Wired Church

Custom Domain Setup

Last updated Sun Mar 15 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Custom Domain Setup

By default, your Wired Church site is accessible at yourchurch.wiredchurch.app. With a custom domain, you can serve your church management platform from your own address like my.yourchurch.com or yourchurch.com. This guide walks you through the complete setup process.

What a Custom Domain Gives You

A custom domain provides:

  • Professional branding — Members and visitors see your church's domain, not a third-party address.
  • Consistent identity — Your portal, public website, and admin panel all live under your domain.
  • Better email deliverability — Emails can be sent from your own domain with proper DNS records.
  • SEO benefits — Search engines associate your content with your established domain.
Note

Custom domains are available on the Pro and Enterprise plans. The Starter plan uses the default yourchurch.wiredchurch.app address.

Choosing Your Domain Configuration

You have two options for your custom domain:

Use a subdomain like my.yourchurch.com while keeping your main website at yourchurch.com.

Best for: Churches that already have a website at their root domain or use a separate website builder.

Example: my.nlpc.net points to Wired Church while nlpc.net remains the public church website.

Option B: Root Domain

Point your entire root domain like yourchurch.com to Wired Church.

Best for: Churches that want Wired Church to serve their entire web presence, including the public website.

Example: nlpc.net points entirely to Wired Church for both the public site and member portal.

Tip

Most churches start with a subdomain (my.yourchurch.com) because it allows Wired Church to coexist with an existing website. You can always switch to a root domain later.

Setup Steps

Step 1: Add Your Domain in Wired Church

  1. Navigate to Admin > Settings > Church Profile > Custom Domain.
  2. Click Add Custom Domain.
  3. Enter your domain (e.g., my.yourchurch.com or yourchurch.com).
  4. Click Verify Domain.
  5. The system displays the DNS records you need to add.
The Custom Domain setup page showing the domain input field and the DNS records to configure, with copy buttons next to each record value
Important

Do not close this page until you have copied the DNS records. You will need them in the next step.

Step 2: Configure DNS Records

Log in to your domain registrar or DNS provider and add the required records. The exact steps vary by provider (see provider-specific instructions below).

For a Subdomain (e.g., my.yourchurch.com)

Add a CNAME record:

Record Type Host/Name Value/Target TTL
CNAME my yourchurch.wiredchurch.app 3600

For a Root Domain (e.g., yourchurch.com)

Root domains cannot use CNAME records (per DNS standards). Instead, use one of these approaches:

If your DNS provider supports ALIAS/ANAME records:

Record Type Host/Name Value/Target TTL
ALIAS or ANAME @ yourchurch.wiredchurch.app 3600

If your DNS provider only supports A records:

Record Type Host/Name Value TTL
A @ 75.2.60.5 3600
A @ 99.83.186.148 3600
Warning

IP addresses for A records may change. Always use the values displayed on your Wired Church custom domain settings page, not the examples in this article.

Step 3: Verify Domain Ownership

After adding DNS records:

  1. Return to Admin > Settings > Church Profile > Custom Domain.
  2. Click Verify Domain.
  3. The system checks for the correct DNS records.
  4. If verification succeeds, the status changes to Pending SSL.
Note

DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours to propagate worldwide. If verification fails, wait 30 minutes and try again.

Step 4: SSL Certificate Provisioning

Once DNS is verified, Wired Church automatically provisions a free SSL certificate for your domain:

  1. The status shows Provisioning SSL during this process.
  2. SSL provisioning typically completes within 5-10 minutes.
  3. When complete, the status changes to Active.
  4. Your custom domain is now live and serving traffic over HTTPS.
The Custom Domain section showing a domain with "Active" status, a green checkmark, and the SSL expiration date
Important

SSL certificates are automatically renewed before expiration. You do not need to manage certificates manually.

Provider-Specific DNS Instructions

GoDaddy

  1. Log in to your GoDaddy account.
  2. Navigate to My Products > Domains > [Your Domain] > DNS.
  3. Click Add Record.
  4. Select CNAME as the type.
  5. In the Host field, enter my (for subdomain) or leave blank for root.
  6. In the Points to field, enter yourchurch.wiredchurch.app.
  7. Set TTL to 1 Hour.
  8. Click Save.

