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Domains

Configure Microsite Domain(s) Intermediate

When setting up a Microsite, you must have a domain in the sub-account in order to provide a URL to the microsite. Sub-domains of the "m.mdl.io" domain are provided to you free of charge (e.g. "anytext.m.mdl.io"). Instructions are also provided for forwarding domains that you have purchased and for subdomains that you already host.


Instructions:


If you don't have a domain of your own or just need an extra domain for testing, you can easily create free subdomains under the URL "m.mdl.io" (for example, XYZ.m.mdl.io). Follow these steps to create your own:

1. Open MindFire Studio

2. Log in to your account

3. Navigate to the "Configuration" Tab

4. Click on "Domains" Menu

5. Click on the "+ Add" button

6. Enter "XYZ.m.mdl.io" as your domain name

 
Instructions:

1. Start by visiting the Additional Settings section of your domain, and select "Manage DNS"

Manage DNS

2. Configure your DNS to point to msp.mdl.io

  • CNAME - * - msp.mdl.io
  • CNAME - www - msp.mdl.io
    • Sample DNS Configuration
  • Forward your domain to www.yourdomain.com
    • Forward to www.yourdomain.com
  • CNAME - *.subdomain.yourdomain.com - msp.mdl.io
  • CNAME - subdomain.yourdomain.com - msp.mdl.io
    • Forwarding Sub-domains

3. When the Microsite is active (published), you can test your changes by visiting the Microsite as a Guest or as a PURL.

In case of SSL on root domain (e.g. yourdomain.com), the certificate will be installed @ www.domain.com, not domain.com, therefore when linking to your site you must include www (e.g. https://www.yourdomain.com)

  • Sample HTML of a proper redirect:
    • Sample Redirect
  • In case of SSL, the PURL remains in the sub-directory as before (e.g. https://www.yourdomain.com/##purl##). Remember, www is necessary
  • In Domain Forwarding, do not forward to "https://" unless required. Forcing "https://" to the site may cause conflict unless managed properly. To use forwarding to "https://" you MUST send contacts to their purl with the purl in the subdirectory (e.g. https://www.yourdomain.com/##purl##)

First of all, why are we doing this?

When pointing the A-Record of a domain at a single IP, there are limits to the scalability of the hosting of the Microsite. By transitioning to the CNAME (coupled with Domain-Forwarding), we can take advantage of auto-scaling, and we can bring up as many servers as we want to balance the load of the Microsites across all servers, reducing any lag the end user may experience during times of high volume and load.

Before you start, here are a few important FYIs

  • Before transitioning to CNAME, you MUST remove your previous A-Records pointing to Studio because these will be replaced by the CNAME and Domain Forwarding.
  • If you run into any issues in this process, you can revert to the previous A-Record setup, and contact support for help in the transition process.
  • In order to use Domain Forwarding on a root domain (e.g. yourdomain.com) we will force a www to the prefix of the domain (e.g. www.yourdomain.com)

1. Start by visiting the Additional Settings section of your domain, and select "Manage DNS"

Manage DNS

2. Remove any A-Record or Wildcard (*) A-Record for your domain previously pointing at Studio (184.72.52.227). You must do this step in order to move on to the next step.

Remove Previous A Record or Wildcard

3. Configure your DNS to point to msp.mdl.io

  • CNAME - * - msp.mdl.io
  • CNAME - www - msp.mdl.io
    • Sample DNS Configuration
  • Forward your domain to www.yourdomain.com
    • Forward to www.yourdomain.com
  • CNAME - *.subdomain.yourdomain.com - msp.mdl.io
  • CNAME - subdomain.yourdomain.com - msp.mdl.io
    • Forwarding Sub-domains

4. If the Microsite is active (published), you can test your changes by visiting the Microsite as a Guest or as a PURL.