A custom domain provides a more professional appearance, supports brand consistency, and can improve user trust and recognition. Whether you're just setting up your school or managing domain changes, this guide will walk you through everything you need.
Example Use Cases
Here are some examples of how you can use a custom domain for your LearnWorlds school:
- Branding: Use your domain like www.myschool.com instead of the default myschool.learnworlds.com.
- Marketing Campaigns: Create a subdomain like courses.mysite.com for a specific product line or course category.
- Redirecting Existing Websites: Redirect an already established website domain to your LearnWorlds school.
- Corporate Learning Portals: Create subdomains like academy.company.com for internal employee training portals.
What is a Custom Domain?
A custom domain is a unique, branded name that identifies a website and appears in the address bar at the top of every browser.
When you create a school on LearnWorlds, you receive a default subdomain (e.g., yourschool.learnworlds.com).
You can continue using this, or purchase and connect your custom domain.
You can change your LearnWorlds subdomain later from within your school settings. For more details, click here.
Naked domain Vs. Subdomain
What is a Naked Domain?
A naked domain (also called root, apex, base, bare, or zone domain) is your original domain without any prefix like "www".
For example, yourschool.com is a naked domain.
In your DNS provider, it is often represented with the @ symbol.
What is a Subdomain?
A subdomain is an additional prefix that comes before the naked domain.
Examples:
- www.yourschool.com
- academy.yourschool.com
You can create multiple subdomains to organize different parts of your school or offerings.
We recommend using both the naked and the www subdomain for your school.Can I use my Naked Domain, or should I use only a Subdomain?
You can use both.
Subdomains are the most common way to connect your domain to your school; however, naked domains can also be connected.
How can I connect my Domain?
If you do not want to use your LearnWorlds default subdomain and prefer to use your own, follow these steps:
1. Create a CNAME record in your domain provider's settings to link your custom domain with your LearnWorlds school.
A Canonical Name (CNAME) record is a type of resource record in the Domain Name System (DNS) that links one domain name (the alias) to another domain name (the canonical name).
2. Request the change in your school's settings. Click here to see all the steps in detail.
How can I use my Naked Domain?
You can also connect your purchased custom domain at the naked level (e.g., yourschool.com).
1. In your DNS provider, add A records (to have an SSL certificate issued by us)
2. Request the change in your school's settings. Click here to see the steps.
How to use both my Subdomain and Naked Domain?
To ensure your users are redirected properly and can access your site via both domain formats:
1. Add a CNAME record and request the domain's change as described here.
2. Add the A records as described here.
3. Request the changes in your school's settings.
The domain you select as primary will appear in the browser. Users visiting the secondary domain will be automatically redirected to the primary one.
Example: If www.yourschool.com is primary and a user visits yourschool.com, they will be redirected to www.yourschool.com.
How to change my Custom Domain to a new Custom one?
If you are using a domain like myschool.com and you want to change it to something like myenglishschool.com:
1. Do not remove your current CNAME or A records for the domain you are now using. They must remain intact until the process is completed; otherwise, your school will not be reachable.
2. Request the changes in your school's settings. Navigate to your school, click on Settings → School Settings & email, and follow the steps as mentioned here.