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  3. Custom domain or subdomain for your help site

Custom domain or subdomain for your help site

There are a couple different options for what URL your HelpSite-powered knowledge base can live at.

  1. Subdomain. By default, every site is automatically given a subdomain like yourname.helpsite.com.
  2. Custom Domain (Recommended): Setting up a custom domain allows your site to live at help.your-domain.com instead. 
  3. Embedding: Technically iframe embedding allows your HelpSite to live on any URL on your existing website, however this approach is not recommended and has some real downsides. Learn more.

These options are all available even on our Free plan!

We recommend setting up the Custom Domain option, which is the best way to show that your knowledge base site is officially associated with your company, and also is the best option for SEO. This means you would simply link to your HelpSite powered (which would live at help.your-domain.com) from your main website (your-domain.com).  

Setting up a Custom Domain does require changing your domain's DNS settings. Instructions are below, but please contact us if you need help.

How to use a custom domain for your HelpSite

Here's how:

  1. Create a CNAME DNS record for help.yoursite.com (or support.yoursite.com or whatever you'd like) and point it to your helpsite.com subdomain (e.g. yourname.helpsite.com). Keep reading further down on this page for instructions on how to set this up with your domain registrar. It may take an hour or so before your DNS propagates.
  2. If your site already uses CAA records (this does not apply to most websites), then also follow our CAA requirements.
  3. Log in to your HelpSite page and click Customize. From there, you can set your custom domain.
  4. If you set your Custom Domain option in HelpSite before setting up your DNS record, you'll see a red "x" icon in Settings, and you will need to click "Update Site" so that we can validate your DNS is setup correctly.

Once Custom Domain and your DNS record is setup properly, you should see a green checkmark like this in HelpSite:

If you have any issues or questions, just get in touch.

HTTPS / SSL

We automatically setup HTTPS / SSL for all sites, to keep you secure, even on the free plan! For custom domain sites, the SSL will be setup within a couple minutes after we show that your CNAME DNS record was verified. Learn more about SSL.

If you use CAA records to restrict which providers can issue SSL certs, you'll need to follow our CAA requirements here.

How to setup a CNAME DNS record

More detailed instructions are available directly from your domain provider: