Note: Connecting to a custom domain requires activation with your domain registrar.
Step 1
Click on your account name and select School Settings.
Step 2
In the Site Information section, click Change School URL.
Step 3
Edit your subdomain or add a custom domain. Click Save.
What if you want to set up a custom domain?
Please note that DNS changes can take up to 72 hours to propagate across the entire internet.
Create a CNAME Record
Within your domain registrar’s site, and locate the Zone File Settings, DNS Manager, or similar area of your control panel. Here you will create a CNAME record that points your domain to Northpass.
Important note: You must use a subdomain for your custom domain. Do not point a naked domain at Northpass. Many schools choose subdomains such as www, learn, or academy.
In this example, we'll set up a school with the custom domain www.my-school.com
- Alias - should be www
- Type - should be CNAME(ALIAS)
- Points To - should be secure.northpass.com
Optional - Enable Domain Forwarding of a naked domain
This section helps you point your naked domain to your Northpass school domain. In this example, we’ll forward my-school.com to www.my-school.com
Within your domain provider’s Domain Forwarding area, create a 301 (permanent) redirect rule to forward the version of your domain without the 'www' to the version with the 'www'.
my-school.com -> www.myschool.com
If presented with the options, always select HTTP:// and 301 redirect types.
Step 4
Click Save.
What if you want to secure your custom domain?
SSL Certificate
By default, we do not require setting up an SSL certificate in order to use a custom domain. However, in order to ensure that sensitive information is not passed insecurely, we redirect the learner to a secure subdomain using Northpass' SSL certificate ([SUBDOMAIN].northpass.com). As this URL is only used in a couple of places, this suffices for most as a tradeoff of not needing to set up the SSL certificate.
However, for customers who prefer to purchase, host, and manage an SSL certificate in order to have a secure custom domain through the sensitive school transactions, we support using an SSL Certificate with your account.
Contact us to learn more about setting up an SSL Certificate.