Why might I need to add my domain to the Pics.io team account?
Before incorporating a custom domain into your Pics.io account, it's essential to define its intended purpose. There are various scenarios to consider:
you can opt for a bare domain (e.g., yourwebsite.com) to enable the feature of automatically inviting team members to your Pics.io workspace when they register an account with the email address based on the added domain;
NB! In such a case, just add a TXT verification record (step 2 in the instructions below) without pointing the domain to our servers using A/CNAME records.
you may require a custom domain to brand shared collections (Pics.io websites) or inbox pages with a personalized URL;
In this case, we recommend creating individual subdomains specially for shared collections (e.g. sites.yourwebsite.com) or inboxes (get.yourwebsite.com), adding and connecting them in the My Team - Settings section.
you may need to set up custom login/signup pages to remove Pics.io's mention:
How do I add a domain to my Pics.io team space?
Step 1. Navigate to «My team» -> «Settings» and enter your domain / subdomain in the corresponding field (e.g. sites.yourdomain.com / yourdomain.com).
The system will ask you to verify the domain ownership by creating a TXT record in the domain's DNS settings using the generated token as the value.
Step 2. Click «Copy token & Close», and go to your DNS host's dashboard.
Step 3. Create a new TXT record for your custom domain / subdomain (e.g. sites.yourdomain.com / yourdomain.com), and put the previously copied token in the «Destination» field like this:
Host Record Example:
Record Type: TXT
Host Name: a79e173bd5
Value: picsio-domain-verification=90053ex9e8abd4c3b8b8fe7f3d41a2c459683fb3eb8720bbe1bd38ea966bf39c
When the TXT record is created, the DNS propagation will take place again, requiring you to wait for it to take effect.
NB! Be sure to use the values from your Pics.io account, not the examples provided in the article.
Step 4. When the propagation is over, go to «My team» -> «Settings» and re-enter your custom subdomain/domain in the corresponding field. The system will check the host records you previously configured and will verify them.
NB! Your domain won't appear in the account automatically even if host records are created. Make sure to click the 'Add button' for the system to verify it.
Once the domain is verified and added to Pics.io, you can remove the TXT record from your DNS settings if needed. Currently, Pics.io does not perform any additional verifications.
Configuring custom domains for websites, inboxes, branded pages
To add a subdomain for branded shared collections/inboxes/custom login/signup pages, please follow the instructions below:
Step 1. The first step requires you to update the DNS for the subdomain you intend to connect to Pics.io. To do so, you need to access your domain's DNS settings in your domain registrar's or DNS host's dashboard and create:
TXT verification record for a subdomain (follow the instructions from the first part of this article);
CNAME record for a subdomain like sites.yourdomain.com (you can change «sites» with any word) and enter the following value for it: show.pics.io
Alternatively, you may create an A record for a subdomain and point it to the following IP address: 54.243.40.217.
Once the host records are created, they might take some time to propagate. It is the process of setting the domain live by your provider and it usually takes from 30 minutes up to several hours. Until then, your custom domain may not work and return the 404 error.
How can I replace a default shared collection (website) or inbox address with my custom domain?
Hover your mouse over the name of a Website / Inbox and click on the «globe» icon.
Select the necessary domain name that was previously added in My Team settings from the list.
This is what the custom address looks like for a shared collection:
This is what the custom address looks like for an inbox:
How do I protect a Website / Inbox on my custom domain?
Websites on custom domains are protected with the SSL certificate by LetsEncrypt by default. An SSL certificate will be installed automatically. In case you see an unsecured connection message while browsing your website, contact us at support@pics.io and we will make the necessary changes on our end.