Custom Domain & Settings Updated Jun 20, 2026 6 min read

How to Connect Your Own Custom Domain

This is the complete, no-jargon guide to pointing your own web address (like www.mycoolradio.com) at your RadioSiteMaker station. Don't worry if you've never touched a "DNS" setting in your life — this guide is written for absolute beginners. Follow it in order, copy the values exactly, and your domain will be live. It takes about 10 minutes of work plus a little waiting.

What we're doing — in plain English

Your station already has a free web address: yourstation.radiositemaker.com. This guide makes your own address (the one you bought, like www.mycoolradio.com) show your station instead.

Think of it like a mail-forwarding order. You bought a domain name from a company like GoDaddy or Namecheap — that's your address-book entry. Right now it points nowhere. We're going to add one line that says: "When someone visits www.mycoolradio.com, send them to RadioSiteMaker." That single line is called a CNAME record. That's the whole trick.

Time: ~10 min + waiting · You'll need: your domain login · Difficulty: beginner · Cost: free.

Keep two things open while you work:

Your domain provider's website (where you bought the domain).
Your RadioSiteMaker Settings page.

One golden rule: always use the "www" version

RadioSiteMaker supports domains that start with www. — for example www.mycoolradio.com, not the bare mycoolradio.com. Don't worry: in the very last step we'll make the bare version automatically redirect to the www version, so visitors typing either one always arrive in the right place.

Step 1 — Add the CNAME record at your domain provider

Log in to wherever you bought your domain (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace, Cloudflare, etc.). Find the section called DNS, "DNS Records", "Manage DNS" or "Advanced DNS". Add a new record with exactly these three values:

Type	Name (or "Host")	Value (or "Points to" / "Target")
CNAME	`www`	`sites.radiositemaker.com`

Type www in the Name/Host box — not your full domain (some providers fill in the rest automatically). Then click Save / Add Record. That's it at your provider for now.

Step 2 — Wait a bit, then check that it worked

The internet needs a little time to learn about your change — usually 10 to 60 minutes (occasionally a few hours). You can watch its progress for free:

Go to whatsmydns.net → choose CNAME from the dropdown → type www.yourdomain.com → press Search.

When you see green check marks around the world all pointing to sites.radiositemaker.com, you're ready for Step 3.

Step 3 — Enter your domain in RadioSiteMaker and save

Go to your Settings page. In the Custom Domain box, type your address (e.g. www.mycoolradio.com), then click Save Settings.

Your domain is saved right away, and the dashboard shows a live status panel for it:

✓ Active (green) — everything's done. Your site is serving over HTTPS. 🎉
Pending (amber) — DNS is still spreading or the SSL certificate is still being issued. This normally clears within a few minutes.

If the panel lists any DNS records to add, add them at your provider (see Step 4). This happens when your domain sits behind a proxy such as Cloudflare's orange cloud.

Step 4 — Finish setup and click "Check status"

After saving, you can press the Check status button at any time to re-check your domain. When the certificate is issued the panel turns green and your site goes live — no page refresh needed.

Most providers (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace, Google Domains…): the single CNAME from Step 1 is all that's needed. The SSL padlock is issued automatically — just wait for the panel to turn green (use Check status to re-check).
Cloudflare with the orange cloud (proxied): the status panel will show two extra records to add. Copy them straight from the dashboard and add them at Cloudflare as DNS-only (grey cloud) — full details in the Cloudflare section below.

Step 5 — Send the bare domain to the www version

Finally, make yourdomain.com (without www) automatically forward to www.yourdomain.com, so visitors who leave off the "www" still land on your site.

In your domain provider, look for Domain Forwarding, Redirect or URL Forwarding, and forward yourdomain.com → https://www.yourdomain.com. (Exact wording varies by provider — see the cheat sheet below.)

Once the green check mark shows in your dashboard, your station is live on your own domain. The secure https:// padlock is handled for you automatically — you never need to buy or install an SSL certificate.

