Custom domains

Connect your own domain with automatic HTTPS: the DNS record to add, Cloudflare and one-click setup, making it primary, and fixing "Not pointing at Mezaic yet".

Your site always answers at handle.mezaic.me. A custom domain such as yourname.com or me.yourname.com sits on top of that: connect it, point one DNS record at Mezaic, and we verify it, issue an HTTPS certificate and redirect every other address to it.

Note

Custom domains are a plan feature. If the Domains page shows an Upgrade notice, see Plans and what’s included.

1. Add the domain

  1. Open Website → Domains and click Connect a domain.
  2. Enter the domain exactly as visitors should type it: yourname.com (an apex domain) or me.yourname.com (a subdomain). Availability is checked as you type; a domain can be connected to one Mezaic site only.
  3. Save. The page shows the DNS record to create and names your DNS provider where it can tell.

2. Create the DNS record

Log in where your domain’s DNS is managed (often the registrar, or Cloudflare) and add one record:

Your domain Record
A subdomain, e.g. me.yourname.com CNAME me → the target shown on the Domains page (cname.mezaic.me)
An apex domain, e.g. yourname.com CNAME @ → the same target if your provider allows CNAME at the apex (Cloudflare does; it flattens it). Otherwise an A record @ → the IP address shown on the page.

Leave the TTL at the default. Do not add anything else: no AAAA, no extra A records.

Add automatically

When your provider supports it (Cloudflare and others that implement Domain Connect), the page offers Add automatically:

  1. Click it. You are sent to your provider, who asks you to sign in if you are not.
  2. The provider shows the exact record Mezaic will create. Nothing happens until you confirm.
  3. Confirm; you return to the Domains page and the domain is checked straight away.

Mezaic never sees your provider credentials. Prefer to type the record yourself? Choose Add manually.

Cloudflare: keep the proxy off

If your DNS is on Cloudflare, set the record to DNS only (grey cloud), not Proxied (orange cloud). With the proxy on, Cloudflare answers for your domain instead of Mezaic and we cannot verify it or issue a certificate. You can turn the proxy back on after the domain shows Verified with HTTPS active, though it is not needed. Mezaic already serves your site over HTTPS from a fast edge.

3. Wait for verification and HTTPS

Mezaic checks pending domains every five minutes, and you can click Check now. The status moves through:

Status Meaning
Waiting for the record to appear We have not seen the DNS record yet.
Not pointing at Mezaic yet A record exists but points somewhere else; see troubleshooting.
Verified DNS is correct. A certificate is issued within a minute or two; the page then shows HTTPS active.

Verified domains are re-checked daily. One failed check does not take your site down: a domain has to fail three checks in a row before it stops serving.

4. Make it primary

Once a domain is verified with HTTPS, click Make primary. From then on:

  • https://yourname.com is the canonical address: it is what search engines index, what your sitemap, RSS feed and share links use.
  • Your free subdomain, any other connected domains and www. variants redirect to it.

You can switch the primary back to the free subdomain at any time. If a primary domain later loses its record or certificate, Mezaic silently falls back to the subdomain so nothing goes offline.

www or not?

Connect the version you want people to see. If you connect yourname.com, www.yourname.com is answered too as long as it resolves to Mezaic. Add a CNAME www → cname.mezaic.me (or the same A record) and it will redirect to your primary.

Troubleshooting

“Waiting for the record to appear”

  • DNS changes can take from a minute to a few hours to spread (“propagation”), depending on the old record’s TTL. Wait, then Check now.
  • Double-check the record name: for me.yourname.com the name is me, not me.yourname.com, at most providers.
  • Make sure you edited the DNS of the provider your domain actually uses. The Domains page names the provider it detects from your nameservers.

“Not pointing at Mezaic yet”

The domain resolves, but not to us. Common causes:

  • Cloudflare proxy is on. Switch the record to DNS only (grey cloud) and check again.
  • A parking or “coming soon” record is still there. Registrars often pre-create A or AAAA records. Delete them so only the Mezaic record remains.
  • CNAME target typo. It must be exactly the target shown on the page.
  • An AAAA (IPv6) record. Remove it; Mezaic is reached through the CNAME or the single A record.

Mezaic checks the authoritative nameservers of your domain directly, so its status is not affected by stale caches on your own network. If the page says a record is wrong, it is what your provider is currently publishing.

Verified, but the browser shows a certificate warning

Certificates are issued right after verification and usually take under a minute. Reload after a minute. If the Cloudflare proxy is on, turn it off until HTTPS shows as active.

They redirect to the primary domain automatically once it is set. If you have not made the domain primary yet, do so under Primary address.

Moving a domain from another Mezaic site

Remove the domain from the old site first; a domain can be connected to one site at a time.