How it works
Four steps, and the last two take about a minute
You do not need a developer for this. If you can sign in to the company you bought your domain from, you can do the whole thing yourself in one sitting. If you would rather not, we will do it with you at no extra cost.
Open your DNS settings
Sign in to the company that manages your domain and find the page listing its records. It is usually called DNS or DNS management.
Add one record
One CNAME record for a subdomain, or one A record for a bare domain, which is your domain with nothing in front of it. The exact values to type are in the two cards further down this page.
Save it in Carelyst
Open Settings in your workspace, type the domain into the Custom domain field and save it. That is your side finished.
Open the address
The certificate is issued automatically on that first visit, so the padlock is there without you buying or installing anything.
See it working
Our demo agency answers at two addresses right now
Cedarlight is the demo agency on this site. It has its included Carelyst address, and its own bare domain connected exactly the way this page describes. Open either one: both reach the same agency, each with its own padlock, issued automatically.
Two ways to connect
Pick the address you want your team to type
A subdomain
Recommended for most agenciesAn address like care.youragency.com. Your main website stays where it is on youragency.com, and the workspace gets its own clear address beside it. A subdomain connects with a CNAME record, which is a pointer from your name to ours.
| Type | CNAME |
| Name or Host | care for care.youragency.com |
| Value or Target | domains.carelyst.ca |
| TTL | Leave the default. If it wants a number, enter 3600 |
Your bare domain
When nothing else lives thereThe domain on its own, like youragency.com, with nothing in front of it. Choose this when the domain is dedicated to your Carelyst workspace and no website already sits there. A bare domain connects with an A record, which points the name straight at our server.
| Type | A |
| Name or Host | @ meaning the bare domain |
| Value or Address |
167.99.176.26
|
| TTL | Leave the default. If it wants a number, enter 3600 |
Both records only add a new name. Your MX records, which carry your email, and every other record on the domain stay exactly where they are.
Provider walkthroughs
Click by click, on the two providers we get asked about
GoDaddy
- Sign in at godaddy.com, open your account menu and choose My Products.
- Find your domain in the list and click DNS. On some screens it sits behind the three dot menu as Manage DNS.
- You will see a table of DNS records. Click Add New Record.
- For a subdomain, set Type to CNAME, Name to the part in front of your domain, so
careforcare.youragency.com, and Value todomains.carelyst.ca. Leave TTL at its default, or enter3600if it asks for a number. - For a bare domain, set Type to A, Name to
@, and Value to the server address in the card above. If an A record for@already exists, edit that one rather than adding a second. - Click Save. The new record appears in the table, and that is the whole job on GoDaddy's side.
Cloudflare
Plenty of agencies manage their DNS at Cloudflare even when the domain was bought somewhere else. The steps are the same, with one setting that decides whether it works.
- Sign in at dash.cloudflare.com and select your domain.
- Open DNS in the left menu, then click Add record.
- Add the CNAME for a subdomain, or the A record for a bare domain, using the same values as the cards above.
- Set the cloud icon on that record to DNS only, then save.
The setting that matters: the record must be DNS only, the grey cloud, and not Proxied, the orange one. Proxied puts Cloudflare between your staff and your workspace, and it blocks the certificate from being issued for your domain.
Namecheap, Squarespace, Route 53 and every other provider
Every provider offers the same two record types under slightly different labels. Look for a section called DNS, DNS management, Manage records or Advanced DNS, and add the same record you would add anywhere else.
- For a subdomain, a CNAME record from your chosen name to
domains.carelyst.ca. - For a bare domain, an A record from
@, which some panels call the root or leave blank, to our server address. - Nothing else changes. Your MX records, your website and every other record on the domain stay untouched.
Some providers also offer ALIAS or ANAME records, which let a bare domain point at a name instead of an address. If yours does, an ALIAS to domains.carelyst.ca works for the bare domain as well.
Your side of it
Then, in Carelyst
Adding the record tells the internet where your address should go. Saving it in your workspace tells Carelyst to answer for it. Both halves take a couple of minutes, and your carelyst.ca address keeps working the entire time, so nobody on your team is locked out while you wait.
Open Settings in your workspace
Sign in as the owner and go to Settings.
Type your domain into the Custom domain field
Enter the exact address you just pointed at us. If you connected a subdomain, that is the full subdomain, like care.youragency.com. If you connected your bare domain, it is the domain on its own, like youragency.com. Then save.
Open the new address in a browser
The certificate is issued automatically on that first visit. There is nothing to buy, upload or renew, then or ever.
If it is not there yet, give it time
DNS changes usually apply within minutes, though providers say to allow up to 48 hours. Carelyst starts answering for the address as soon as the record reaches us.
Common questions
Custom domain questions, answered
No. Every agency's workspace lives at its own address under carelyst.ca from day one, and that address keeps working forever whether you connect a domain or not. A custom domain is purely for convenience and branding: connect one next month, next year, or never.
No. Your domain stays with the company you bought it from and your nameservers stay exactly as they are. You add one record in its DNS settings, and everything else on that domain, including your email and your existing website, keeps working untouched.
If your bare domain already runs your agency website, use a subdomain such as care.youragency.com so the website stays where it is. If the domain has no website on it yet, either choice works: a subdomain connects with a CNAME record, a bare domain with an A record.
Use the exact address you connected. If you connect youragency.com, tell your team to type youragency.com, without www in front. Each workspace answers at one custom address, plus its included carelyst.ca address, which always works as well. If the www habit matters to your team, connect www.youragency.com as a subdomain instead, and the bare domain can stay wherever it points today.
Usually minutes. Providers say to allow up to 48 hours, and occasionally it does take longer. The simplest check is to open the new address in a browser: when the Carelyst sign-in page appears with the padlock, it is done. Your carelyst.ca address keeps working the whole time.
It is automatic. Once your record points at Carelyst, our server obtains the certificate for your domain by itself the first time the address is visited, and renews it from then on. You never buy, upload or renew anything.
One setting. When you add the record in Cloudflare, set the cloud icon to DNS only, the grey one, rather than Proxied, the orange one. Proxied puts Cloudflare between your visitors and Carelyst, which stops the certificate from being issued for your domain.
Yes. Booked time with the engineer who built Carelyst is included with every plan, and connecting a domain is a good use of it. Reply to any Carelyst email or use the contact page, and we will set it up with you on a call or over screenshots, whichever you prefer.
Not on Carelyst yet?
Every agency gets its own workspace on its own private database, and your own domain can point at it whenever you are ready.
See plans and pricingRead more about your private workspace, or ask us to connect the domain with you.