Add your brand to the community URL your leads and members use to login! With any plan, you can point members directly to your personally branded community URL.

A subdomain lets you use your existing website's domain. For example, if you already have yoursite.com as your main website, you can make a subdomain community.yoursite.com. You can use whatever you prefer for the subdomain; "community" is an example and not required.

Not sure about the difference between a root domain and subdomain? Learn the difference here.

How connecting a domain works

Heartbeat uses Entri to connect your custom domain. In most cases Entri does the setup for you. When you enter your domain and click Connect, Entri can sign in to your domain provider and add the required DNS records automatically — no manual editing. If you'd rather do it yourself, or your provider isn't supported, you can still add the records manually:

• Automatic (recommended) — Entri detects your provider; you sign in and approve, and it adds the records for you.
• Manual — Entri shows the exact record(s) and you add them at your domain host yourself.

Don't have a domain yet? Choose "Or, get a free domain" on the Domains page to register one through Heartbeat — free for the first year, with paid options from about $10/year.

Step 1: Enter your subdomain

1. Go to Settings > Community > Domains
2. Under "Connect your custom domain", enter your subdomain (e.g., community.yoursite.com) and click Connect.

Step 2: Choose automatic or manual setup

Heartbeat opens Entri. Select Continue to proceed (this accepts Entri's terms), then pick one of the two paths below.

Option A — Let Entri set it up automatically (recommended)

Entri shows a searchable "Select your domain provider" list. Pick your provider, sign in when prompted, and approve the change — Entri adds the CNAME record for you automatically. Then continue to Step 3.

Option B — Add the records yourself

Choose to add the record yourself. Entri shows the exact CNAME record (and sometimes a second TXT record) to add. Update your domain host's DNS settings with the record(s) exactly as shown. The hostname is unique to your community.

Setting up your community subdomain and your email domain together? Entri lists all the records on one screen. Add them all — the CNAME to custom.heartbeathosting.com is the one that points your community subdomain at Heartbeat.

Sometimes we require a 2nd DNS record with a TXT type to complete your setup. If you see 2 records on this step, add both to your DNS settings.

Use the Copy buttons next to each value, add them in your DNS manager, then tick "I have copied … records" to continue. Not the person who manages your DNS? Use "Forward instructions to a colleague." Changes can take up to 48 hours to take effect.

Domain host guides for adding DNS records

If you don't see your domain host below, search their help center for "CNAME" or contact their support directly. These links take you straight to their guide for adding a CNAME record.

• Squarespace
• Namecheap
• 101 Domains
• Bluehost
• Cloudflare (Ensure that "Proxy" is disabled)
• DNSimple
• Dreamhost
• Godaddy (Ensure the 'host' field only contains your subdomain name and not the entire url)
• GreenGeeks
• Hostgator
• Hostinger
• SiteGround
• Westhost
• Wix

Step 3: Confirm and wait for setup

If you used automatic setup, Entri confirms the record for you. If you added it manually, click "I have copied … records" in the Entri window once it's in place — there's no separate verify button.

After you connect, your domain may show as "Setting up" while DNS propagates and we issue an SSL certificate. This can take 24–48 hours. Once it's finished, the status changes to Active and your domain is live.

How to Check if Heartbeat can see the DNS record

DNS changes take anywhere from 10 minutes to 48 hours to fully update. This depends on your domain host.

There are many tools you can use to check if the records have been added to domain properly. 

This article shows you how to use dnschecker.org. Heartbeat has no affiliation with this site, we just find it easy to use. 

To start, click here:  dnschecker.org/all-dns-records-of-domain.php

1. Enter the hostnames in the URL field.
2. Click on CNAME
3. Click on the button Lookup DNS.

If the record has been entered properly, you will see it as shown in the second image below. 
Repeat this process for the other hostname.

Other common issues

Follow your domain host's guidance exactly 

Each host has their own rules for adding record.

For example, some domain hosts may want you to only enter the subdomain portion of the URL. 
If your site is community.yoursite.com, then that means you'd only entercommunity. 

Please follow your domain host's guidance exactly. If you are unsure, please contact their support for assistance. 

Ensure you only have one CNAME records

Ensure that your custom subdomain has only the CNAME record shown in Settings > Community > Domains. This ensures that your subdomain will load properly for your users. 

Remove any other CNAME records that are not the ones showing in the settings.

Still not working?

First, check if the CNAME record is showing by using the guide above. If the record is not showing when you use the guide above, please contact your domain host.

If it still isn't working after up to 48 hours, capture a screenshot of your DNS settings and reach out to our support team for assistance. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I change my domain host or DNS provider? You must add the DNS record to your new domain host.