Overview
When setting up your public-facing pages and sites in Element451, you’ll encounter two types of domains: a primary domain and an external domain. Understanding the differences between these is essential for maintaining your institutional brand identity and ensuring a seamless user experience.
Primary Domain
Your public-facing pages and sites come with a default domain, known as the primary domain. This domain is provided by Elemente451 and cannot be edited. It typically looks something like this: fireuniversity-2155.page451.sites.451.io. While functional, this URL lacks the brand identity and trust associated with a .edu URL.
Primary domains cannot be accessed by Google or other web crawlers. This prevents unbranded URLs from appearing in search results. Consequently, ad providers, including Google Ads, may not allow you to direct ads to the primary domain.
External Domain
To enhance your site’s branding and user experience, you can configure external domains that point to your site. These external domains can mask or hide the primary domain, allowing you to use a more recognizable URL, such as yourschool.edu. To set this up, you’ll need to add a CNAME record in your Domain Name Services (DNS) tool that points your external domain to Element451. Then, you'll need to add it in the module settings in Element451.
The process of adding your external domains by module is listed below:
Configuring External Domains
Application Sites
Application Sites
Step 1: Create a CNAME Record
Decide on the custom URL (CNAME) you want to use, ideally in collaboration with your marketing department. For example, Fire University might choose
apply.fire.eduorstart.fire.edu.Have your IT or web team point this CNAME to
app451.sites.451.io.
Step 2: Add Your CNAME To Application Site Settings
Navigate to Application > Applications > Sites and locate the site.
Open the site editor and navigate to the Domains tab.
Click the Add Host button, enter your CNAME, and click Save.
Appointment Site
Appointment Site
Step 1: Create a CNAME Record
Decide on the custom URL (CNAME) you want to use, ideally in collaboration with your marketing department. For example, Fire University might choose
appointments.fire.eduormeet.fire.edu.Have your IT or web team point this CNAME to
appointment451.sites.451.io.
Step 2: Add Your CNAME To Appointment Page Settings
Navigate to Engagement > Appointments.
Click the more icon (three vertical dots) in the top right corner of the header.
Click Page Settings.
Click the Add Host button, enter your CNAME, and click Save.
Events Site
Events Site
Step 1: Create a CNAME Record
Decide on the custom URL (CNAME) you want to use, ideally in collaboration with your marketing department. For example, Fire University might choose
events.fire.eduorvisit.fire.edu.Have your IT or web team point this CNAME to
event451.sites.451.io.
Step 2: Add Your CNAME To Event Settings
Navigate to Engagement > Events > Event Settings.
From the left-hand menu, click Domains.
Click the Add Host button, enter your CNAME, and click Save.
Microsites
Microsites
Step 1: Create a CNAME Record
Decide on the custom URL (CNAME) you want to use, ideally in collaboration with your marketing department. For example, Fire University might choose
admit.fire.eduornewstudent.fire.edu.Have your IT or web team point this CNAME to
microsite451.sites.451.io.
Step 2: Add Your CNAME To Microsite Settings
Navigate to Engagement > Microsites and locate the microsite.
Open the microsite editor and click on the eye icon ("visit the site") in the top right corner of the header.
Click the Add Host button, enter your CNAME, and click Save.
Pages
Pages
There are two ways of configuring your CNAME entries for Pages to show a branded URL. You can either create a CNAME for each page or use a wildcard. Your IT or web development team(s) will likely need to add/edit the CNAME entries.
Step 1: Create a CNAME Record
Decide on the custom URL (CNAME) you want to use, ideally in collaboration with your marketing department. For example, Fire University might choose
info.fire.eduoracademics.fire.edu.Have your IT or web team point this CNAME to
pages451.sites.451.io.For a wildcard setup, prepend an asterisk to your CNAME, like
*.academics.fire.edu. We explain more about a wildcard domain below.
Step 2: Add Your CNAME To Page Settings
Navigate to Engagement > Pages and locate the page.
Open the page editor and navigate to the Domains tab.
Click the Add Host button, enter your CNAME, and click Save.
Using a Wildcard Domain
If you set up a wildcard, you can assign specific subdomains to different pages. For instance, if Fire University's wildcard CNAME is academics.fire.edu, we could use biology.academics.fire.edu for the biology program page and nursing.academics.fire.edu for the nursing page without having to create additional CNAME entries.
StudentHub (Beta)
StudentHub (Beta)
Step 1: Create a CNAME Record
Decide on the custom URL (CNAME) you want to use, ideally in collaboration with your marketing department. For example, Fire University might choose
studenthub.fire.eduorportal.fire.edu.Have your IT or web team point this CNAME to
portal451.sites.451.io.
Step 2: Add Your CNAME To StudentHub Settings
Navigate to Engagement > StudentHub.
Scroll down to the Domains card.
Click the Add Host button, enter your CNAME, and click Save.
For IT Administrators
Element451 has instituted a method to generate the required security certificates for the requested URL. This method leverages the work done by the non-profit entity Let's Encrypt to create and update the certificates. You can see details on how this works on their website.
When using this method, neither your IT staff nor Element451 Support require support. The certificates will be automatically generated and installed every 90 days indefinitely.