Custom domain
Use a domain you own as your site’s address. Add the DNS records Milkcrate gives you, then check it from Settings → Domain.
If you own a domain, your site can live there instead of <handle>.milkcrate.site. You set it up in Settings → Domain, on the Your address card, in the Your own domain row. You need access to the domain’s DNS settings.
Adding your domain
Press the row, type the whole domain, like yourname.com, and press Connect. If you paste a full web address, Milkcrate trims it to the domain. You can’t enter a milkcrate.site address here.
Milkcrate then shows a CNAME record with a Type, a Name and a Value. Add it at your DNS provider. The value is cname.milkcrate.site. If you connect yourname.com, Milkcrate also sets up www.yourname.com, and the other way round. The card lists a record for each. The extra one redirects to the domain you connected. A deeper subdomain, such as shop.yourname.com, gets no extra record. Neither does a domain whose twin another site already uses.
If your provider won’t take a CNAME on the bare domain
Some providers don’t allow a CNAME on a bare domain like yourname.com. Ask for an ALIAS or ANAME record with the same value instead. Some panels want the full name. Others want only the part before your domain, or “@” for the domain itself.
You can also connect www.yourname.com and skip the bare-domain record. Visitors who type the bare domain won’t be sent across until that record exists.
Checking the connection
The row shows a badge: Verifying, Connected or Needs DNS. Inside, the card says “Waiting on DNS” until Milkcrate finds your record, then “Valid configuration”. Press Check now to look straight away. The button reads “Checking DNS…” and then “Verified”. If the record isn’t there yet, you see “Not connected yet. DNS changes can take a few hours to apply.”
Milkcrate also checks by itself. It looks every ten minutes for the first 48 hours, then once a day. If your record is removed later, the daily check notices and your site goes back to its Milkcrate address.
Your domain becomes your main address
Once Milkcrate verifies the domain, it becomes your site’s main address. Copying your address and downloading a QR code from Home use it from then on. To switch back, press Use my Milkcrate address in the same panel. Both addresses then work, and your Milkcrate address is the main one. Make primary turns it on again.
What happens to your Milkcrate address
While your domain is the main address, <handle>.milkcrate.site redirects to it. Any link that still points at the Milkcrate address keeps working.
Disconnecting
Press Disconnect in the panel and confirm. Your domain, and its www or bare twin, stop serving your site straight away. Your Milkcrate address keeps working, and you can reconnect the same domain later.
Contact Milkcrate
Can’t find what you need? Tell us what you were doing and we will point you the right way.