Where to click at popular providers

Every provider hides the DNS page somewhere slightly different. In all cases you're adding the same record from Step 1: CNAME · www · sites.radiositemaker.com.

GoDaddy

My Products → Domain → DNS / "Manage DNS" → Add → choose CNAME. Name: www, Value: sites.radiositemaker.com. For Step 5, use Forwarding in the same area.

Namecheap

Domain List → Manage → Advanced DNS → Add New Record → CNAME Record. Host: www, Target: sites.radiositemaker.com. For Step 5: "Redirect Domain".

Squarespace / Google Domains

Settings → Domains → your domain → DNS Settings → Add record → CNAME. Host: www, Data: sites.radiositemaker.com.

Cloudflare

Pick your site → DNS → Add record → CNAME. Name: www, Target: sites.radiositemaker.com. You can leave the Proxy status on (orange cloud) — it works fine.

There's one extra step for Cloudflare. Because the orange-cloud proxy hides your real server, our system needs to confirm you own the domain before it can issue your SSL certificate. After you save your domain in Settings, the status panel shows two extra records — copy the exact values from your dashboard and add them at Cloudflare:

Type	Name	Value	Proxy status
CNAME	`_acme-challenge.www`	(shown in your dashboard)	DNS only (grey cloud)
TXT	`_fly-ownership.www`	(shown in your dashboard)	DNS only (grey cloud)

These two records must be DNS-only (grey cloud) — click the orange cloud so it turns grey. Your main www record can stay proxied (orange). Once both are added, click Check status; the certificate is usually issued within a few minutes and the panel turns green.

Tip: Cloudflare may show the Name field as just _acme-challenge.www or as the full _acme-challenge.www.yourdomain.com — either is fine. Always copy the value straight from your dashboard so it matches exactly.

For Step 5, add a second CNAME for the bare domain (Name @ or your root, Target www.yourdomain.com); Cloudflare handles the rest automatically.

Quick reminder: whatever provider you use, the record type must be CNAME, the name must be just www, and the value must be exactly sites.radiositemaker.com. Get those three right and you're done.

Frequently Asked Questions

My domain saved but the status panel says "Pending".

That's normal right after saving. It means your DNS is still spreading across the internet, or the SSL certificate is still being issued — usually clears within a few minutes. Click Check status to re-check. If it stays pending for more than ~30 minutes, confirm your CNAME on whatsmydns.net (CNAME → www.yourdomain.com → sites.radiositemaker.com). If you use Cloudflare with the orange cloud, make sure you also added the two extra records as DNS-only (see the Cloudflare section).

I use Cloudflare and my site shows an SSL error (or "Error 525").

This means the SSL certificate hasn't been issued yet. With Cloudflare's proxy on (orange cloud), you must add the two extra records the dashboard shows you — an _acme-challenge CNAME and a _fly-ownership TXT — and both must be DNS-only (grey cloud), not proxied. Once they're in, click Check status; the certificate is issued and the error clears within a few minutes.

I added the record but whatsmydns.net shows nothing or the wrong value.

Three classic mistakes: (1) you typed your full domain in the Name box instead of just www; (2) the record is the wrong type — it must be CNAME; (3) you forgot to click Save/Add at your provider. Double-check all three.

I get an SSL or "not secure" / "connection is not private" error.

The secure certificate usually just hasn't finished installing yet — it's automatic and typically takes 1–2 minutes after your DNS verifies. Wait a couple of minutes, then refresh in a private/incognito window (your browser may have cached the old "not secure" state).

www.mydomain.com works, but mydomain.com (no www) doesn't.

That's Step 5 — set up domain forwarding/redirect from the bare domain to the www version at your provider. The www address is your real site; the bare one just forwards to it.

How long does the whole thing take?

The work is about 10 minutes. The waiting (for DNS to spread) is usually 10–60 minutes, occasionally a few hours. Once it's done, it stays done — you only do this once.