Configure a custom domain

A custom domain lets your club site live at your own web address — myclub.com instead of the default RumbleSeat address. You keep the domain you already own (or buy a new one from any registrar), and RumbleSeat serves your club site on it, including the HTTPS certificate. Setup is a three-step wizard in your Control Panel plus two DNS records you add at your registrar.

Before you start

You'll need three things:

• A registered domain. RumbleSeat doesn't sell domains. Buy one from a registrar such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Cloudflare if you don't have one.
• Access to that domain's DNS settings — the account that manages the domain's records. This is usually your registrar, but if you've moved DNS elsewhere (a web host, or Cloudflare), you make the changes wherever the nameservers point.
• Club admin access. Only a club's owner, co-owner, or admin can open the Control Panel.

Decide up front whether you want a root domain or a subdomain:

• Root domain — pacificcoastmarque.com. The right choice when the club site is your only website.
• Subdomain — club.pacificcoastmarque.com. The right choice when you already run a website at the root and want the club site alongside it.

Step 1 — Open the domain settings

1. Open your club site and click the arrow at the top-left to expand the Control Panel.
2. Go to Management → Website and scroll to Domain Name.
3. Click the pencil icon beside the status chip. Before setup it reads Domain Not Enabled.

The wizard runs through three stages — Enter domain, Configure DNS, and Connected — and you can close the panel and come back without losing progress.

Step 2 — Enter your domain

Type the domain on its own, with no https:// and no www — the field already shows https:// as a prefix, so adding it again will fail. Enter pacificcoastmarque.com, not https://www.pacificcoastmarque.com.

Click Save & Provision. RumbleSeat registers the domain against your club and moves you to Configure DNS. This takes a few seconds.

Step 3 — Add the DNS records RumbleSeat gives you

This is the step people get wrong, so read the next sentence twice: use the records shown on your own Configure DNS screen. They are generated for your domain specifically — one confirms you own it, the other points traffic at your club site. Records copied from a forum post, an older version of this guide, or another host will not work.

You'll add two records at your registrar:

1. A TXT record, named _dnsauth, whose value is a long verification string unique to your domain. This is how RumbleSeat confirms the domain is yours before serving your site on it.
2. A routing record that points visitors to your club site. Its type depends on what you entered: an A record with host @ for a root domain, or a CNAME record on your subdomain's name. The screen shows the type and the exact value — copy them with the Copy buttons rather than retyping.

Set TTL to 3600 (one hour) if your registrar asks, or leave its default. In your registrar's dashboard, look for a section named DNS, Nameservers, or Advanced DNS — the Where do I find DNS settings? link on the same screen has per-registrar pointers.

Step 4 — Verify the connection

Once the records are saved at your registrar, click Verify Connection. RumbleSeat looks up your domain's live DNS and, when it finds a match, finishes the connection and moves you to Connected.

Verification isn't instant, because DNS changes have to spread across the internet first. Most propagate in 5–30 minutes, but it can take up to 72 hours — usually when the previous record had a long TTL. Nothing is lost if you close the panel; come back and click Verify Connection again.

HTTPS is handled for you. There's no certificate to buy, upload, or renew.

If verification keeps failing

Work through these in order:

1. Re-read the values. A single missing character in the TXT value fails silently. Copy from the screen again rather than comparing by eye.
2. Check you edited DNS in the right place. If your domain's nameservers point at a host or at Cloudflare, records added at the registrar have no effect.
3. Try the full record name — _dnsauth.yourdomain.com instead of _dnsauth.
4. Look for a conflicting record on the same host, and edit rather than duplicate.
5. If your DNS is on Cloudflare, set the record to DNS only (grey cloud, not orange). Proxying hides your DNS from the lookup.
6. Wait out the TTL. If you corrected a record that previously had a 24-hour TTL, the old value can be cached that long.

Changing or removing a domain

To move the club site to a different address, reopen Domain Name and use Change domain, then repeat the DNS steps for the new one. Disconnecting returns your club site to its default RumbleSeat address; your content, members, and events are untouched — only the web address changes.

Frequently asked

Do I have to buy my domain from RumbleSeat? No. RumbleSeat doesn't sell domains. Use any registrar you like; you keep ownership either way.

Will my club site still work at its RumbleSeat address? Yes. The default address keeps working, so links members bookmarked before the change won't break.

Can I use a subdomain of a site I already run? Yes, and it's a common setup — enter club.yourdomain.com and add the CNAME record the wizard shows.

Do I need to keep the TXT record after it verifies? Leave it in place. Removing it can cause the domain to fail a later re-check.

My registrar won't accept a record starting with an underscore. Most do, but if yours refuses _dnsauth, contact its support and ask how to add a TXT record for domain verification — the underscore is a standard convention.