Setting up Domain Mapping

Domain mapping allows you to use your own domain like store.example.com or www.example.com instead of the default URL www.printfection.com/example.

Domain mapping is more than domain forwarding, because all of the URLs of the various pages in your Printfection store contain the address of your domain (www.example.com) instead of your default www.printfection.com/example URL.

What are the requirements for setting up domain mapping?

First, you need a domain. Domains are set up with a registrar (such as GoDaddy.com) separately from Printfection. After you have a domain, you can configure domain mapping in your Printfection account. Domain mapping is a free service from Printfection, however your registrar will charge you a fee for the registration of your domain name.

Can I map a subdomain such as store.example.com?

Yes. If you have a domain www.example.com, you can set up a sub-domain with your registrar (such as store.example.com) and map that to your Printfection store.  This is also useful if you already have a working www.example.com site and only want Printfection to control the store portion of the domain.

What do I configure at my registrar for the domain mapping?

Domain mapping for Printfection is set with the CNAME in the records for your domain name at your registrar. The CNAME will always be store.printfection.com

After configuring the CNAME with your registrar, you’ll have the opportunity to select a specific store to map to when you setup domain mapping in your Printfection account.

What do I do after making the change at my registrar?

Once you’ve updated your DNS settings with your registrar, you’re ready to finalize the configuration by associating the domain (or sub-domain) with your Printfection store.

In your Printfection account, perform the following actions:

  1. In the left-hand My Account menu, click My Stores
  2. Click the store name of the store you want to map to your domain
  3. Click on Store Settings
  4. Tabs will appear across the top of the page under the Store Settings heading. Click on the Domain Mapping tab. If you don’t see the tab, you may need to select any non-default theme on the Themes tab first. Once you’ve switched your store to any theme except the default theme, the Domain Mapping tab will appear.
  5. On the Domain Mapping tab, read the instructions and then enter your domain in the Your Domain input box. Click the red Switch store to this domain button.
  6. Our system will verify your domain is pointing to our servers. Once verification is complete, a message will appear indicating domain mapping setup is complete. Congratulations!

Once domain mapping is set up, does the old URL still work?

After the domain mapping process is complete, we’ll redirect your old www.printfection.com/example URL to the custom domain you mapped. This way any customers who already have your old URL will be seamlessly redirected to the new URL. Furthermore, Google will see the permanent redirect and update your search engine placements to reference your new custom domain!

How do I make the naked (non-www) version of my URL work?

Domain mapping maps www.example.com to your Printfection store. To simplify domain mapping configuration, Printfection only accepts non-naked domains during the setup process. If you try to enter a naked domain, an error will display saying Stores may not be hosted at naked domains. Store host names must have a subdomain.

For example, try: www.example.com.  To fix this error, simply enter the non-naked version of your domain and save your settings.

Or to enable example.com (without the ‘www’) you need to set a redirect (forward) from example.com to www.example.com at your registrar. How this is set exactly depends on your registrar/ host.  Please contact your host directly for assistance.