Domains

Overview

In Storefront Hosting, domains are the web addresses that connect directly to your deployed Storefront Application. While a pre-generated SCAYLE domain is provided after the successful repository setup, our platform also offers intuitive tools for easy management and creation of custom domains, streamlining how users access and interact with your e-commerce store. A custom domain is a unique, personalized web address that you own and use for your e-commerce application, instead of a default address provided by us.

The "Domains" section, located within "Settings," acts as your primary tool for domain management. It provides core functionalities, allowing you to create (1) and remove (2) custom domains, specific to each environment.

Create a Custom Domain

If you wish to create a custom domain for your application, simply click the "Add Custom Domain" button to be guided through the creation process.

Each step in the creation process is dependent on the previous one, meaning you can only move to Step 2 once you've completed Step 1.

Step 1: Add Domain

• For the first step, you'll need to enter your preferred domain (like scayle.com) for your application and then click the "Add Domain" button. This must be a domain your organization already owns, not just any domain.

Step 2: Set up a TXT Record for Domain Verification

• Once you request domain creation, we'll contact our partner Cloudflare and provide you with a TXT Name and a TXT Value, which are crucial for verifying your domain ownership.
• TXT Name: This is the specific subdomain or host associated with the TXT record.
• TXT Value: This type of DNS record allows you to store arbitrary text data associated with your domain.

In most cases, the TXT Name and TXT Value should be created shortly after adding a domain. After these values are provided, use them to set a TXT DNS Record inside your DNS Provider according to the instructions provided in the section below.

Step 3: Domain Verification & Certificate Issuance

• Once we provide you with the TXT Name and TXT Value, Step 3 in the domain creation process begins.
• When your domain, managed through Cloudflare as our DNS partner, is successfully verified, this crucial verification triggers the automatic generation of an SSL certificate for your domain.
• This verification is a prerequisite for securing your Storefront Application with an SSL certificate and enabling HTTPS.

Depending on Cloudflare, this process might take some time. Therefore, you can click the "Finish Setup" button and proceed with other tasks while the domain verification and certificate generation complete in the background.

On the main Domains Overview Page, a Setup Pending status indicates that your certificate is still being generated. Once the status changes to Valid Certificate, your domain has been successfully verified, and the necessary SSL certificate is provided.

Adding TXT Record for your DNS Provider

After setting up a new custom domain on Storefront Hosting, upon successful completion of Step 2, you will be provided with two values that are used to verify your ownership over your custom domain.

You have to use these values to set as a TXT DNS Record inside your DNS Provider. This allows us to confirm you own your domain by checking for a specific text string that only you could have placed in your DNS records.

Here's a quick general guideline on how to add a TXT Record for your DNS provider:

1. Log In to Your DNS Account: Access your DNS provider's dashboard (e.g., Cloudflare, GoDaddy, AWS Route 53).
2. Go to DNS Settings: Select the domain you want to edit and open its DNS "Settings" or "Manage DNS" section.
3. Add a TXT Record:
   • Type: Select TXT
   • Name: Enter the TXT Name provided
   • Value: Paste the TXT Value provided
   • TTL: Leave as default (e.g., 1 Hour)
4. Save Changes: Click "Save" to add the record. Changes may take up to 48 hours to propagate.
5. Verify the Changes: Return to our platform and wait until the domain is verified.

To ease the setup in the Storefront Hosting, we've also included these instructions in our Help Guide.

Once you have completed this task, the custom domain will be active from our side and is ready to receive traffic.

To then send traffic from your custom domain to your Storefront Application hosted on SCAYLE, simply change the DNS Record for your custom domain inside your DNS Provider to a CNAME Record with the value of the internal SCAYLE Domain (*.sf.scayle.shop).

With this as a last step, you are ready to fully use your new custom domain.