> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://orgo.space/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Custom Domain

> Serve your community on your own domain, and understand each step of the setup

By default your community lives at `yourorg.orgo.space`. A custom domain lets it
live at an address you own, such as `members.yourorg.org`, so members never leave
your brand.

Setup is not instant. It runs through a sequence of states, and most of the
confusion comes from not being able to tell which one you are in.

***

## The setup sequence

| State            | What is happening                                    | What you do               |
| ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| **Draft**        | The domain is recorded but nothing has started       | Start the setup           |
| **Provisioning** | A TLS certificate is being requested for your domain | Wait                      |
| **Awaiting DNS** | Orgo is waiting for you to add DNS records           | **Add the records shown** |
| **Validating**   | Your records have been found and are being verified  | Wait                      |
| **Active**       | The domain is live and serving your community        | Nothing                   |
| **Failed**       | Setup could not complete                             | See below                 |

The only step that needs you is **Awaiting DNS**. Everything else moves on its
own, though not instantly.

***

## Adding the DNS records

<Steps>
  <Step title="Choose the subdomain">
    Something like `members.yourorg.org` or `community.yourorg.org`. Use a
    subdomain rather than your bare domain, so your main website is unaffected.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add the records Orgo shows you">
    Add them exactly as displayed, in whichever service manages your DNS. The
    certificate validation record and the record pointing at Orgo are both
    required; one without the other leaves setup stuck.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Wait for propagation">
    DNS changes are not immediate. A few minutes is normal, longer is possible
    depending on your provider and previous cache lifetimes.
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## "I added the domain but I do not get a login page"

Almost always one of three things, in order of likelihood:

**Setup is not finished.** Check the state. If it says Awaiting DNS or
Validating, the domain is not serving yet and what you are seeing is expected.

**DNS has not propagated to you.** Your own computer may hold an older answer
even when the record is correct. Try a private window, another network, or simply
wait. If it works for someone else, this is what it is.

**A record is missing or altered.** Some DNS providers append your domain to
values automatically, which silently turns a correct record into a wrong one.
Compare what is saved against what Orgo displayed, character for character.

<Note>
  If it has been more than an hour in Awaiting DNS with records you have checked,
  contact support rather than deleting and starting again. Starting over requests a
  new certificate and puts you at the back of the same queue.
</Note>

***

## If setup fails

A failed state usually means certificate validation could not complete within the
allowed window, which in practice means the DNS records were not in place in time.
Confirm the records, then ask support to restart the setup.

***

## Email and your custom domain

Serving the community on your domain is separate from sending email from it.
Email sending needs its own DNS records and its own verification. Setting up one
does not configure the other, and members noticing that email still arrives from
the old address is the usual way this is discovered.