With Picfair Plus, you can link your Picfair Store to your own domain name, and make your Store instantly memorable to your visitors. In this guide, we're explaining exactly what custom domains are, and how you can link one to your Picfair Store.

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- What is a custom domain?

A domain name is a website address, (for example, Picfair’s domain name is ‘picfair.com’), and as a Plus user, you can link any domain you own to your Store - replacing the web address your Store is assigned to when signing up (https://username.picfair.com).

- Why should I link a custom domain to my Store?

Having a custom domain linked to your photography Store emphasises the seriousness of your photography Store offering and massively helps you promote your name and brand, it is also fantastic way for visitors to easily remember your Store’s web address.

- Prerequisites to linking a custom domain to your Store 

In order to link a custom domain to your Picfair Plus Store, you must already own your own domain - you cannot purchase a domain from Picfair, but you can purchase a domain from any domain registrar, and you must have access to edit the DNS records for your domain. These can usually be found in your domain registrar’s account. 

Every DNS Provider’s settings look slightly different and may use slightly different terminology to what is used in the following step-by-step guide. Though some wording may be different, the settings you need to change are the same across all DNS Providers.

- Step-by-step instructions for linking your domain

1. From your Store Settings page, click ‘Domain Settings’ to go to your domain settings page.

2. Input your domain name into the box. This must be a fully qualified domain name. In most cases, your fully qualified domain name will be something like ‘www.example.com’, but it could also be something like ‘gallery.example.com’. Then click ‘Next’.

3. Create a new CNAME record in your DNS provider settings, by copying and pasting the CNAME generated in your Picfair dashboard into the CNAME destination/target field in your DNS provider settings. You should be able to find instructions on how to do this in your DNS provider’s support pages.

4. In these settings, you will also have to input a ‘Host Name’. Your host name is everything in the address that comes before your domain. For example, the host name of www.example.com is ‘www.’

5. Save the settings on your DNS provider. You can then check the status of your domain in Picfair by refreshing the page. It can take up to 48 hours to update, but will usually only take a couple of hours.

6. If all settings are correct, when the status shows a success message, your Picfair Store will now be using your domain!

Please note: your new custom domain may display errors while it first populates. We recommend waiting 48 hours for it to stabilise before sharing.

Setting up your own domain can be tricky and is one of the more advanced features of Picfair Plus. Remember to check out our Help Centre here on Setting up your own domain and if you have any further issues, please do not hesitate to contact us here for guidance.

For more guides and Picfair Plus tutorials, see also:

- Index
- Setting up your Picfair Plus Store

- Custom Logos for Picfair Plus
- Albums for your Picfair Plus Store
- Adding a Custom Print Commission
- Adding a Welcome Splash Page

- Bio Text for your Picfair Plus Store

- Watermarks for Picfair Plus Store

- Linking Social Media Profiles & Adding Custom Menu Links

- In-Store Search for Picfair Plus Stores

- Introducing Focus