Connect your own domain
A custom domain lets your site answer at an address you own, such as crumbandco.com, instead of its briks.live address. You add three records at your domain provider, and Briks checks them and sets up the secure connection for you. This page walks through every step and the places people usually get stuck.
Plans and permissions
Custom domains start on Starter. A Free workspace cannot add one, and in place of the form the panel says “Custom domains start on the Starter plan. Your site stays on its briks.live address until then.” Each plan includes a number of domains for the whole workspace, shared across all of its projects. Once you reach your plan's number, adding another is refused with a line that names it, such as “Your plan includes 3 custom domains.” on Pro, and the way to a larger plan opens.
| Plan | Own domains | Projects |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 | 1 |
| Starter | 1 | 1 |
| Pro | 3 | 3 |
| Studio | 10 | 10 |
| Agency | 30 | 30 |
A subdomain such as shop.crumbandco.com counts as a domain of its own. Paid plans are bought in Billing (see Billing and pricing). Owners, Admins and Editors can connect, check and remove domains; Viewers can see them.
Three words first
DNS is the internet's address book: it tells browsers which server answers for your domain. You edit it at your domain provider, which is the company you bought the domain from, or wherever its DNS is managed now. Each line in that address book is a record. A certificate is what lets browsers open your site over https and show the padlock. Briks gets one for your domain and renews it for you, at no extra cost.
Connect a domain, step by step
Open the Domain section
Where: Settings, Domain
Open your project, click the Settings tab under its name, then Domain in the list of sections. Scroll to Your own domain.
Enter your domain
Where: Your domain
Type the domain without www, such as
crumbandco.com, or a subdomain such asshop.crumbandco.com. If you type www or https:// in front, Briks takes it off. Press Connect domain.Open its records
Where: Domain table
The domain appears in a table with its status. Click its name to open the records to add, under “Add these records at your domain provider.”
Add the records
Where: Your domain provider
Sign in at your domain provider, open the DNS settings for the domain and add each record from the panel, as the table below shows. Delete any old records that clash with them.
Wait for the checks
Where: Domain
Briks checks every 2 minutes and the panel refreshes by itself. The status moves from Waiting for DNS to Verifying, then Issuing certificate, and finally Live.
Open your site
Where: Domain
At Live, the panel says “Live at https://crumbandco.com”. Within a few minutes Briks publishes the site again so that its pages name your domain as their address. This shows in Logs as Published for its domain.
The records
| Type | Name in the panel | What to type in the name or host field | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | crumbandco.com | @, or leave it empty | The address shown in the panel |
| CNAME | www.crumbandco.com | www | edge.briks.live |
| TXT | _briks.crumbandco.com | _briks | briks-verify= followed by the code in the panel |
The A record sends visitors to Briks. The CNAME does the same for the www version, and visitors who type www are sent on to the plain domain. The TXT record proves the domain is yours: Briks does not set a domain up until it sees this code. If the panel also lists an AAAA record, add that too.
For a subdomain
For shop.crumbandco.com the short names change: the A record's name is shop and the TXT record's name is _briks.shop. The panel also lists a www record for the subdomain. You only need it if people will type www in front of the subdomain; the site works on the subdomain without it.
Tips for your domain provider
Every provider's DNS screen looks a little different, but the same few things trip people up.
- The name field. Most providers add your domain to the end of the name for you. Type
_briks, not_briks.crumbandco.com, or you end up with_briks.crumbandco.com.crumbandco.com. If the TXT record has not verified after an hour, check the name field first. - The plain domain. For the domain itself, providers use
@or an empty name. Use whichever yours asks for. - Old records that clash. Delete any other A record on the plain domain, such as one left by a parking page or an old website. Delete any AAAA record on it too, unless the panel lists one: Briks checks that every AAAA record points to Briks, and an old one keeps the domain at Waiting for DNS. A name can only have one CNAME, so replace an existing www record rather than adding a second.
- Forwarding and parking. Some providers offer domain forwarding or a parked page, which add records of their own. Switch these off.
- The TXT value. Paste it exactly as the panel shows it, with nothing before or after it.
- Email. Leave your MX records alone. They handle your email and have nothing to do with these records, so your mailbox keeps working.
- Waiting. The panel's own note says: “Propagation usually takes minutes; some providers take up to 24 hours. Briks checks every 2 minutes.” If an old record was set to be remembered for a long time (its TTL), expect the longer end.
- A CAA record. If your domain has one (a rule naming who may issue certificates for it), it can stop the certificate. The note under the domain says so; follow the line it gives, or remove the CAA record.
What each status means
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Waiting for DNS | The domain does not point at Briks yet. The note under it shows what it points at now. | Add the A record, delete clashing A and AAAA records, and wait. |
| Verifying | The domain points at Briks, but the TXT record has not been found. | Check the TXT record's name and value. The note repeats exactly what to add. |
| Issuing certificate | Both records are in place and Briks is getting the certificate. If a try fails, it tries again, waiting longer each time. | Usually nothing. If it sits here for hours, read the note under the domain. |
| Live | The certificate is in place and the domain reaches your site. | Nothing. The certificate renews by itself, and the Certificate column shows when. |
| Needs attention | Setting the domain up failed several times in a row. | Fix what the note says, then press Check now (the circular arrows) to start again. |
| Removing | You removed the domain and Briks is taking it down. | Nothing. It leaves the list when done. |
Click a domain's name to see three markers, DNS, Ownership and Certificate, which turn green as each is done, with the latest problem written underneath. Check now asks Briks to look again straight away instead of waiting for the next check.
Your briks.live address keeps working
Connecting a domain does not switch off the site's <name>.briks.live address, and it does not move the site to production. Both addresses show the same site. Once your domain is Live, every page tells search engines that your domain is the main copy, and the sitemap and shared links use it. If the site is still a preview, press Publish when you are ready (see Publish to production).
You can connect more than one domain to a project, within your plan's count. The first one to reach Live is the address the site names as its own. If you later change the briks.live address, your domains move with the site and their records stay as they are.
Harbour Lane Physio in Galway had an old site with another company. Its practice manager connected
harbourlanephysio.ieon a Sunday morning, added the TXT and www records first, then swapped the old A record for the address in the panel and deleted an AAAA record the old host had left behind.
The status moved through Waiting for DNS and Verifying to Live the same morning, and the old site stopped answering as the new record reached people. A few minutes later the studio's Logs showed Published for its domain.
Removing a domain
Find the domain
Where: Settings, Domain
Open the project's Domain section and find the domain in the table.
Remove it
Where: Domain table
Press the bin icon (Remove) on its row. The confirmation says “Its certificate and routing are deleted, and the address stops reaching the site.” Press Remove.
Tidy up your DNS
Where: Your domain provider
Delete the three records at your provider, or point the domain somewhere else.
Briks then publishes the site again naming its briks.live address, and the domain no longer counts toward your plan.
Can I buy a domain through Briks?
No. Buy it from any domain provider, then connect it here.
Will my email keep working?
Yes, as long as you leave your MX records alone. None of the three records touches email.
Does connecting a domain put my site in production?
No. A preview can show on your domain, still kept out of search. Press Publish to launch.
Do I pay for the certificate?
No. It is issued and renewed automatically as part of the plan.