Domains
Connect custom domains, configure DNS records, and automate SSL certification for your site.
Blox allows you to run your website on an auto-generated temporary subdomain or connect a custom domain you already own. We handle security certificates and routing fallbacks automatically.
Overview
Each website has a dedicated Domains tab in the left sidebar of its Site Management page. This panel has two cards: your temporary domain (always present, as a fallback) and your custom domains (the ones you connect yourself).
Don't confuse this tab with the Canonical Base Domain field on the General Settings tab. That field only controls which URL is used in <link rel="canonical"> tags, sitemaps, and /llms.txt — it doesn't route traffic. Connecting a domain here is what actually makes your site reachable at it.
Temporary Subdomain
When you first create a site, Blox automatically provisions a temporary subdomain:
- Format:
yoursubdomain.tdc.site. - Wildcard SSL: Inherits our secure wildcard SSL certificate automatically, meaning it is live and secure (HTTPS) immediately upon creation.
- Fallback Capability: If you later attach a custom domain, the temporary subdomain remains active as a backup routing address. You can copy the URL or click Visit to view the live site at any time.
Connecting a Custom Domain
Connecting a custom domain (e.g. www.mybrand.com) requires a plan that includes the Custom Domain feature. If the Custom domains card shows a lock overlay reading Custom Domain Locked, click Upgrade Plan to unlock it.
A site can connect more than one custom domain — the number allowed depends on your plan's custom domains per site quota.
To add a custom domain:
On the Domains panel, click Add Domain on the Custom domains card.
In the Add Domain dialog, type your domain into the Domain field (placeholder: example.com).
Don't include a protocol (https://) or a trailing slash — if the value doesn't look like a plain hostname, you'll see: "Enter a valid domain (e.g. www.example.com). No protocol or trailing slash."
Leave Redirect apex to www (recommended) checked to connect both example.com and www.example.com at once — the apex (example.com) becomes a 308 redirect to www.example.com, which becomes the primary domain. Uncheck it to connect only the exact host you typed.
This checkbox only applies when you type an apex domain or its www. form. Typing any other subdomain (e.g. blog.example.com) always connects just that one host, regardless of the checkbox.
Click Add. Each connected host appears as its own row with a Pending status and its required DNS records underneath.
A domain can't be added if it's a reserved system hostname, or if it's already connected to a different site on TDC.
DNS Records
Once a domain is added, its row expands to show the DNS records you need to create at your registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, Route 53, etc.), each with its own Copy button:
| Type | Host | Value |
|---|---|---|
| CNAME | your subdomain (e.g. www) | cname.sites.tdcapps.com |
| A / AAAA | @ (apex only) | The IPv4 / IPv6 values shown in the dashboard |
| CNAME | _acme-challenge (or _acme-challenge.www, per host) | The SSL authorization value shown in the dashboard |
On Cloudflare, every record above — especially the _acme-challenge one — must stay DNS only (grey cloud). Orange-cloud proxying blocks certificate issuance.
Verification & SSL Provisioning
Once you've added the DNS records, Blox handles verification and certificate issuance automatically:
- The row shows a Verifying… status (the same underlying Pending state) while Blox checks your DNS records in the background.
- Blox re-checks automatically while the Domains panel is open. You can also click the refresh icon on the row to trigger an immediate check instead of waiting.
- Once your DNS records are confirmed, Blox provisions an SSL certificate for the domain. When that finishes, the row's status flips to Active and the domain is live over HTTPS.
- Certificates renew automatically before they expire — there's nothing to configure or maintain.
The first domain you connect (or the www. host, if you used apex + www pairing) becomes primary automatically — there's no separate control to choose which connected domain is canonical.
Troubleshooting
If provisioning fails, the row's status flips to Error with a status line reading "Something is wrong with this domain. Review the DNS records.", and typically an error message such as "Certificate issuance failed. Check that the DNS records below are published, then retry."
- Confirm the host and value in your DNS provider exactly match the table on the row.
- Give DNS changes time to propagate (from a few minutes up to 48 hours).
- Click the refresh icon on that row to trigger a new provisioning attempt.
Redirect vs. Production Domains
When you connect an apex + www pair, the two rows behave differently:
- The www host is marked Production — this is the domain your site is actually served from.
- The apex host shows a 308 badge and Redirects to
{www-domain}— visitors hitting the bare domain are permanently redirected to the www version.
Removing a Domain
Click the trash icon on a domain's row (labeled Remove on the temporary domain card; icon-only on custom domain rows) to open a confirmation dialog, then confirm with Remove domain.
Removing a primary custom domain also removes its paired apex redirect automatically, since the two exist as a set. Removing a domain doesn't delete any site content — visitors at that domain simply stop reaching your site, and traffic falls back to whichever domain is still primary (or the temporary subdomain, if nothing else is connected).
Related
- General Settings — Set the Canonical Base Domain used in sitemaps and canonical tags, typically once you've connected a domain here.
- SEO — How search visibility works across TDC Site Builder — metadata, sitemaps, and best practices.
- Feature Access — Which plan tier unlocks Custom Domains and how many you can connect per site.