When you create a ScreenSteps site, the URL includes screenstepslive.com and looks something like this: my-company.screenstepslive.com. If you want to create a URL that includes your company domain name, e.g. help.screensteps.com, then you will need to assign a vanity domain to the site.
Some customers ask if ScreenSteps can be set up as a subdirectory on their site, for example http://www.mydomain.com/knowledgebase. This isn't possible. You will have to use a subdomain such as http://kb.mydomain.com if you want to use a vanity domain with ScreenSteps.
Vanity domains are available on all plan levels; however, you may have a limit to the number of vanity domains are available on your plan. Reach out to support if you need help adding an extra vanity domain.
Set up a CNAME record with your DNS provider
Your DNS provider MUST allow letsencrypt.org to generate an SSL certificate on behalf of your domain. If your DNS provider maintains a Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) record it must contain letsencrypt.org.
Before you can assign a vanity domain to a site in ScreenSteps, you must create a CNAME DNS record that points a subdomain on your domain to ext.screensteps.com.
Your web administrator who manages your company's website domain should be able to help you with this.
Your company may use Hover, GoDaddy, BlueHost, HostGator, or other DNS providers to manage its domain. Below is an example of creating a CNAME record in DNS Made Easy. The process will be similar in other DNS provider interfaces.
Some DNS provider interfaces require you to add a . to the end of ext.screensteps.com while others do not. DNS Made Easy requires the ..
In the example above:
- Readers will go to
help.mydomain.comto view your ScreenSteps content. -
help.mydomain.compoints toext.screensteps.comwhich points to the ScreenSteps server where your content is hosted.
Update settings in ScreenSteps
Navigate to Account > Site Access
Click on Add Vanity Domain button for your site
Enter Vanity Domain and Verify DNS
Enter the vanity domain into the Vanity Domain field and click Verify DNS. After clicking Verify DNS ScreenSteps will verify that the CNAME DNS settings for the domain you entered are configured properly. If they are then you will see the DNS successfully verified button appear and you can move on to setting up SSL so that readers can securely connect to your site.
IMPORTANT: Do not include the scheme in the custom domain name. For example, do not prefix the domain name with http:// or https://.
Was your DNS successfully verified?
Check if settings are correct
If your CNAME DNS settings are not correct then you will see the message below.
Double-check your settings with your DNS provider and then click the Verify DNS button to perform the check again.
One way to confirm that your CNAME record is pointing to ext.screensteps.com is to visit a service such as https://www.whatsmydns.net/#CNAME and enter your custom domain name. The service will tell you if the subdomain is pointing to the right place.
One potential issue is that your subdomain is pointing to ext.screensteps.com in some parts of the world but not others. In this case the results on the whatsmydns.net web page will look something like the image below. You will need to reach out to your DNS provider to investigate this issue in order to get it resolved.
Were you able to successfully verify DNS?
Your vanity domain is now ready to use.
Contact Support
If you are unable to verify your DNS, send an email to [email protected] and explain what is happening. Somebody from our team will be able to help out.
Your vanity domain is now ready to use.
If you visit your vanity domain and see an error page rather than your ScreenSteps site you should verify that your DNS provider supports letsencrypt.org in the CAA record. Visit https://letsdebug.net/, enter your vanity domain, select "DNS-01" from the menu on the right of the domain name field, and click "Run Test". If there is a CAA record error you will see it in the report that is generated.