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    Worked examples

    Put your site on your own domain

    Move a published site from its free starjay.app address to www.yourdomain.com, using Porkbun as the worked example.

    In this tutorial you connect a domain you own, risecrumb.com, add the DNS records Starjay shows you at Porkbun, wait for them to be checked, and switch your live site to www.risecrumb.com.

    Custom domains are included on every plan, including Free.

    Before you start

    • You need a domain you've already bought. Starjay doesn't sell domains.
    • You need to sign in to the company that manages your domain's DNS. In this tutorial that's Porkbun. If your domain is with another company, the steps are similar; see Other DNS hosts below.
    • Your site should already be published at its free starjay.app address. See Publish your site.
    • Save or Reject any open AI session first. Domain controls are locked while a session is open.

    Connect the domain in Starjay

    1. 01

      Open the Publish panel

      In the editor, click Publish at the top right. Scroll to Add a custom domain.

    2. 02

      Enter your domain

      Type your domain, such as risecrumb.com, and click Connect. You can type the bare domain or the www version; Starjay sets up both.

      You see Domain connected — configure DNS to activate.

    3. 03

      Find your DNS records

      The panel now shows a card titled DNS configuration for Porkbun (Starjay looks up who manages your DNS and names them). It has three rows, each with a Type, Host and Value:

      Type Host Value
      CNAME www sites.starjay.app
      ALIAS @ (blank) sites.starjay.app
      TXT _starjay starjay-verify=… (a code unique to your domain)

      Click any value to copy it. Hover over a value to see it in full.

    What each record does:

    • CNAME www points www.risecrumb.com at Starjay.
    • ALIAS @ points the bare domain, risecrumb.com, at Starjay.
    • TXT _starjay proves you own the domain. Starjay won't serve your site on the domain, or set up its security certificate, until it finds this record.

    Add the records at Porkbun

    1. 01

      Open your domain's DNS records

      Sign in to Porkbun. In Domain Management, find risecrumb.com and open its DNS records.

    2. 02

      Remove conflicting records

      If there are existing records for the bare domain or for www (for example Porkbun's default parking records, or records from your old website host), delete them. A host name can't have a CNAME or ALIAS and other records pointing elsewhere at the same time. Don't delete MX or TXT records you use for email.

    3. 03

      Add the CNAME record

      Choose type CNAME. In the host field, type www. In the answer field, paste the value from Starjay. Add the record.

    4. 04

      Add the ALIAS record

      Choose type ALIAS. Leave the host field blank, which means the bare domain. Paste the value from Starjay into the answer field and add the record.

    5. 05

      Add the TXT record

      Choose type TXT. In the host field, type _starjay. Paste the full starjay-verify=… value into the answer field and add the record.

    Wait for the check

    1. 01

      Check DNS

      Back in the Publish panel, click Check DNS now. DNS changes can take a few minutes to appear, so if nothing changes, wait a few minutes and try again.

    2. 02

      Watch the records turn green

      As each record is found, its type turns green with a check mark. The domain row shows its progress: Pending DNS, then Verifying..., then Pending SSL while the security certificate is set up.

    3. 03

      See the domain become active

      When everything is ready, the DNS card disappears and the domain row shows a check mark. The ⋯ menu on the row says DNS configured.

    Switch your live site to the domain

    With a custom domain connected, the rows under Connected Domains let you choose which address serves your site. Exactly one address is selected at a time; the other one stops serving the site.

    1. 01

      Select your domain

      Under Connected Domains, click your domain's row. A domain can be selected only once it's active.

    2. 02

      Confirm the republish

      If your site is live, a dialog asks you to Republish to switch domains. Republishing also puts live any changes you've made since your last publish. Click Republish.

      If your site isn't published yet, your choice is saved and used the next time you publish.

    3. 03

      Open your site

      When the status shows Live, the panel shows www.risecrumb.com next to it. Visit both https://www.risecrumb.com and https://risecrumb.com; the bare domain sends visitors to the www address.

    Other DNS hosts

    Starjay shows different records depending on who manages your DNS:

    DNS host Record for the bare domain
    Porkbun, Namecheap, DNSimple, Gandi ALIAS record with host @
    Name.com, DNS Made Easy ANAME record with host @
    Cloudflare (as your DNS host) CNAME record with name @, which Cloudflare flattens. Set Proxy status to DNS only (grey cloud), and paste the TXT value into Cloudflare's Content field.
    GoDaddy, Squarespace, Hover, Network Solutions, IONOS, Wix, many web hosts, Amazon Route 53 and others A FORWARD row: these hosts can't point the bare domain at another name, so you set up forwarding from risecrumb.com to https://www.risecrumb.com in your provider's settings (permanent, 301, keeping the path if offered). The row's note says where to find forwarding at your provider.

    If Starjay doesn't recognize your DNS host, it shows a FORWARD row for the bare domain. The www CNAME and the _starjay TXT record are the same everywhere.

    If something goes wrong

    Problem What to do
    Invalid domain format Type only the domain, such as risecrumb.com, with no https:// or slashes.
    The domain stays on Pending DNS for a long time. Check the records at your DNS host match the card exactly, with no extra domain added to the host. Remove old records for www and the bare domain. Wait, then click Check DNS now again.
    The TXT row never turns green. Check the host is exactly _starjay and the value starts with starjay-verify=. Some hosts wrap the value in quotes; that's fine.
    You can't select the domain row. It isn't active yet. A domain row with a yellow dot is still being checked.
    The bare domain doesn't open your site (forwarding hosts). Check the forwarding at your provider sends risecrumb.com to https://www.risecrumb.com.
    Domain controls are greyed out. Save or Reject the open AI session.
    You want to stop using the domain. Click ⋯ on the domain row and choose Disconnect domain. If the site is live on that domain, it goes offline there immediately.

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