You can read more here about the various options we offer to host your newsroom, but if you're already sure you want a subdomain through CDN, here's the lowdown.
Before considering this hosting option please keep in mind:
This setup requires you to have access to some sort of CDN service like Cloudflare, CloudFront, Akamai, KeyCDN, Fast.ly, etc. the most important thing is that they support SSL
This setup potentially requires you to have access to your DNS / domain registrar
Example of a subdomain: news.yourdomain.com
We'll use Cloudflare as the example service to set this up, but this will work in very similar ways for other CDN services. Anyway, let's dive right into it!
Step 1: make sure CNAME is your DNS resolver
If that's not the case, you can set up Cloudflare as the resolver for your custom CNAME by changing your domain nameserver to Cloudflare.
Step 2: add a CNAME record
Go to the ‘DNS’ section in Cloudflare and add a CNAME record for your Help Center custom domain. Give the CNAME a Name based on the first part of your custom domain e.g. if your custom domain is news.yourdomain.com, use news.
Step 3: point the CNAME to pr.co
Point the CNAME record to pr.co, enter this as the domain: cname.pr.co.
Step 4: enable the CNAME record
To enable the CNAME record, click on the Cloud icon under the Status so it turns orange.
Step 5: configure SSL
Go to the ‘Crypto’ section and change SSL to ‘Flexible’ or ‘Full’.
Step 6: Create a page rule enforcing HTTPS
Go to ‘Page Rules’ and create a new page rule with the following settings, replacing help.exampleapp.com with your own custom subdomain.
Step 7: Disable Cloudflare page speed features
Go to ‘Speed’ and disable Rocket Loader and Mirage for your custom help center domain. Both of these features result in Cloudflare attempting to add some javascript to your newsroom. This will break functionality on your newsroom due to security settings your newsroom has enabled.
That's all folks!
Should you need help setting up your newsroom's custom domain, please don't hesitate to contact us. We're always happy to help you out! 😃