Namecheap

  1. Log in to your Namecheap account.
  2. Navigate to Domain List > [Your Domain] > Advanced DNS.
  3. Click Add New Record.
  4. Select CNAME Record from the type dropdown.
  5. In the Host field, enter my.
  6. In the Value field, enter yourchurch.wiredchurch.app.
  7. Set TTL to Automatic.
  8. Click the green checkmark to save.

Cloudflare

  1. Log in to your Cloudflare dashboard.
  2. Select your domain.
  3. Navigate to DNS > Records.
  4. Click Add Record.
  5. Select CNAME as the type.
  6. In the Name field, enter my.
  7. In the Target field, enter yourchurch.wiredchurch.app.
  8. Set the proxy status toggle:
    • Proxied (orange cloud) — Recommended. Cloudflare acts as a CDN.
    • DNS only (gray cloud) — Direct connection to Wired Church.
  9. Click Save.
Tip

If you use Cloudflare with proxy enabled, Wired Church automatically detects Cloudflare and adjusts SSL handling. No additional configuration is needed.

Google Domains / Squarespace Domains

  1. Log in to your Google Domains or Squarespace Domains account.
  2. Select your domain.
  3. Navigate to DNS > Custom Records.
  4. Click Manage Custom Records.
  5. Add a new record:
    • Host: my
    • Type: CNAME
    • Data: yourchurch.wiredchurch.app
    • TTL: 3600
  6. Click Save.

DNS Propagation

After making DNS changes, the new records need to propagate across the global DNS network. Here is what to expect:

Timeframe Status
0-5 minutes Records may be visible from your location
5-30 minutes Most locations see the update
30 minutes - 4 hours Nearly all locations updated
4-48 hours Full global propagation (worst case)

Checking Propagation

You can check if your DNS records have propagated using online tools:

  1. Visit a DNS propagation checker (search "DNS propagation checker" in your browser).
  2. Enter your domain (e.g., my.yourchurch.com).
  3. Select CNAME as the record type.
  4. The tool shows whether your record is visible from various locations worldwide.
Tip

If you are impatient, you can flush your local DNS cache to see changes faster. On most computers, restarting your browser or running a DNS flush command works.

Troubleshooting DNS Issues

Verification keeps failing.

  • Double-check the DNS record values. A common mistake is adding extra spaces or periods.
  • Ensure you added the record to the correct domain (not a different domain in your account).
  • Wait at least 30 minutes between verification attempts.
  • If using Cloudflare, try temporarily setting the proxy to "DNS only" (gray cloud) for verification.

Site shows a security warning after setup.

  • The SSL certificate may still be provisioning. Wait 10-15 minutes and refresh.
  • If the warning persists, go to Admin > Settings > Church Profile > Custom Domain and click Reprovision SSL.

I see a "domain already in use" error.

  • This means the domain is already configured for another Wired Church organization. If this is an error, contact Wired Church support.

My old website stopped working after adding DNS records.

  • If you pointed your root domain to Wired Church, your old website will no longer resolve at that domain. Use a subdomain (my.yourchurch.com) if you want to keep your existing website.

Email sending from my domain stopped working.

  • Adding a CNAME for a subdomain should not affect email. If you changed A records for the root domain, ensure your MX records are still pointing to your email provider.
Warning

Never delete existing MX records when adding DNS records for Wired Church. MX records control email routing. If you accidentally remove them, your church email will stop receiving messages.

Removing a Custom Domain

If you need to remove your custom domain:

  1. Navigate to Admin > Settings > Church Profile > Custom Domain.
  2. Click Remove Domain.
  3. Confirm the removal.
  4. Your site reverts to yourchurch.wiredchurch.app.
  5. Optionally remove the DNS records from your domain registrar.
Note

Removing a custom domain does not affect your data. Your site continues to work at the default Wired Church address.

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