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Custom domain: root domain and www

Root without ALIAS: www as the main address, forwarding at the registrar, moving DNS

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Root domain and www

Why the root domain is special#

The root is example.com itself, without a subdomain. It already holds mandatory service records (SOA, NS) and usually email (MX), so the DNS standard forbids a CNAME on the root — the record that says "this address is the same as that one". A site on our platform needs exactly such a link: our IP addresses change, and an A record with a fixed address will stop working over time.

Providers solve this with special record types — ALIAS, ANAME or "CNAME flattening": the provider looks up the current addresses itself and returns them as an ordinary A. Cloudflare, Namecheap, Amazon Route 53, Yandex Cloud DNS and others have such records; GoDaddy, REG.RU, Timeweb and most hostings do not.

The connection wizard knows which provider has what (the provider registry) and offers the right option on the first step. It does not show ALIAS to someone who has nowhere to create it.

Root and www in one connection#

If the root is connected directly (your provider has ALIAS), you don't need to set up www separately: keep the "Also connect www.example.com" tick on the wizard's first step. Then:

  • one more record appears in the list — a CNAME for www (value as shown in the wizard);
  • one certificate is issued for both example.com and www.example.com;
  • www.example.com (both http:// and https://) answers with a permanent 301 redirect to https://example.com, keeping the path and parameters: www.example.com/menu?table=5 → example.com/menu?table=5;
  • it is one connection and one plan slot; the wizard checks both records and shows on a separate line whether the www redirect works.

For a root that is already connected, add www from the domain card with "Also connect www" — the site on the root keeps working meanwhile. A domain bought from us is connected as such a pair automatically: we put the www records into our own zone.

The pair is not available in every cloud of the platform: if there is no tick on the first step, set up www in one of the ways below.

The main address is www#

If the provider has no ALIAS, www.example.com becomes the site's main address:

  1. On the first step of the wizard press "Connect www.example.com" (or enter www.example.com yourself).
  2. Add one CNAME record for www at the provider — as in the wizard (guide for your panel — Instructions by DNS provider).
  3. Set up forwarding of the root to www — next section.

For search engines and visitors this is a normal setup: most sites open on www and forward the root to it.

Forwarding the root to www#

Forwarding ("redirect", "domain forwarding") is set up at the registrar or DNS provider — a separate service, usually free:

Provider Where https:// on the root
GoDaddy Domain → Forwarding works
REG.RU Domain → "Domain forwarding" (Переадресация домена) does not work — http:// only
Namecheap Domain → Redirect Domain does not work — http:// only
RU-CENTER "Domain redirect" service check with the provider
Cloudflare Rules → Redirect Rules (root record proxied) works

Forward to https://www.example.com, type 301 (permanent). If the provider offers "masking"/"frame" forwarding, decline: it breaks page addresses and HTTPS.

If forwarding works only for http://, a visitor typing https://example.com sees a certificate error: the registrar has no certificate for your root. Most people type the address without a scheme (the browser tries http://) or follow links to www, so for many this is enough. If https:// on the root matters, move DNS to a provider with ALIAS (next section) and connect the root directly.

Moving DNS to a provider with ALIAS#

If you need the root itself (https://example.com), the domain's DNS can be moved to a provider with ALIAS without transferring the domain: the domain stays at the registrar, only the DNS servers change. The free and most common option is Cloudflare:

  1. Sign up at Cloudflare and add the domain — it copies existing records (email, subdomains) itself. Compare the copy with the old zone: especially email MX and TXT.
  2. At the registrar replace the DNS servers with Cloudflare's two servers (like *.ns.cloudflare.com). The change takes from an hour to a day; meanwhile email and the site work on the old records.
  3. When Cloudflare shows the domain as active, connect the root in the wizard: a CNAME @ record (Cloudflare flattens it) with Proxy status = DNS only, plus the records the wizard shows. Guide — Custom domain at Cloudflare.

Moving DNS is a change for the whole domain (email, other subdomains). If other services or specialists work with the domain, agree with them in advance.

How to check the result#

  • Open https://www.example.com — the location's site should open.
  • Open http://example.com (and https://example.com if the forwarding supports it) — the address in the browser should change to https://www.example.com.
  • Connected the pair with "Also connect www" — the wizard checks both the main address and the www redirect (the second-name line in the domain card). It does not see forwarding set up at the registrar — check that in a browser.
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