'www' option not working despite 3 services telling me I've entered everything correctly
Hi there! I've been having some issues with my domain, and through the power of Shopify, Namecheap, and Carrd support, I've been advised to reach out to Cloudflare... only to find out that Cloudflare support is only for premium members. So! Here I am :"D
I originally purchased my domain (oomles.com) through Shopify, but I recently transferred it to to Namecheap to be more flexible with that specific URL. Since setting it up, I've had some issues with getting the 'www' handle working. It is mostly working great! oomles.com is doing just fine, but any attempt to put www before it gives it a 'problem loading website error' regardless of cleared cache, browser, or device (as in www.oomles.com)
According to their multiple customer supports, they're conflicting with Cloudflare's hostnames. I have set up the A record and CNAMES correctly, and it is a backend issue. Who do I contact about this issue now? This is the 4th support chat that has been recommended to me, and I kind of feel like I'm in hell tbh.
Would and of you guys be able to assist me in this issue? Because until then, I'm at a standstill. I put the 'www' in front of my URL on all my business cards, so the sooner I can have that resolved the better :"D
If anyone here need any screenshots, support logs, or context, let me know. Thank you all for your assistance!
18 Replies
That's fun, and funny too because you're not even directly using CF, they really ought to help you directly. Oh well though.
What exactly are you trying to do? If your aim is to use shopify on www, then my understanding is your CNAME is wrong. https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/domains/add-a-domain/connecting-domains/connect-subdomain here says it should point to
shops.myshopify.com, yours currently just goes back to your root (oomles.com)Shopify Help Center
Connecting a subdomain
A subdomain is a subset of your root domain that you add as a prefix to your root domain. If you want to use your root domain for another website, and a subdomain for your Shopify store, then you can connect the subdomain from your third-party provider account.
For context, I had originally bought this domain through Shopify. I had it transferred to Namecheap since I wanted to use the domain on what I wanted, and not just through Shopify. And honestly, other than the www issue, it's working great! But I put 'www.oomles.com' on all my promotional material...
I am currently using that domain on Carrd, as intended. Carrd, Namecheap, and Shopify have all said that it looks like the CNAMES have been entered correctly.
But yeah all I really wanna do is be sure that www.oomles.com leads to the same place as oomles.com as opposed to this 😭
ahh ok so you used to use shopify, and now you want to use Carrd?
Yep! Bought domain through Shopify > got sick of Shopify > transferred domain from Shopify to Namecheap > connected Carrd website to Namecheap's host records > everthing working as intended except adding a www prefix to the site
It's so silly, but I put www.oomles.com instead of oomles.com on all my business cards and banners for an upcoming con without realizing it wasn't working properly aah...
Yea it looks like Caard is a CF Customer using Cf for SaaS, a way to use Cloudflare with their customers, as well is Shopify. They said the CNAME pointed at your root is correct for them?
yep! Sent screenshots to every party involved, and they all said it looks good
(also, I genuinely thank you for listening - I feel so dumb and like I screwed something up by trying to set this all up myself 😭)
nah you're good. CF for SaaS is an interesting product -- what's happening is that Shopify still has control over that hostname, and Caard uses CF as well, but they just point to a CF IP, any Cf IP can serve any site, Shopify's config is taking precedence
There's a tool to activate the hostname on a different account to free it from Shopify, and then retry caard's connection. Easiest way to free it quickly: https://liberate-the-hostname.pages.dev/
Normally another Cf for SaaS configuration should just take over, but it seems Caard's configuration isn't strong enough/probably the fact it's not using a prevalidation txt
Currently in a chat with Namecheap support, and they might be able to help after all?? I'll keep yall posted if so.
Regardless, that's a really good resource to keep in mind. Thank you so much!
I would also ask, Caard specifically told you that you can add both root (oomles.com) and www.oomles.com? I set up an account just to check their setup out, and it looks like they only let you specify one domain
if namecheap can solve a cf configuration issue I'd be amazed, let me know lol
I think?? I'm still fairly new to the world of domains, so I could be completely wrong lol. All I know is that it showed me how to copy and paste the info needed for redirects in the domain host of my choice 😅
another option would just be to use a redirect from www -> root instead of setting it up as a second hostname serving your domain
I think namecheap has a record option for that
just had Namecheap support tell me this:
In that case, you can remove the CNAME record for www and create a URL redirect for www as follows: - Having logged into the Namecheap account, go to your Domain List -> click "Manage" next to the domain -> the "Advanced DNS" tab -> the "Host Records" section. - Then, click on "Add New Record" and create the following record:and to give it 30 minutes to an hour. Fingers crossed it actually WAS the conflicting CNAME and not Cloudflare issues? Boy am I gonna feel like an idiot if it wasn't even Cloudflare in the first place lol.
nah your config on Cloudflare's side is def messed. That error page is specifically shopify's, www is still being routed to them
but doing a redirect via namecheap/their servers would skip that all
then you'd just have your root (oomles.com) serving the actual content
I'll take any solution at this point, I just wanted a nice looking portfolio for my silly little art conventions :dontfeelsogood:
Gotta boogie for a little bit anyway, so stay tuned - if this works / doesn't work I'll update? I guess? 🤷♀️
minus https (probably still issuing, I assume they support it)? It already works fine for me over http
the redirect worked! Why didn't namecheap tell me this in the first place and why did it take me 5 separate support chats to solve? Good question!
But thank you for your insight Chaika, it was genuinely appreciated <3
so, in the future if anyone sees this / needs it (doubt)
- remove CNAME record for www and create a URL redirect for www
- Add New Record and create the following record:
URL Redirect | Host: www | Value: https://oomles.com/ | Unmasked
- save, and wait 30 minutes