Domains ID: DBT-ODO-DOM

Developers should have a strong foundational knowledge of how domains work in order to get the most out of Marketpath CMS. When you create a new site you can add a free development domain or a custom domain.

Development Domain

We have an unlimited supply of free development domains for use by Marketpath CMS customers. These are easy to set up and free to use, but they come with one main drawback: They are long-ugly-Marketpath domains. Typically this makes them ideal for new website development efforts but you will probably want to swap them with your custom domain(s) prior to going live (more on that in a later lesson).

To set up a free development domain:

Go to Site Administration > Domains > Add

• Select the checkbox next to Use a free development domain
   
• Type in your Domain Name. This will only be the "prefix" or "subdomain" you plan on using - the main domain is fully controlled by Marketpath.
   
• Select your Development Domain, if available. This is the root domain controlled by Marketpath. Your development domain will be a subdomain of this.
   
• If your specified development domain has not already been taken, you will be able to Save and use your domain. If your specified development domain has been taken, you will have to specify a different development domain.

Custom Domain

We try to make it easy to add custom domains to your site, but we do verify that you have control over the domain you are adding. There are three ways to verify your domain:

• Using a TXT DNS record. One of the easiest ways to verify that you control your domain is if you have the ability to add DNS records for it. After adding the specified record, we will verify that it has been added and then you can remove the TXT record if you want.
   
• Using a CNAME DNS record. Similar to the first method, we can verify that you control your domain by adding a CNAME record for a sub-domain. If you can't add TXT records, don't want to figure out how, or want to add multiple sub-domains at once, then this might be a good option for you while still being unobtrusive to any domains or subdomains currently in use. If for some reason you need to keep the subdomain "marketpath-verify" pointed to a different server then this option is not for you. And just like TXT records, you can remove the DNS record when you finished verifying that you control the domain.
• Using a Meta Tag. If you have access to edit the site hosted at your domain, but do not currently have easy access to edit your DNS records then this could be a good option for you. Simply add the specified meta tag to the header of your homepage and we will know that you do in fact control your domain. As with the other two methods, feel free to remove the meta tag after verifying that you own your domain.

Note that verifying your domain is not the same thing as pointing it to Marketpath servers. When you are ready to go live with your Marketpath CMS website, you will need to point your domain to serve content from Marketpath servers instead of your current host. This means that if you (or your IT provider) do not currently have access to your DNS records, you will need to get access to them prior to going live.

Using SSL (https)

Every domain on Marketpath CMS can be accessed one of two ways: via http (insecure) or via https (secure). However, in order to access a resource using a secure link, the domain must have an SSL certificate.

Ordinarily, this is something that you would have to purchase from a third-party and install on your server (or have your IT team install it for you). This is still an option with Marketpath CMS if you want a certificate using Organization Validation (OV) or Extended Validation (EV). However, Marketpath CMS has the ability to generate and provide free SSL certificates using Domain Validation for your domains. We use Let's Encrypt to provide these certificates.

In order to use the auto-SSL feature you must Go Live with your site and the domain's SSL / HTTPS property must be set to the Either or Require option. Also, if using a custom domain, your domain must be pointed at Marketpath's servers. It may take several minutes on average, or up to 8 hours, to automatically create your SSL certificate.

Redirecting a Domain

The easiest way to redirect traffic from one domain to another is to use a redirect domain. To do this, create a new domain (development or custom domain) and save it. Then click the new domain in the site domain list. Select Redirect. In the redirect dialog, select the domain to which all traffic should be directed. Click Save.

Marketpath Domain Registration and DNS

Marketpath does not provide an interface to register domains or manage DNS. However, this is a service we are happy to provide if you would like to keep these all in one place. We can register domains for you and manage your DNS. Send a new support ticket using the support portal to get this started.

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