# Custom domains

Put your documentation or your forms on your own address, such as `docs.yourcompany.com` or `forms.yourcompany.com`, instead of NoteMaker's. Owners and admins manage domains under **Settings → Domains**.

The Domains page appears when your administrator has turned custom domains on and your plan includes them.

## Two kinds of domain

-   A **docs site** domain serves one published collection as a documentation site.
-   A **forms** domain serves published forms: one **home form** at the root, and the others at their own paths.

Both kinds count toward the same limit, which your plan sets. The top of the page shows how many you have used, for example "1 of 3 used".

## Before you start

-   For a docs site, **publish the collection** first, from its Share window. Each collection can have one domain.
-   For a forms domain, **publish the form** first. Each form can sit on one domain.
-   Use a name you control, and decide where it will live, for example a subdomain like `docs`.

## Add a domain

1.  Open **Settings → Domains** and find **Add a domain**.
2.  Choose what it serves with the **Docs site** or **Forms** tab.
3.  Type the **Domain**, for example `docs.example.com`.
4.  For a docs site choose the **Published collection** and, if you like, a **Home page**. Without one, the domain shows the collection index. For a forms domain choose the **Home form**.
5.  Choose **Add domain**.

## Point your DNS at NoteMaker

The new domain shows two records to create at your DNS provider, each with a copy button:

| Type | Name | Value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **CNAME** | your hostname | the address shown on the page |
| **TXT** | `_notemaker.` followed by your hostname | `notemaker-verify=` and a code shown on the page |

![A domain waiting for DNS, with the CNAME and TXT records to copy, a Home page choice and the Check now and Remove buttons](https://thenotemaker.com/help/custom-domains.webp)

NoteMaker then checks for them by itself and updates the status:

1.  **Waiting for DNS**: the records are not visible yet. DNS can take a while to spread. Choose **Check now** to look again straight away.
2.  **Verified**: both records were found.
3.  **Issuing certificate**: NoteMaker is getting a secure certificate for the name.
4.  **Active**: the domain works.
5.  **Failed**: the domain was not verified after about three days. Fix the records at your DNS provider, then choose **Retry** on the domain.

NoteMaker also re-checks an active domain every day. If your records go missing for several days in a row, the domain goes back to **Waiting for DNS** until they are restored.

> [!info] 💡
> Turn off proxying at your DNS provider while you set up. A name that is routed through a proxy, such as Cloudflare's orange cloud, cannot be verified. On Cloudflare, set the CNAME to **DNS only** (grey cloud).

## What visitors get

Once a domain is **Active**:

-   The old `/c/…`, `/p/…` and `/f/…` addresses on NoteMaker redirect to it.
-   A docs site gets readable page addresses taken from the page titles, a search box (Ctrl+K), previous and next links at the end of each page, and a sitemap and `robots.txt` for search engines. Each page also has a plain Markdown version, by adding `.md` to its address, and the site has an `llms.txt` file for AI tools.
-   A docs site shows **one collection**. Its sub-collections are not shown, so build the site as top-level section pages with the articles as their sub-pages.

## Manage a domain

-   **Home page.** Change which page a docs site opens on. This needs no new DNS records.
-   **Forms on this domain.** Add more published forms, set each form's path, choose **Make home** for another form, or remove one. Removing a form puts it back at its `/f/…` address on NoteMaker.
-   **Page address.** A page's own address can be edited in its Share window, by the page's author or an admin.
-   **Remove.** Deletes the domain from your workspace. Its address stops serving your content.

Old addresses keep redirecting after you rename a page or change a path, so existing links keep working.

## If your plan changes

If a plan stops including custom domains, the domains are kept but stop working until the plan includes them again. NoteMaker's own addresses always keep working.

## Related

-   [🌐 Publish to the web](https://docs.thenotemaker.com/organise-and-share/publish-to-the-web)
-   [🌍 Publish, share and embed a form](https://docs.thenotemaker.com/forms/publish-share-and-embed-a-form)
-   [📊 Usage and plan limits](https://docs.thenotemaker.com/workspace-settings/usage-and-plan-limits)