Custom Domains for ShootCal Galleries and Websites

On Pro, you can connect two separate subdomains (hostnames): www.yourstudio.com for your Website and galleries.yourstudio.com for client galleries. You can connect either one or both. Each subdomain needs its own CNAME record pointing to cname.shootcal.com, and ShootCal activates HTTPS automatically. Existing connected Plus domains keep working while the plan remains eligible. Connecting or changing a domain requires Pro.

The two hostnames have separate jobs. The www hostname serves the pages in your Website plan. The galleries hostname serves gallery pages, share links, downloads, video, and print-store pages.

1. Choose which subdomains to connect #

Use a domain you already own. ShootCal requires these prefixes:

• Website: www.yourstudio.com
• Client galleries: galleries.yourstudio.com

Enter the www address in ShootCal. To make the address without www work too, complete bare-domain forwarding after connecting your Website.

2. Add the CNAME records #

Sign in wherever your domain’s DNS lives and add one record for each hostname you want to use:

Use	Type	Name / Host	Value / Target
Website	CNAME	www	cname.shootcal.com
Client galleries	CNAME	galleries	cname.shootcal.com

Leave the TTL at its default.

Where that screen lives at the common registrars:

• GoDaddy: My Products → your domain → DNS → Add New Record.
• Cloudflare: your site → DNS → Records → Add record. Set the cloud icon to “DNS only” (grey), not proxied. A proxied (orange) record hides the target and HTTPS can’t be issued.
• Namecheap: Domain List → Manage → Advanced DNS → Add New Record.
• Squarespace Domains: Domains → your domain → DNS Settings → Add Record.

3. Save each hostname where it belongs #

The two hostnames are entered in two places, next to the thing they serve:

• Website: in ShootCal, choose Website at the top of ShootCal. The Website address card shows where your site is published; enter www.yourstudio.com under Your own website domain and press Save domain.
• Client galleries: in ShootCal, open Settings > Studio and find Gallery address. Enter galleries.yourstudio.com under Your own gallery domain and save.

Connect either one or both. Each has its own status and shows Waiting for DNS… while the record propagates. ShootCal keeps using the corresponding ShootCal address until both routing and HTTPS are active for that hostname. Most domains activate within a few minutes, though DNS can occasionally take up to an hour.

4. Make the bare domain work too #

If you connected a Website, set up forwarding from yourstudio.com to https://www.yourstudio.com. This sends visitors who leave out www to the same website.

Set this up in the account that manages your domain’s DNS. This may be your registrar, such as Porkbun, or a separate provider, such as Cloudflare. If you changed your domain’s nameservers to another provider, use that provider’s instructions.

Choose a permanent redirect (301) to your full https://www... address. The forwarding service must accept both HTTP and HTTPS on the address without www. Enable path forwarding so a link such as yourstudio.com/contact/ opens www.yourstudio.com/contact/, and check that query strings are preserved too.

Porkbun DNS

If Porkbun manages your DNS:

1. Open Domain Management, find your domain, and click Details, then the edit icon beside URL Forwarding.
2. Leave Hostname blank to forward only the address without www.
3. Set Forward Traffic To to https://www.yourstudio.com.
4. Leave Wildcard Forwarding off. Under advanced settings, choose 301 Permanent Redirect and enable Include the requested URI path in the redirection.
5. Save the forward. Keep your working www CNAME and email DNS records in place.

Porkbun provides HTTPS forwarding. Follow its URL forwarding guide if its dashboard reports a conflicting record. Resolve only the record for the address you are forwarding; keep the separate www connection working.

If your domain is registered at Porkbun but uses another provider’s nameservers, configure forwarding with that provider instead.

Cloudflare DNS

Configure a redirect for the address without www in your own Cloudflare zone. Cloudflare needs a proxied DNS record for that address, an active HTTPS certificate, and a redirect rule pointing to https://www.yourstudio.com.

Match the bare hostname for both HTTP and HTTPS, use status 301, and preserve the path and query string. Keep the working www CNAME to ShootCal set to DNS only.

Follow Cloudflare’s domain redirect setup for the record and rule. Your registrar and DNS provider can be different companies.

For another provider, look for URL forwarding or domain forwarding in its dashboard. Confirm that the service supports HTTPS on the address being forwarded.

Check both website addresses #

After saving your forward, open all three:

• https://www.yourstudio.com should load your Website.
• http://yourstudio.com should redirect to https://www.yourstudio.com.
• https://yourstudio.com should redirect to the same address without a certificate warning.

Also test a page path and a harmless query, such as https://yourstudio.com/contact/?source=domain-check. Both should remain in the destination address.

Active in ShootCal confirms the www connection. Forwarding from the address without www is a separate step at your domain provider. If www works but the bare address gives an error, check forwarding there.

5. Use the active addresses #

Once the Website hostname reads Active, it serves your published site. Once the client-gallery hostname reads Active, new gallery share links, delivery emails, downloads, video links, and print-store links use it. The platform addresses at sites.shootcal.com and galleries.shootcal.com continue to work as fallbacks.

Troubleshooting #

• Stuck on “Waiting for DNS”? Double-check that the record type is CNAME, the host is www or galleries, and the target is exactly cname.shootcal.com. On Cloudflare, make sure the record is DNS only, not proxied.
• Prefix error when saving? Website hostnames must begin with www. and gallery hostnames must begin with galleries..
• Disconnecting a hostname? Clearing the field (and saving) switches future links back to the ShootCal address and queues that hostname for removal. Links already sent on the removed custom hostname may stop working, so update them before disconnecting it.

Still stuck? Contact support with your domain name and a screenshot of the DNS record. This is usually a one-line fix.

Connection notices #

ShootCal emails the current verified account owner when a new domain connection is ready or a connection error needs attention. If setup fails, reply to the email or send a message to support@shootcal.com. Your original ShootCal address continues to work. Connection emails invite you to request a highlight on ShootCal; connecting a domain does not automatically feature your website.