Help connecting my domain name

gnfb

I need help connecting my domain name 4um.xyz on namecheap to my 4um.freeflarum.com account. I think I have tried every which way EXCEPT for the right one!. Can someone help with this before I go crazy.
Lets start with namecheap. The freeflarum instructions said to do nothing more than add a cname
CNAME Record @ 4um.freeflarum.com. 1 min
This is the copy of the cname live more than 24 hours on namecheap.
Is this correct?
at present you get a Your connection is not private notice with the https:// crossed out in the url

gnfb

at https://www.ssllabs.com/
4um.xyz returned:-
Certificate name mismatch
Click here to ignore the mismatch and proceed with the tests
Try these other domain names (extracted from the certificates):

freeflarum.com
*.freeflarum.com

gnfb

I wonder if this has something to do with it
Using a root/naked domain

A domain without a subdomain (eg "your.com" instead of "www.your.com") is called a "root" domain. It is currently incompatible with FreeFlarum and can't be used.

There's one trick to "fake" the root functionality of your domain by simply using a "www" subdomain. Or, you can make a redirect from your root domain to your subdomain linked to FreeFlarum. Example:

• You

SKevo

Hi, please use our thread for inquiries related to FreeFlarum so that I can find it next time and we stay organized, thanks

gnfb I wonder if this has something to do with it
Using a root/naked domain

Yes, the library that we use to resolve CNAME doesn't support using CNAME with root, and it's not officially supported by DNS either. There's nothing we can do about it, sorry

gnfb am now trying just a straight redirect
URL Redirect Record www https://www.4um.freeflarum.com/ Unmasked
I have removed the cname for the time being

So you're redirecting www.4um.xyz to https://www.4um.flarum.cloud? The 4th domain level doesn't work at FreeFlarum, and even if it did it's not what you want. Redirecting just takes you to https://www.4um.flarum.cloud, and since that doesn't work, it shows an error. You need a CNAME record

This CNAME is likely what you want. Replace <TTL> with your own, e. g.: 1 min.

CNAME     www     4um.freeflarum.com.     <TTL>

After that, go to https://freeflarum.com/settings/forum_settings and in the "Custom Domain" box, type www.4um.xyz. If everything went okay, you should be notified with a green success text. Since browsers cache DNS and domain settings in order to speed up page loading, you might need to test if you domain works in private browsing/incognito mode, or another browser

gnfb

I am now trying just a straight redirect
URL Redirect Record www https://www.4um.freeflarum.com/ Unmasked
I have removed the cname for the time being

gnfb

gnfb That didnt work its returning This site can’t be reached www.4um.xyz refused to connect.
Try:
Checking the connection
Checking the proxy and the firewall
ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED
I get the feeling the problem is flarum side hopefully somone will tell me the secret code to unlock the wonders that are flarum

Akefu-Brewer

Try hitting it, that sometimes works for me.

gnfb

Akefu-Brewer getting close to that
I used the freeflarum because I don't have a degree in computer science that you pretty much need to setup flarum!
But i have still spent several hours trying every which way

gnfb

SKevo
Well it really helps to know what to do and understand things! Thank you we have success ....... to a degree
it seems to require me to enter https://www.4um.xyz for it to resolve. I thought the necessity to use www had long gone?
Is there a workaround?
By the way thanks again for the help

SKevo

gnfb the necessity to use www had long gone?

As I said, using CNAME with root domain is not supported by DNS. Please, read this article if you'd like to know the technical details: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/why-cant-a-domain-s-root-be-a-cname-8cbab38e5f5c/

gnfb Is there a workaround?

Yes, redirecting https://4um.xyz to https://www.4um.xyz - that's what we meant in the documentation. We will improve it in the future to word certain things better, since it hasn't been updated in a while

luceos

gnfb I thought the necessity to use www had long gone?

www.<domain> is just a regular subdomain like something.<domain>. It's just that mankind has given more "value" to the www subdomain for some reason. Most likely this happened to make web addresses stand out more where domains caused confusion if written without www.

gnfb

SKevo
The redirection would be on namecheap? is that correct?

SKevo

gnfb yes, that would be handled on their side

gnfb

Well Thank you one and all. You have helped me get to my endgame being able to type in 4um.xyz on its own and it resolving to the 4um.freeflarum.com
Now to play with some addons!!!