How to set-up the URL for your site – Zapnito Support

Setting up the URL for your Zapnito site couldn’t be easier. This article explains what to do.

These are the key steps in setting up your URL.

Decide - Of course, the first step is to decide which URL you want to use.
Purchase - Identifying the technical person in your organisation who has the knowledge and ability to purchase and register the domain name (if it is not already in your possession).
Configure - Arrange for the URL to be set up to point to the Zapnito servers.

URLs 101

First, a bit of background on how URLs are structured.

URLs are typically structured into three sections. These are referred to a 'subdomain', a domain, and a top level domain.

Here are some examples:

For the URL community.zapnito.com, community is the subdomain, zapnito is the domain and com is the top level domain
For the URL network.febs.org, network is the subdomain, febs is the domain and org is the top level domain

The phrase 'top level domain' may be familiar as over recent years the ICANN organisation that issues domains has released a whole raft of new 'top level domains' to use instead of the boring old .com or .org domains! You can now choose from a long list of top level domains, (or TLDs) listed here on Wikipedia. (Of course, the .expert TLD is one of our favourites!)

Deciding which URL to use

Using a subdomain

Most customers already own their domain, with the www 'subdomain' typically serving a sales or marketing website. In these circumstances, it’s usually the case that your Zapnito site will run at a different subdomain, for example https://community.your-domain.com or https://network.your-domain.com. If you’re going to use a subdomain URL such as this then you can move onto the next step.

Using a 'naked domain'

In some cases, customers prefer not to use a subdomain at all. They want to use a URL that does not have a subdomain, using only the domain and top level domain, for example https://your-domain.com. This is known as a 'root domain' or 'naked domain'. This is possible but will require your DNS provider to use a technique called 'CNAME flattening'. Check with your IT team if this something your DNS provider can support. Cloudflare is one such DNS provider company that supports CNAME flattening.

Purchasing the domain

As mentioned above, most organisations will already own their required domain name, but if not, you will need to check with a domain registrar whether the domain you want to use is available. If it is available, then arrange to purchase it via your company IT department.

Configuring the domain

Once you have decided which domain to use and you own it, we will request that your IT department domain administrator creates a CNAME DNS record that points to Zapnito's servers.

When this is done, we will take it from there! Your new URL will be up and running and attached to your Zapnito site in no time.

Any queries? Contact us at support@zapnito.com or leave a comment below.