Best Practice for CNAME Record Setup (General)

In general, CNAME records for standalone accounts should be set up as follows:

• Landing Page Domain = www2.domain.com
• Link Branding Domain =link.domain.com
• Email Sending Domain = email2.domain.com 

However, in a multi-tenant environment, the following guidelines apply: 

Multi-Account Websites 

• • When the subaccounts under a master account are all just sections of the same website (share a website domain)
  • examples
    • https://domain.com
      • https://domain.com/subaccount1
      • https://domain.com/subaccount2
      • https://domain.com/subaccount3 
    • the landing page domain and the link branding domain should be the same CNAME record
    • this CNAME record should be unique for each subaccount
      • • • • example
              • Landing Page Domain = subaccount1.domain.com
              • Link Branding Domain = subaccount1.domain.com

• Single-Account Websites
  • when each subaccount has a separate domain 
    • Landing Page Domain = www2.subaccountdomain.com
    • Link Branding Domain = link.subaccountdomain.com

• For any communities that share the same email sending domain that is even if it is not the same as the Agency Account (top level)
  
  • Click on the Share Sending Domain 
  • Note that to view this option the user will need the View Advanced Settings options

• When subaccounts each have a unique email sending domain (not a shared domain)
  • set the Email Sending Domain on the account(s)
    • Email Sending Domain = email2.subaccountdomain.com

Domain Whitelabeling (SSL)

After entering the above information in Administration > Account Settings > CNAME Record Setup, we recommend setting up SSL, which will ensure that your ActiveDEMAND landing pages and links are secure. See this article for more information: How do I set up Domain Whitelabeling (SSL) for my account?

We recommend setting up SSL before you set the CNAME records with your DNS provider, so that the endpoints do not have to be set twice.

You can see all the endpoints that need to be set with your DNS provider in Administration > Account Settings > View Whitelabeling. Once the CNAME records have been set, the values will show as positive (the checkboxes will be checked).