Anticode Open builder

Connect GoDaddy domain to website builder sites: the CNAME, the forward, the wait

A domain bought at GoDaddy can point at your Anticode site without moving anywhere. On a paid Anticode plan, connect the hostname in the Domains panel, then change the www CNAME in GoDaddy's DNS tab to the target Anticode shows. Forward the bare domain to www with a permanent redirect, and avoid GoDaddy's masking option, which can't display an Anticode site.

Updated · By the Anticode team

What you need

A published Anticode site on a paid plan (custom domains aren't part of the free plan; see pricing), the GoDaddy account that holds the domain, and the domain using GoDaddy's own nameservers. If someone moved the DNS to another provider, records added at GoDaddy are ignored and you'll need to add them where the nameservers point instead.

Get the records from Anticode

In the builder, open Domains, enter www.yourbusiness.com under Connect a domain and press Connect. The panel lists a CNAME for that hostname with Anticode's target as its value, and sometimes a TXT record for ownership. Keep the tab open: you'll copy from it and come back to Check again.

Add them in GoDaddy

GoDaddy's help article on adding a CNAME record describes the screens. In short:

  1. Sign in to your GoDaddy Domain Portfolio and select the domain to open its Domain Settings.
  2. Open the DNS tab and look for an existing record of type CNAME named www. GoDaddy's own help refers to a www CNAME pointing at @, so you may well find one. If it's there, edit it rather than adding a second.
  3. If there isn't one, choose Add New Record and set Type to CNAME.
  4. Name: just www. GoDaddy wants the prefix only, and a CNAME name can't be @.
  5. Value: paste Anticode's target. Leave TTL at its default, or lower it if you expect to change things again soon.
  6. Choose Save. If Domain Protection is on, GoDaddy may ask you to verify your identity first.
  7. If Anticode showed a TXT record, add it the same way. GoDaddy's TXT record article asks for the name without the domain, so drop the trailing .yourbusiness.com from the name Anticode gives you.

How long the checks take

GoDaddy says most DNS changes take effect within an hour but can take up to 48 hours to update everywhere. Anticode's panel says a few minutes is usual and a day is possible. Press Check again after a few minutes; the row moves from Waiting for DNS to Live once Cloudflare for SaaS, which Anticode uses for custom domains, has verified the name and issued its certificate. Nothing is served on the domain before then, so there's no window where visitors see a certificate warning.

The bare domain: forward, don't mask

Anticode's panel notes that a bare domain (yourbusiness.com) only works where the DNS provider supports CNAME flattening or ALIAS records. At GoDaddy, the usual approach is to connect www to Anticode and forward the bare domain to it. GoDaddy's forwarding article gives the path: DNS, then Forwarding, then Add Forwarding, choose Domain, pick https://, enter www.yourbusiness.com, and choose Permanent (301).

Skip Forward with masking. Masking keeps your bare domain in the address bar by showing the real site inside a frame. Every Anticode site is served with frame-ancestors 'none', which tells browsers never to display it inside another page, so a masked forward won't display your site. GoDaddy's article also says that adding forwarding locks the @ A record until you delete the forward.

Subdomains for other jobs

Nothing stops you connecting a different name, such as book.yourbusiness.com for a booking page while the main site lives elsewhere. Add the hostname in Anticode and a CNAME named book in GoDaddy. Each hostname can be connected to one Anticode site, and your plan sets how many you can connect in all.

Limits

  • Anticode doesn't sell or renew domains. Renewal stays with GoDaddy; a lapsed domain takes the site offline on that name.
  • Email is separate. Leave MX records alone and your GoDaddy or other mailboxes keep working.
  • No automatic www redirect. Anticode serves the hostname you connect and doesn't redirect between www and the bare domain.
  • Removing the domain in Anticode stops the site answering there straight away.

If it won't go live

GoDaddy won't save the new www record
There's probably a www record already. Edit that one instead of adding a new one.
Still Waiting for DNS after an hour
Check the value matches Anticode's target exactly, with no https:// in front.
The bare domain doesn't show the site
The forward uses masking. Change it to a permanent 301 forward.
Couldn't verify
Correct the record, remove the domain in Anticode, then connect it again so a fresh check starts.

The same job at other providers: Cloudflare DNS and Namecheap. For background, read how DNS works and www or non-www.

Questions people ask

Do I transfer the domain away from GoDaddy?

No. It stays registered there. You only change DNS records, and Anticode never needs your GoDaddy login.

Should the value be @ or Anticode's target?

Anticode's target. A www CNAME pointing at @ sends visitors to whatever the bare domain points at, which isn't your Anticode site.

Can I connect the bare domain directly?

Only if your DNS provider supports CNAME flattening or ALIAS records. Otherwise connect www and forward the bare name to it.

Will my free anticode.dev address keep working?

Yes. It stays live next to your own domain.

Sources

  1. GoDaddy Help: Add a CNAME record, checked
  2. GoDaddy Help: Add a TXT record, checked
  3. GoDaddy Help: Forward my domain, checked