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Set a custom domain

Your Wings website has a temporary ...apps.wings.dev web address for previewing purposes. It will not be indexed by search engines.

You will want to serve your site on a custom domain. Wings supports any custom domain you want and automatically provides an SSL certificate, so that all web traffic will use https://. To make this work, you need to have registered a domain name at a domain name registrar and edit your DNS records.

Or just let us do it

We think it is important that you are able to configure your domain yourself – but you don't have to. We would be happy to configure your domain for you, for no charge. Email support@wings.dev and we will get it done.

Entering your DNS settings​

First, log in to your domain name registrar, visit the page where you can manage the settings for the domain you want to configure, and find the page where you can edit your DNS records. This page may look something like this:

Each line is a DNS record that provides instructions to DNS servers around the world how to handle requests, including users who use a browser to visit a web page. Each record has 4 characteristics:

  1. The 'Type' – we will be dealing with A records that point to an IP address, and CNAME records for subdomains.
  2. Name: you can leave this blank if you create a record for the 'root' domain (mycoolwingswebsite.com, or fill out the subdomain if you create a CNAME record.
  3. Content: the destination (where the request should be directed to)
  4. TTL: 'Time to live', which refers to how long a setting is valid. A shorter TTL means that your changes will be picked up more quickly.

Now, decide between to options:

  1. You can use a regular domain with and without 'www', for example: mycoolwingswebsite.com and www.mycoolwingswebsite.com.
  2. Or you can use a subdomain of an existing domain, for example action.myexistingwebsite.com)

1. Configure the root domain​

Now, we will connect the 'root' domain (the one without 'www') to Wings. You will need to either edit your existing A record, or create a new one. Most domain name registrars will automatically assign an A record, so you probably have to edit the existing record.

This is how that looks if you use DNSimple.com, but the interface of your website registrar may look similar:

  1. Leave this value empty.
  2. Enter the IP address of the Wings service, which is 76.76.21.21.
  3. Add the record.

2. Configure the www subdomain​

Next, you also need to point your 'www'-subdomain to Wings. For this, you need to:

  1. Delete any A record and/or AAAA record you may have listed for the 'www' subdomain.
  2. If you already have a CNAME record for your 'www' subdomain, edit it. If not, create a new one. Make sure you have a CNAME record for www.mycoolwingswebsite.com (or whatever your domain name is). You probably only need to fill out the (1)www part, and point it to cname.vercel-dns.com. (2) (some registrars require that you include the . at the end), and (3) save it.
Note:

You should not forward your domain, which would redirect users from your domain to a different domain. Many domain name registrars let you choose between forwarding a domain – which you should disable, if activated – and properly connecting your domain name to a website hosting service using DNS records.

Configure your domain in Wings​

After you made sure your domain points to Wings, you still have to configure your domain in your Wings project. Note: it is best to wait until the DNS changes have propagated, and your domain actually points to Wings.

Go to Settings -> Apps -> Domains and click 'edit domains':

Then, you can set your primary domain. If you use a root domain instead of a subdomain, for example mycoolwingswebsite.com, you have to choose if the www-version or the non-www-version should be the primary domain. The other one will be redirected to this primary domain, as configured in the next step.

Important:

When entering your domain in Wings, do not include http:// or https://.

After clicking 'Next', you can configure the secondary domain. This is optional and probably only necessary if you use a new domain for your website. If you chose the 'www'-version of your domain in the previous step, such as www.mycoolwingswebsite.com, you should fill out the non-www-version here – or vice versa.

Make sure to tick the checkbox that says the secondary domain should redirect to the primary domain, and click 'Finish'.

Again:

Enter only the domain, for example mycoolwingswebsite.com – do not include https:// or http:// !

Then, you can save your domain settings.

Actually, let's stress this:

Do not forget to click 'save', see screenshot below:

Next up, you can visit your domain in a browser and wait till the Wings website shows up.

Note:
  • After saving your settings, Wings will automatically set a free Let's Encrypt certificate so all pages will be served over https. This will take a couple of minutes. Just wait a bit and refresh your browser.
  • The new domain will only work if your domain points to Wings and DNS changes have propagated (meaning: servers on the internet will be redirected to the Wings server if they visit your domain name);You may use Whatsmydns.net to verify if this is the case.
  • If your domain does not work after an hour or so, it is likely that your domain was not propagated yet and the Let's Encrypt certificate was not installed successfully. Simply visit your Domains settings again and re-enter your custom domain and hit 'save' again. Wings will retry and it should work.