Custom Domains

How to set your public site up. with a custom domain

Written by George Reese

Last published at: November 1st, 2022

Table of Contents

Starting the Process Configuring DNS

We create new public sites with the URL https://[yourfestival].sparqfest.live where [yourfestival] is the name or abbreviation for your festival. For most festivals, the SparqFest URL does not matter. They have a www site , drive all traffic to it, and simply link over to the online site. Audience members never see the SparqFest URL except in the address bar of their browser when they come to the SparqFest site.

SparqFest allows, however, for the use of a custom domain. Minnesota WebFest, for example, uses SparqFest as a primary location to which they drive their audience. Instead of appearing at https://mnwf.sparqfest.live, Minnesota WebFest uses the custom domain https://selections.mnwebfest.org. This article walks through the steps of configuring a custom domain.

Starting the Process

Your first task is to determine what URL you want people to use. Common choices include:

  • events.yourdomain.com
  • online.yourdomain.com
  • watch.yourdomain.com
  • attend.yourdomain.com

It's entirely up to you.

Once you decide what name you want, send us a support ticket. From your SparqFest site, you can send a support ticket by clicking the widget at the bottom right of each page and selecting “Contact Us”. From our help center, you can simply click the widget at the bottom right of those pages and a contact form will pop up.

In the issue description, please indicate what the name you want is and times when you will be free to make your DNS changes.

Configuring DNS

We will respond to your request with the following:

  • A request for confirmation to charge your card on file $250
  • The “CNAME” information you will need to configure your DNS
  • A time when we will make the change on our end

Once we make the change on our end, the site may become unavailable until you make your DNS changes.

DNS configuration varies depending on who your DNS provider is, but the basics are pretty much the same. We give you something called a CNAME that looks like “[randomletters].cloudfront.net” and you create a CNAME record that links the cloudfront.net address to the URL you requested.

The following video provides an example of configuring a CNAME in Cloudflare.

In general, the change should work right away. If you make a mistake, however, and have to modify your change, the modification may take some time to become visible because name servers on the internet cache DNS information.

 

 

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