Connect your own domain

Every Yclas site starts at an address like yourname.yclas.com. When you’re ready, you can show it at your own domain instead, such as yourdomain.com. Members, search engines and your emails then use your address, and the site runs on https with a free SSL certificate.

Connecting a domain is included on every paid plan. Setup takes about 15 minutes of work, plus however long your DNS changes take to spread (usually minutes, sometimes up to 48 hours).

Connect your domain before you promote your site. Links people share and pages search engines index then use the final address from the start.

Before you start

You need:

• A domain name. If you don’t have one, buy it from any domain registrar.
• A free Cloudflare account. Your domain’s DNS is managed in Cloudflare, which also provides the SSL certificate.

Open the setup page from either place:

• In your site’s admin panel, click Domain & SSL at the bottom of the sidebar.
• At yclas.com, open My sites, click Settings next to the site, then Use your own domain.

The page, Use your own domain, walks you through the same five steps as below.

Step 1: Get a domain name

If you already own the domain, skip this step. Otherwise buy one from any registrar; the setup page links to one option.

Step 2: Add the domain to Cloudflare

1. Create a free account at cloudflare.com and add your domain.
2. Cloudflare gives you two name servers. At the company where you bought the domain, replace the domain’s name servers with Cloudflare’s.

When you add the domain, Cloudflare copies the DNS records it finds. Check that any email (MX) records came across, so your email keeps working. See Email addresses on your domain.

Step 3: Point the domain to Yclas

In Cloudflare, open DNS. Delete any existing A records for your domain and for www, then add these two records:

Type	Name	Target	Proxy status
CNAME	@ (your domain)	yclas.ovh	Proxied
CNAME	www (optional)	your domain, e.g. yourdomain.com	Proxied

The cloud next to each record must be orange (Proxied). The www record makes www.yourdomain.com open your site too.

Step 4: Set SSL to Flexible

In Cloudflare, open SSL/TLS and choose Flexible. This lets your site open with https.

Choose Flexible, not Full or Full (strict). The connection is set up for Flexible, and the other modes can stop your site from loading.

Step 5: Connect it in Yclas

1. Back on the Use your own domain page, type your domain without www, for example yourdomain.com.
2. Click Test domain. Yclas checks that your domain already points to it.
3. When you see Your domain points to Yclas. You can switch your site to it., click Switch to my domain.

Your site now opens at your domain, with SSL switched on. Your old .yclas.com address stops being used, so update any links you’ve shared.

If the test says We could not verify that your DNS is pointing to us yet, your DNS changes haven’t spread yet, or one of the records is different. Check steps 2 to 4, wait a little and click Test domain again.

SSL (https)

SSL is switched on automatically when you switch to your domain. Your site’s settings page on yclas.com shows SSL certificate: On. The certificate itself comes from Cloudflare, so there’s nothing to buy or renew.

If you ever need to, you can turn it off and on from My sites › Settings with Deactivate SSL and Activate SSL. Before turning it back on, make sure SSL/TLS in Cloudflare is still set to Flexible.

www or no www?

Your site’s main address is the domain without www. With the optional www record from step 3, people who type www.yourdomain.com reach your site too, so you don’t lose any visitors either way. There’s nothing else to set up.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
Test domain keeps failing	The name servers at your registrar are Cloudflare’s; the @ record is a proxied CNAME to yclas.ovh; there’s no old A record left. DNS changes can take up to 48 hours.
“Domain name in use or invalid” when switching	The domain is already connected to another Yclas site, or it’s not a valid domain name. Type it without http:// and without www.
Too many redirects, or an SSL error	SSL/TLS in Cloudflare must be Flexible.
Some images or links still use the old address	Clear your site’s cache (Tools › Cache) and your browser’s cache. See Cache.
Email stopped working	Your MX records weren’t copied to Cloudflare. Add them back in DNS.

Still stuck? Open a ticket and tell us which step you’re on.

Related guides

• Email addresses on your domain — use you@yourdomain.com for your email.
• Make sure your emails arrive — send your site’s emails from your domain.
• Plans and billing — your own domain is included on every paid plan.
• Sitemap — regenerate it after switching, then tell Google.