Connect my own web address (domain) to my site

Your domain name - like www.yourname.com - is a bit like a street address. Right now it points to wherever you bought or built your old site. Connecting it to bernard just means updating that address so it points to your new bernard site instead. You make a few small changes where you bought your domain, and bernard does the rest.

You add these where you manage your domain (your "registrar" - Squarespace, GoDaddy, Namecheap, and so on). In bernard, open your site and go to Custom domain: it shows you the exact values to copy, already filled in for your address. There are three records for your site, plus two optional email ones:

1. A forwarding instruction - sends visitors who type your address to your bernard site. (Technically a "CNAME" record with the name www, pointing at customers.bernardhosts.com.)
2. A proof-of-ownership note - shows bernard the domain is really yours, like showing ID. (A "TXT" record; bernard gives you the exact code to paste.)
3. A security-certificate helper - lets bernard put the padlock 🔒 on your site automatically, so visitors see it's secure. (Another small record; copy it as shown.)

Underneath those, bernard shows a separate, clearly-marked "Email from your own address" section with two further records - entirely optional. They let bernard send email for you (a receipt when someone buys, say) from your own address rather than a bernard one. Skip them and your site works exactly the same; add them whenever you like. See Emails to my customers should come from my own address.

Two things to know before you start

• This will not touch your email. These records only point your website address.
• You're not moving your domain anywhere. It stays where you bought it - you're just adding settings. And don't change your nameservers for this route - you do not need to move the whole DNS service just to connect your bernard site.

How to do it

1. Open Custom domain in bernard and type the address you want to use (e.g. www.yourname.com). Bernard works out the exact records and shows them to you.
2. Log in where you manage your domain and find the DNS settings - often called "DNS", "Advanced DNS", or "Manage DNS". Not sure where that is? Bernard looks it up for you and names the company hosting your domain's DNS (GoDaddy, Cloudflare, 123 Reg…) right above the records.
3. Add the records bernard shows you, copying each value exactly. Bernard has step-by-step instructions for Squarespace, GoDaddy, Namecheap and others built in.
4. Give it a little time. It can take from a few minutes up to a few hours to start working - that's normal. Bernard checks for you and switches you over automatically once everything's in place, padlock and all.

If you get stuck, the Bernard AI assistant can look at your domain's live status, tell you in plain English which records are in place and which aren't yet, who hosts your domain's DNS (so you know exactly where to log in), and what to do next. And if it's been more than a day, or you're seeing an error page or a missing padlock, bernard can walk the whole chain and name the exact step that's stuck - see I connected my domain but it's stuck.

After it's connected: the dashboard keeps watch

Once your address is live, the Your address page becomes a small dashboard with three traffic lights, one for each job:

1. Your site at www.yourname.com - the records keeping your site online. Each one shows a clear verdict ("correct, checked 4 min ago" / "missing"), and when something's wrong for a reason bernard recognises - a value that lost its first character when it was pasted, say - it tells you exactly what happened and what to re-paste. There are copy buttons on every value so you never retype anything.
2. Sending yourname.com (without the www) to your site - most people type your address without the www, and that shorter address is set up separately, where your domain is managed. Bernard names the company, warns you about any control there known to cause damage, and gives the safe route for your provider.
3. Email from your domain - if your domain receives email, bernard checks the records that stop your mail landing in spam and gives you anything missing, ready to paste. If you don't use the domain for email, this section stays out of the way.

bernard checks your records every 15 minutes, around the clock. If one ever disappears - providers have been known to delete records as a side effect of other changes - bernard notices within minutes and raises the alarm long before your visitors see a problem, then confirms when it's healthy again.

And bernard sits right beside the dashboard, ready to talk. Ask anything about your domain in plain English - bernard checks the live state before every answer, knows which company manages your domain and its quirks, and if you're lost in your provider's account you can share a screenshot of whatever you're looking at and bernard will point at the next click. Screenshots are read once and never stored.

Picked the wrong domain? "Wrong domain? Start again" on the same page disconnects it cleanly - your site stays live at its bernard address throughout - and you can connect the right one straight away.

Want to be found more easily once your address is live? See Use the words people actually search for.

If you deliberately want Cloudflare to hold all of the domain's directions, that is a wider and more careful job. Start with What do domain names, DNS and nameservers actually mean?, then follow Move my domain's DNS to Cloudflare without breaking anything.