Custom Domains

By default, schools are connected to a default Teachable subdomain. On the Basic plan and up, you can connect a custom root domain. This article goes over the basic steps for connecting a custom root domain to your school. There is a video tutorial available in this article. 

Video Tutorial

Overview

While the specifics differ depending on your domain registrar, there are five basic steps that are necessary for connecting a custom root domain to your Teachable school:

1. Purchase a domain from a domain registrar (e.g., GoDaddy, Wordpress, BlueHost, etc.).
2. Edit your domain's nameservers to change your DNS settings.
3. Create a CNAME record that points your custom domain to your school.
4. Add the domain to the Site > Domains section of your school admin.
5. Set the domain as your school’s primary domain.

If you want to use a custom subdomain (e.g. "courses.mysite.com) instead of a root domain (e.g. "mysite.com") please reference the Custom Subdomains article.

Purchase a domain

In order to use a custom domain for your Teachable site, you'll first have to purchase a custom domain. If you already have one, you can move on to the next section. If you have yet to purchase a custom domain, follow the instructions of the domain provider of your choice to purchase one. 

Edit your domain's nameservers 

After purchasing a custom domain for your Teachable school, you'll have to change your custom domain's nameservers to Cloudflare so that you can set up an CNAME record. However, if you have experience setting up CNAME records directly on another provider, you may use that option and skip this step.

1. Go to http://cloudflare.com and click the Sign Up link to create an account. 
2. Enter the domain name that you want to use for your Teachable school without "www". Click Add Site.
   
3. Choose a Cloudflare plan. (The free plan allows you to complete the steps below).
4. Cloudflare will automatically scan your domain's DNS records and prompt you to review them. At this point, you can leave your records as is and click Continue.
5. You'll then be prompted to change your domain's name servers. Scroll down and copy the names of the two Cloudflare nameservers listed:
    

From here, the process of changing your domain's nameservers differ depending on the domain provider you're using. If your domain provider is not listed below, we recommend taking a look at their help articles to see how you can edit your domain's nameservers.

Create a CNAME record

Next, you'll need to create CNAME records that point your custom domain to your Teachable school. If you are using a different provider because you chose to not use Cloudflare in the previous step, we recommend taking a look at that provider's help articles to see how you can set up CNAME records. This article documents the use of Cloudflare.

1. Log in to your Cloudflare account.
2. In the menu, click DNS. 
3. If you have any 'A', 'AAAA', or 'CNAME' records listed, delete them.
4. Click Add record and then change the record type to "CNAME".
   
5. When configuring your custom domain, "www." is not included in the URL. This is because "www." is a subdomain of your root domain (e.g. "exampleschool.com"). To use both domains, you'll have to create 2 CNAME records—one for your root domain, and one for your domain with "www.".
   • Create your first CNAME record. In the Name field, enter "www". In the Target field, enter your Teachable domain (e.g. school.teachable.com).
     
   • Create your second CNAME record. In the Name field, enter "@", In the Target field, enter your Teachable domain (e.g. school.teachable.com).
     
6. For both CNAME records you create, toggle "Proxy status" off so in order to create a "DNS only" record.

Add your domain to your Teachable site

Once you have a custom domain you'd like to use, you'll have to add it to your Teachable site:

1. Log in to your Teachable account.
2. Select Site from the admin sidebar.
3. Choose Domains from the submenu.
4. If you have not yet verified your original Teachable subdomain, you'll be prompted to do so. Otherwise if you have already verified your original subdomain, click the Add Domain button. 
   
   
5. In the Domain Name text box, enter the URL of the desired custom domain INCLUDING "www." Click Add Domain.
6. Repeat step 5, but instead enter the URL of the desired custom domain WITHOUT "www.".

Make your custom domain the primary domain

If you have more than one domain, you'll have the option of redirecting all domains to your primary domain. Follow these steps to designate your new custom domain as the primary domain:

1. Log in to your Teachable account.
2. Select Site from the admin sidebar.
3. Choose Domains from the submenu.
4. Next to the domain you would like to make your primary domain, click the vertical three dots menu and choose Make Primary.

Delete a custom domain

There are a few instances when you might need to delete your custom domain. For example, if you purchase a new domain and want to swap out your existing domain, or if you made a mistake in entering the domain's information. In these cases, you can follow the steps below to set a new or different primary domain and then delete your custom domain. 

1. Navigate to your school's Site area, then click Domains.
2. First, make your Teachable domain the primary by clicking the vertical three dots menu and choosing Make Primary button. 
3. Next, click the vertical three dots menu next to the domain you wish to delete and choose Delete. You'll be asked to confirm this action. Click Delete.
4. Repeat this process for any additional domains you have. Once they're removed and your Teachable domain is the primary, you're finished. 

Disable Cloudflare proxy when using a custom domain

Teachable uses Cloudflare to proxy all school domains in order to optimize and protect requests to your school. As a result, using the Cloudflare proxy setting with your own domains is unnecessary and prevents Teachable from generating fresh SSL certificates for your custom domain.

If you manage your custom domain using Cloudflare and have previously enabled the Cloudflare proxy setting, following these steps to disable this setting:

1. Log into your Cloudflare account at cloudflare.com
2. Select the account where you have the domain you use with Teachable
3. Click into the domain you use with Teachable
4. Select “DNS” from the left hand menu
5. Select “Edit” for each CNAME record you use with your Teachable school with the Proxy status as “Proxied” and toggle to “DNS Only”

Here's a video walkthrough of how to complete the above steps:

 

Frequently asked questions

Why is my custom domain taking so long to update?

It can take between 24 and 48 hours for your new domain to fully start working—a period called domain propagation. During this period, your visitors may not be directed to your new domain right away. You can check the current status of your domain’s DNS propagation by visiting this DNS Propagation Checker tool.

After domain propagation, you should be directed to your school when you visit your new domain. If it's been more than 72 hours, contact Customer Support.

What if my custom domain is not in English?

If your domain contains language-specific script, such as Arabic or Chinese, you may encounter problems setting up your domain.

To avoid this issue, convert the domain to Punycode and set it as your primary domain. You can keep the original version and set it to redirect to the Punycode domain.

Why does my school page show a "This page does not exist" message?

If you've set up your custom domain through your DNS provider, an error like this may occur when you attempt to visit your Teachable school:

If this happens, ensure that you’ve added your custom domain to your school in the Site > Domains section of your school admin. Click New Domain and add your domain name. Then, click Check Domain to verify your domain. If you’re still unable to verify the domain, check that the domain you’ve chosen with your provider matches the one you’ve entered into Teachable.

What if my marketing materials still have my old domain?

If you have an old domain in Teachable, such as a Teachable subdomain, you can redirect the old domain to your new one directly within the Site > Domains area of your admin.

Otherwise, you can setup a domain redirect using Cloudflare’s Page Rules, and by creating a CNAME record pointing to your Teachable subdomain. This process usually takes anywhere from 24-48 hours to fully process and verify.

Why is my school not showing up when I type "www"?

When adding your custom domain name in the Domains section of your school admin, check that you have not included www or http://. If you want your website to contain www before the domain, you need to create a separate CNAME record for that.