Custom Domain, Private Preview and Publishing

The Domain page controls public access to your storefront. DirectSale does not assign permanent public tenant subdomains, for either Trial or paid accounts. Build and preview your site from your dashboard, then publish it on your own verified custom domain when it is ready.

Preview before connecting a domain

1. Sign in to your own dashboard with permission to manage the storefront.
2. Open Storefront and choose Preview. The full storefront opens in a new browser tab.
3. Review layout, product pages, navigation and mobile appearance.
4. Return to the dashboard to edit. Open a fresh preview when the old session expires.

The random preview address is temporary: its authorized session lasts 30 minutes. It is not a permanent store address or a public launch. Copying the resulting address into another browser does not grant access. Allow pop-ups for the dashboard if Preview does not open.

Preview is read-only and does not enable live checkout actions or the live chat widget. Test real channels and checkout separately. Do not use private preview addresses in marketing, a sitemap or customer product links.

Before you connect

This page connects a domain you already own; it does not purchase or renew domains. Purchase one from a registrar first if needed. Your account must have the custom-domain feature, and an owner or admin must connect it.

If Domain Settings says the connection service is unavailable, contact platform support. The platform must finish its setup first; you do not need to supply an API token. Continue building and using a private preview while waiting. The guide remains available before you register a domain.

Connect your own domain

Navigate to Storefront > SEO & Settings > Domain. You need control of its DNS settings, storefront permissions and plan access.

1. Enter your registrable root domain, such as yourbrand.com or yourbrand.co.uk. Do not include https://, a path, www, or a subdomain such as shop.yourbrand.com.
2. Choose Set Domain. Copy the DNS records and target shown by DirectSale.
3. Add both the root (@) record and the www CNAME shown in the panel at your DNS provider. For the root, use your provider's supported ALIAS/ANAME or CNAME-flattening method; do not guess an IP address.
4. Wait for DNS propagation, then choose Check Status.
5. Confirm domain verification, active hostname status and active SSL before publishing.

Edit records at the provider managing your authoritative nameservers, which may be different from your registrar. Choose one supported root record type, not all of CNAME/ALIAS/ANAME. Support for arbitrary targets varies by provider; ask support if your provider cannot point the root to the supplied hostname. If no target is shown, contact platform support before changing DNS.

Review conflicting root website records before replacing them, and keep email MX/TXT records intact. Changing the root website record can replace your existing website. Some domains need additional ownership or certificate validation; ask support for the exact records if automatic checks do not complete.

Entering a domain alone does not publish the site. SSL provisioning follows successful domain validation and may take additional time. Use the current status rather than assuming a fixed completion time.

The root domain is the primary address. After DNS and SSL are ready, www product and page addresses redirect permanently to the same path on the HTTPS root domain. Check Status also sets up or retries www SSL for an existing domain. DirectSale does not create DNS records at your provider. The www SSL indicator is separate from root verification and is not proof of DNS reachability; open a www product address after publishing to verify the complete redirect. Pending www setup does not prevent the verified root website from being published.

Publish on your custom domain

After reviewing content and checkout, choose Publish on custom domain. Public access requires the verified domain, active SSL and explicit publication. A paid subscription by itself does not publish a website.

Check your custom-domain homepage and a product page in a private browser window after publishing. A draft page or product can still be unavailable even when the storefront is published. Publishing the storefront does not activate every draft.

Unpublish or change a domain

Unpublishing removes public storefront access; editing and dashboard previews remain available. Removing or replacing a domain requires verification and publication for the new domain. Stop advertising an old address after disconnecting it.

Hosted payment links sent in messaging channels, payments in progress, an authorized widget on an external website and external commerce integrations have separate authorization. Private storefront status does not automatically disable those independent services.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to check
Preview expired or denied	Sign in to the correct account and launch a new Preview. Do not share preview cookies or session links.
No permanent subdomain field	Expected: public stores use a connected custom domain.
Domain pending	Check the exact DNS target, conflicting records and propagation at your registrar.
SSL pending	Check hostname verification first; refresh status after provisioning has had time to complete.
www unavailable	Add the www CNAME shown in Domain Settings, choose Check Status, wait for www SSL, then open a www product address to confirm it redirects.
Domain verified but website unavailable	Confirm SSL is active and Publish on custom domain succeeded. Check page/product publication too.
Publish fails	Keep the site private, read the error and contact Support if verification is complete but publishing still fails.
Connection service unavailable	Contact platform support to complete setup; keep using private preview.
Settings failed to load	Choose Reload domain settings. Do not assume the saved domain was removed.
Domain already in use	Contact support to review the existing association.
DNS provider rejects a root CNAME	Ask about supported root flattening/ALIAS/ANAME or contact support.
Status cached	Live status could not be fetched. Retry Check Status.
Publish is disabled	Reload settings and complete domain and SSL verification first.