Use your own domain

Hailo can send your links on web addresses that are yours instead of a hailo.studio address. There are two, and you can set up either or both:

Address	What opens on it	Suggested names
Delivery galleries	The films you send couples, like https://watch.yourstudio.com/d/avery-and-steven	watch., films.
Proposals and paperwork	Proposals, contracts, invoices, booking pages and the couple's client portal	clients., hello.

You add one DNS record at your domain provider for each address. Hailo walks you through it and checks it for you.

Open the page

Settings > Your Domains. The subtitle reads "Send films and paperwork on web addresses that are yours, instead of ours." The row in Settings shows how many are live.

The page has one row per address. A row with nothing set up shows Using Hailo, your current Hailo address, and a line like "The films you send couples. Could be watch.yourstudio.com or films.yourstudio.com." Press Use my own address on the row you want.

The four-step wizard

The overlay is titled Connect your domain with a step rail: 1 Your domain, 2 Open your DNS, 3 Add the record, 4 Go live.

Step 1: What address do you want to use?

Use a subdomain of a website you already own. The wizard offers the two suggested names for that address as one-tap chips.

1. Type the subdomain in the field (placeholder client.yourstudio.com). No https://, no path.
2. Click Continue. Cancel closes the wizard.

Under the field: "Nothing goes down while you set this up. Galleries keep using your current Hailo link until the new one is confirmed live."

Step 2: Open your DNS settings

"This is the one place you'll make a change, wherever your domain's web records are managed."

Hailo looks up who manages your domain and, where it can, names them ("Your domain is managed by .") with a button to that provider's own guide (See 's guide for adding this, or Open the step-by-step guide) and a short list of clicks. If it cannot tell, it reads "Open the DNS settings at your domain provider."

Click I'm here, next when you have the DNS page open. Back returns to step 1.

Step 3: Add this record

"Create one new record with these exact values, then save it at your provider. Copy each field so nothing gets mistyped."

Field	Value shown
Record type	CNAME
Host / Name	The first part of your subdomain, for example client
Points to	delivery.hailo.studio

Each value has a Copy button. Under the table: "Leave any field not listed here at its default. Saved it? Continue and we'll check it for you."

Hailo may also list a second record so your certificate renews on its own: "Add one more record so your certificate stays valid automatically (type CNAME):" with its own Record type, Host / Name and Points to values. If instead it lists ownership records ("Your provider also needs this ownership record (type TXT):"), add the TXT name and TXT value shown.

Click I've added it.

Step 4: Go live

Checking your domain… "Looking for your record and getting your secure certificate ready." The note: "This can take a few minutes after you save the record. You can leave this open. It keeps checking on its own."

• Success: You're live. "Galleries now publish on . Any link you've already sent keeps working too." Click Done.
• Not yet: Not showing up yet with the reason Hailo found, and "DNS changes take a little while to travel the internet. Give it a few minutes, then check again. Your galleries keep working in the meantime." Use Back to the record to re-check the values or Check again to try now.

After setup

Each row shows where its address stands:

Chip	Meaning
Live	Everything on that row opens on your address. The row says so, for example "Every delivery gallery you send opens on this address."
Setting up	Saved, not yet confirmed. "Waiting on your DNS record." Your links keep using the Hailo address until it answers.
Needs a fix	"That address answers, but not as Hailo. Open setup to check the record."
Using Hailo	No address of your own on that row.

• Manage (when live) or Continue setup reopens the wizard for that address.
• Remove clears it. It asks "Remove {address}? These links go back to your Hailo address." Old links on your domain stop working once the DNS record is gone; the Hailo links keep working.

The Share panel in the gallery editor shows Your domain · once your galleries address is live.

Messages you may see

Message	Meaning
"Domain saved. Add the DNS record below, then click Verify. Galleries keep using your Hailo URL until it's live."	Step 1 done.
"Your domain is live. New galleries publish on it now."	Verified.
"That domain isn't pointing at Hailo yet."	The record is missing, wrong, or has not travelled yet.
"Not live yet. Try Verify again once DNS propagates."	Same; wait and check again.
"Add your domain first."	You clicked check before saving a domain.
"Custom domain removed. Galleries now publish at the default Hailo URL."	You removed it.
"That doesn't look like a valid hostname. Try something like client.yourstudio.com."	Type a bare subdomain, no https:// or slashes.
"Another Hailo account is already using that domain. Contact support if you think this is wrong."	The domain is taken.
"Enter a web address like client.yourstudio.com."	The field was empty.
"Could not check just now. Try again in a moment."	The check itself failed. Try again.

If it didn't work

• Still "Not showing up yet" after an hour. Open your provider's DNS page and compare every value with step 3. The most common mistake is typing the whole subdomain into Host / Name when the provider wants only client. Some providers add the domain for you; some want the full name. Follow their guide from step 2.
• Your provider will not let you add the record. Some website builders restrict subdomain records. Use a different subdomain, or move DNS to a registrar that allows CNAME records.
• The gallery opens but the padlock is missing. The certificate is still being issued. Give it a few minutes and check again.