URL setup

To make your shop accessible to customers, it needs to be reachable via a URL. In the Swiss21.org portal you can configure your own URL by choosing a prefix and selecting a Swiss21.org domain name. You can also set up a custom domain by creating a CNAME record with your registrar.

URL setup

Go to the Swiss21.org portal dashboard and click on 21.SHOP. A window for setting up the URL will open.

Choose prefix and domain

In the first step you can choose a prefix — for example your company name — and a Swiss21.org domain name for your shop. The prefix can be freely chosen.

CNAME record

You can also assign a custom domain to your shop. Setting up a custom domain is done by creating a redirect using a CNAME record with your registrar. A registrar is a company that offers domain registration. In most cases, registrars also provide additional services such as web hosting. However, you do not need web hosting with Swiss21.org, as your shop runs on our servers. A list of available registrars can be found here: https://www.nic.ch/de/registrars/.

There are many registrars in Switzerland with different offers and services. We cannot recommend a specific provider, but we suggest considering the following when choosing a registrar — not just the price:

• Is it possible to edit the DNS zone independently?
• Can a domain be registered without ordering hosting?
• Does the registrar offer support for setup? If so, under what conditions?

You can now optionally click the "ADD CNAME" button to redirect to a custom domain.

Add new domain

Clicking the "ADD CNAME" button opens a window for setting up the CNAME record for your shop.

For the CNAME record you need the current shop URL. This is the address to which the CNAME record at your registrar must redirect. Copy the highlighted part and then log in to your registrar (see section "Add CNAME record to DNS zone").

In the "Desired (sub)domain" field, you can enter the domain or subdomain for which you created the CNAME record, after adding it to the DNS zone.

Add CNAME record to DNS zone

Once you are logged in to your registrar, find the domain you want to use for your shop and select "Edit DNS zone" (or similar). If you are unsure how to do this, contact your registrar's support. Then add a new entry to the DNS zone and select the type "CNAME".

If you enter a name in the field, the CNAME record you create will be for a subdomain. As shown in the illustration, the subdomain would be: "onlineshop.21shops.org". In the "Hostname" field, paste the value you copied in the previous step. Then save the new entry. Note: for the change to take effect, you must publish the modification. Once you have done that, switch back to the Swiss21.org dashboard and enter the desired (sub)domain (see section "Add new domain").

Shop link

The system will now apply the necessary changes. This process may take a few minutes. Once the setup is complete, you can access your shop under the domain you have chosen.

Settings

If you want to change your domain or adjust the CNAME record, you can access the same setup window in the Swiss21.org portal under Settings.