Connect single addresses. |
| The domain is already connected with single subdomains | A new address directly under it gets 1 record. To move the whole domain, use the switch above. |
| Your plan's domain limit | Everything on one domain, your site address and every parent included, counts as 1 connected domain; Additional domains shows the usage. Subdomains are unlimited. |
| A domain on another Zanfia account | It cannot be connected: "This domain is used by another Zanfia account." |
| Many pages on one connection | Up to 50 pages ("This domain already has 50 connected pages."). Write to support to raise it. |
| Disconnecting | Disconnect domain (or Disconnect for one parent): the pages stay at your site address. Delete the * and _acme-challenge records at your provider afterwards. |
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