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Custom Domain

Your club website lives at <address>.targetscore.com, but it can also be shown on a domain you own, such as www.yourclub.ca. You add the domain on Target Score, point one DNS record at us, and we issue and renew the HTTPS certificate for you. One domain per club.

Before You Start​

  • You own the domain and know where it is registered (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, Google Domains, and so on).
  • You can edit its DNS records there, or know who can.
  • The club is on a Pro plan or above; see Plans & Billing.
  • Your site address on the Site & domain tab is set, so the site is already live on targetscore.com.

Where to Find It​

Open Manage Club > Club Website, tab Site & domain, section Custom domain.

Add Your Domain​

  1. Under Custom domain, type the full host name you want to use, for example www.yourclub.ca, and click Add domain.

  2. At your DNS provider, add a CNAME record:

    • Name / host: www (or whichever subdomain you chose).
    • Target / value: sites.targetscore.com.

    If your DNS provider is Cloudflare, set the record to DNS only (grey cloud), not proxied.

  3. Back on Target Score, click Check status. Target Score also checks on its own every 10 minutes for about a day, so you can leave the page and come back.

Once the status reads Active, your site is live on your domain.

www or Bare Domain?​

Use a subdomain such as www.yourclub.ca. It works with every DNS provider and is what we recommend.

A bare domain (yourclub.ca with nothing in front) only works if your DNS provider supports CNAME flattening or ALIAS / ANAME records on the root; Cloudflare and some others do, many registrars do not. If yours does not, keep www. on Target Score and set up a redirect from the bare domain to www at your registrar. Most offer this for free, and visitors who type yourclub.ca still land on your site.

Verification States​

StatusWhat it meansWhat to do
Pending – waiting for DNSThe CNAME record is not visible to us yet.Check the record and wait; DNS changes can take minutes to a few hours.
Pending – issuing certificateThe record was found and the HTTPS certificate is being issued.Nothing; this usually takes a few minutes.
ActiveThe site is live on your domain.Visit it. The first sign-in may take a minute to work.
FailedSomething stopped verification; the reason is shown beside the status.Fix the cause (see below) and click Check status.

How Long It Takes​

  • DNS: a new CNAME record is usually visible within minutes, but some providers take a few hours to update.
  • Certificate: a few minutes once the record is found.
  • Giving up: after about a day of trying, the domain is marked Failed with Verification timed out. Clicking Check status starts it again.

Troubleshooting​

If the status is Failed, or stuck on waiting for DNS for hours, check for these:

  • Wrong CNAME target: the value must be exactly sites.targetscore.com.
  • A typo in the host name on Target Score (ww.yourclub.ca, a missing letter) or in the record's name at your provider.
  • A conflicting A or AAAA record on the same name. A name can carry a CNAME or address records, not both; remove the A / AAAA records.
  • A CAA record that forbids Let's Encrypt or Google Trust Services from issuing certificates for your domain. Either remove it or add both authorities.
  • The record is proxied through another Cloudflare account (orange cloud). Switch it to DNS only.
  • Bare domain without flattening: see www or Bare Domain? above.

After each fix, click Check status. If it still fails, contact us with the domain and the reason shown.

Removing or Changing the Domain​

  • Remove domain takes the domain off your site immediately; the <address>.targetscore.com address keeps working. You can then delete the CNAME record at your provider.
  • To change domains, remove the current one first, then add the new one and set up its record as above.

Things to Know​

  • Your <address>.targetscore.com address keeps working alongside the custom domain.
  • Once the domain is Active, search engines are told that your own domain is the main address of every page (the targetscore.com copy points to it), so your domain is what shows up in results.
  • Visitors can sign in on your domain just as on targetscore.com; see Signing In on Your Site.
  • HTTPS is automatic and renews itself. There is nothing to upload or keep track of.
  • If the plan ends, the domain goes offline with the rest of the website but is kept; it comes back, without any DNS changes, once the club is on a paid plan again.

Got a question? Reach out to us at support@targetscore.com.