Use your own domain

Your domain becomes the main address for the whole space. Links, embed codes, link previews, the press kit and the sitemap all use it, and old app.capsules.ink links redirect to it, so nothing you shared before breaks.

• Custom domains are on the Pro and Creative Lab plans.
• Only a space's owner or an admin can set its domain. Each space has one, and a domain belongs to one space.
• You need access to your domain's DNS settings, wherever you bought it or manage it.
• We recommend a subdomain, such as stories. or read., so your main website stays where it is. You can use the bare domain too.

1. In Capsules, open Settings, then Domain.
2. Enter the domain, for example stories.yourdomain.com, and choose Save.
3. Capsules shows the two DNS records to add, with your own verification code.

Add both records at your DNS provider:

Type    Name                                Value
CNAME   stories.yourdomain.com              domains.capsules.ink
TXT     _capsules.stories.yourdomain.com    capsule-verify-…

• The CNAME sends readers to Capsules.
• The TXT record proves the domain is yours. It goes on _capsules. in front of your domain, so it never clashes with the CNAME. Copy the value exactly as Settings shows it.

Using the bare domain

A bare domain like yourdomain.com can't have a CNAME. Use your provider's ALIAS, ANAME or flattened CNAME record instead, pointing at the same target:

Type          Name                       Value
ALIAS         yourdomain.com             domains.capsules.ink
TXT           _capsules.yourdomain.com   capsule-verify-…

If your provider has none of these, use www.yourdomain.com or another subdomain.

1. Back in Settings, Domain, choose Verify now. New records can take a few minutes to appear, sometimes longer.
2. Once both records are found, the domain shows Verified and Capsules sets up its HTTPS certificate. That usually takes a few minutes.
3. We email the space's owner when the domain is connected. From then on, readers reach your space at your domain.

Keep both records in place. Capsules checks them from time to time and renews the certificate for you. If the records are missing for about a day, your space goes back to its Capsules address until they return.

Cloudflare

Add the CNAME with the proxy off (the grey cloud, DNS only), so Capsules can set up HTTPS. Cloudflare flattens a CNAME on the bare domain automatically, so you can add a CNAME there too.

GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace Domains and others

Enter just the part before your domain in the Name or Host field: stories for the CNAME and _capsules.stories for the TXT record. Most providers add the rest themselves.

Route 53

Route 53's alias records only point at AWS, so they can't reach Capsules. Use a subdomain with a CNAME, such as stories or www.

• New and existing capsules are served at your domain straight away. You don't need to republish.
• Embed codes copied after this point use your domain. Older embeds keep working, since their links redirect. If your site has a Content Security Policy, allow your domain in frame-src, as described in Embed.
• Link previews and the oEmbed endpoint use your domain, and search engines are told it's the main address.
• A white-label capsule on your own domain carries no sign of Capsules in its address or its pages.

In Settings, Domain, remove the domain. Your space goes back to app.capsules.ink/your-space straight away, and links to your domain stop working at the same moment. They don't redirect, so update anywhere you shared them. You can then delete the DNS records. To switch domains, remove the old one, then add the new one and verify it.

If your plan changes to one without custom domains, your space goes back to its Capsules address.

It says the TXT record wasn't found

Check it's on _capsules. plus your domain, and that the value matches exactly. Wait a few minutes and try Verify now again.

It says the domain is in use

Another space already uses it. Remove it from that space first.

The browser warns the connection isn't secure

The certificate is still being set up, or a proxy sits in front of Capsules. Turn the proxy off (on Cloudflare, set the record to DNS only) and wait a few minutes.

My provider won't let me add a CNAME

Most refuse a CNAME on the bare domain, or on a name that has other records. Use a subdomain without other records, or an ALIAS record on the bare domain.