How to connect a Dogado domain to ShiftPress

Why Dogado needs a small workaround

ShiftPress connects a domain by handing you a hostname to point at (a CNAME target, e.g. sites.shiftpress.ai), not a fixed IP address. The DNS standard forbids a CNAME on the root/apex of a domain, and Dogado enforces that: when you try to add a CNAME (or ALIAS/ANAME) record on the bare domain, Dogado rejects the record type. The www subdomain does accept a CNAME, so the fix is to make www your main address and forward the bare domain to it.

Unlike some providers, Dogado does let you delete the root A-records, so you remove the ones that still point at your old host and let the forwarding handle the bare domain. It's all done inside Dogado's DNS panel, with no nameserver change and no risk to your email.

Connect your Dogado domain, step by step

In ShiftPress

1. Open the Finalize the migration section (or the Domain panel) and click Connect domain. Type the domain you want to connect, with www. in front, e.g. www.yourdomain.de, then click Connect domain again. ShiftPress now shows the exact DNS records for your site: a CNAME for www, plus two TXT records (_acme-challenge and _acme-challenge.www), each with a Name, Type and Value. Keep this screen open so you can copy these into Dogado.

In Dogado, go to Domains → your domain → DNS-Verwaltung

2. Click + Record hinzufügen and add the three records exactly as ShiftPress shows them: the www CNAME (Value sites.shiftpress.ai) plus both _acme-challenge TXT records. Copy each Name, Type (Typ) and Value (Wert) 1:1. A single wrong character means the certificate never issues. Leave the TTL on its default (e.g. 600).
3. Delete the old website A-records. In the same list, remove the A-records on the bare domain (blank Name) that still point at your previous host, plus any leftover verification record from your old builder (for example a verify.squarespace.com CNAME). The forwarding in the next step takes over the bare domain. Never paste a ShiftPress IP into an A-record here.
4. Do not touch your email records. Leave MX, and the TXT records for SPF (v=spf1 …) and DKIM (…_domainkey) exactly as they are, and don't switch nameservers. Your email lives with these records and is not affected by the website change.

Still in Dogado, set up the forwarding (Weiterleitung)

5. In your domain's settings, create a Weiterleitung (domain forwarding) for the bare domain that points to your own www address: destination https://www.yourdomain.de/, i.e. your own domain including www., not the ShiftPress hostname. A 301 (permanent) redirect is ideal so search engines pass your ranking to the new site; a 302 works too while you test.
6. If the bare domain doesn't resolve at all right after you delete the old A-records, open the Weiterleitung and save it again. It needs to be re-applied once the conflicting A-records are gone so Dogado publishes the record for the bare domain.

Back in ShiftPress

7. Click Refresh status to check whether ShiftPress found your records (the automatic checks pause, so this nudges it). Once the www record is in place, the status flips from Waiting for DNS to Connected and the certificate is issued automatically. The @ row can stay on Waiting for DNS without a problem, because the bare domain reaches your site through the forwarding, not directly through ShiftPress.

When it's done

Once everything is connected, your site shows as Live and the whole Finalize the migration section disappears from the menu on its own. Visitors typing the bare yourdomain.de are forwarded to www, which serves your new site.

Give it time. DNS changes propagate gradually and the per-domain certificate is issued a few minutes to an hour after your records go in. Until the certificate exists, opening https://www.yourdomain.de can show an SSL error like ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCH. That's the normal waiting state, not a misconfiguration; once the certificate issues, the error disappears on its own.

Frequently asked questions