Step-by-Step Tutorial: Setting Up Your Custom Domain on Textpad.cloud

Pointing your own domain at Textpad takes about ten minutes — most of which is waiting for DNS. This walkthrough covers everything from buying the domain to seeing your blog at example.com with a green padlock.

1. Pick the domain

Buy at the registrar you trust — Namecheap, Cloudflare, OVH, Porkbun, anywhere. The registrar does not matter, as long as you control the DNS records. Avoid TLDs that change pricing wildly between year one and year two.

2. Add the domain in Textpad

In your account settings, open the Domains tab and click Add domain. Type the domain you bought. Textpad will show you the DNS record it expects.

3. Add the DNS record at your registrar

For an apex domain (example.com), add an A record pointing at the IP Textpad gives you. For a subdomain (blog.example.com), add a CNAME record. Save and wait. DNS propagation usually takes a few minutes, sometimes longer.

4. Verify

Back in Textpad, click Verify. Once verification succeeds, Textpad issues an SSL certificate and your blog goes live on the domain — with HTTPS automatically. No manual cert handling.

5. Common gotchas

If verification keeps failing, check that you did not leave an old A record in place. Run dig or nslookup to confirm the record actually resolves to the value you typed. If the registrar offers "proxy" or "orange cloud" mode, leave it off during the first verification.

That is it

Your blog now lives at your own domain, with HTTPS, with all your existing posts intact. The /b/handle URL still works, so any external links you have already shared continue to resolve.