How to use your web domain to customise your guide links
The default domain for your Touch Stay guide links will be guide.touchstay.com. If you have your own website and would prefer your links to use a domain that you own, then you can set that up by modifying some DNS settings and then adding that to Touch Stay.
Once set up, then any links that you share from Touch Stay will use your custom subdomain in place of guide.touchstay.com. This includes Quick Share links, QR codes and invitation links sent using Memo or via an integration. Note that you must create a new subdomain (e.g guides.mydomain.com) on your root domain for this purpose, you cannot redirect your root domain (e.g. mydomain.com) without likely causing problems to your own website!
Step 1 - Add the CNAME record to your DNS
Setting up a CNAME record is a straightforward process that can be done through your domain registrar or hosting provider. Simply log into your account, navigate to the DNS settings and then:
- Create a new CNAME DNS record
- Enter the subdomain name, for example, the "guides" of guides.mydomain.com. (you MUST create a subdomain, do not use your root domain)
- Type in the target value: guide.touchstay.com
Once the record is saved, it may take a few hours for the changes to propagate across the internet, your DNS provider should warn you if this is the case.
These articles link to the help section of popular DNS providers explaining how to add a CNAME record:
Step 2 - Add the domain to your Touch Stay account
From your Touch Stay account, go to Settings > Preferences > Custom domain settings and click edit.
Enter your chosen domain into the box, and click Save. Note, the domain needs to be the full name but not including any prefix (such as http), for example: guides.mydomain.com
Troubleshooting: If your custom domain is not accepted, then check the error message for suggestions of how to resolve. Note, it may take a few minutes to a few hours for any new CNAME records to propagate through the internet and be available to add in Touch Stay.
Step 3 - Configure SSL
The final step is to set up your DNS records for SSL. After entering your custom subdomain, you will be presented with a screen that contains some values to create a new DNS record of type TXT. This also needs to be completed in your DNS and the process will be very similar to how you created the CNAME record, but this time you create a TXT record using the name and value shown on the screen. After completing this step in your DNS you can close the screen and after a few minutes we'd recommend reopening the Custom domain settings to check your SSL status. If this shows as "Active", then all is well. If the status remains in "Pending Validation" then it means the record hasn't been found by our DNS and is likely not set up correctly in your DNS. Please check the details you have entered exactly match those found by using the "View SSL records" button.