Custom Domains

Custom domains is a feature that lets you share a link to your timeline on your own website's domain instead of the preceden.com domain.

For example, instead of sharing a link to:

https://www.preceden.com/timelines/527676?s=48e2f33668fca796

You could share it on your own domain such as timelines.datetime.io:

https://timelines.datetime.io/timelines/527676?s=48e2f33668fca796

How to set up a custom domain

1) Before you begin, confirm that your plan supports custom domains.

Head to Account > Settings. In the table that displays your account information, if you see a Custom Domain row with a Configure link, your current plan supports custom domains. If not, you'll need to upgrade to a plan that does (like our current Pro plan). If you're on a legacy plan and don't see an option to upgrade to a plan that supports custom domains, contact support: [email protected].

2) First, decide on the custom domain that you want to use such as timelines.datetime.io, planning.myagency.com, or clients.mycompany.com.

Note that the URL of your timeline on your custom domain will always include "/timelines" in the path, so you may want to choose a subdomain different than "timelines" so that the URL does not include "timeline" twice like in the earlier example.

3) Next, you'll need to add a CNAME record in your domain's DNS settings to point that custom domain to www.preceden.com.herokudns.com. (including the period at the end). It will look something like this:

You can find specific instructions on how to add CNAME records in your DNS provider's support docs. Here are a common ones: GoDaddy, NameCheap, Cloudflare, DNSimple.

4) Next, in Preceden, head to Account > Settings.

5) In the table displaying your account details, look for the Custom Domain row and click the Configure link. (As noted in step 1, if you don't see this, you're not on a plan that supports custom domains.)

6) Enter the custom domain such as timelines.datetime.io (ie, both the subdomain and the domain itself).

7) Click Save Changes

8) After you add the CNAME record it can take several hours for your change to take effect. After it does, your custom domain page will reflect the DNS Setup is complete:

9) After the DNS changes take effect, you'll see a "Custom Domain" indicator above your timeline:

Clicking it will bring up a window that displays the full URL using the custom domain with a button to copy it to your clipboard for easy sharing:

FAQs

The custom domain page says DNS is working but I'm still seeing an error when loading a timeline

When you make DNS changes, those changes need to propagate across the internet. If the custom domain page says the DNS setup is complete but the timeline isn't loading, it's because the DNS changes have propagated partially, but not completely yet, so some systems (like Preceden's servers) are seeing that the changes are complete, but your browser isn't seeing those changes yet. If you wait 5-10 minutes, usually the issue will resolve itself.

Will Preceden's branding ever appear on custom domains?

No, Preceden's branding is entirely hidden and viewers will only see your timeline.

Here's an example: https://timelines.datetime.io/timelines/527676?s=48e2f33668fca796

Will this work for any timeline regardless of its visibility?

Yes, you can share links to public, secret URL, and password protected timelines on your custom domain. Private timelines cannot be shared with a link so custom domains don't apply to them.

Can I turn off custom domains for specific timelines?

By default when you configure a custom domain, it will be enabled for all timelines on your account. Sometimes though you may be using Preceden for both work and personal use, and don't want your personal timelines to be shared on the domain for your work.

You can disable the custom domain for specific timelines by adjusting the timeline settings:

Click the timeline's name above the visualization
Uncheck the custom domain option
Save the settings

Can I use a non-secure (http) domain?

No, your website including the custom domain must use SSL/HTTPS in order for this to work.

Can I use a root domain instead of a subdomain?

For various reasons it's not possible; you have to use a subdomain.

Can collaborators and teammates work off the custom domain?

No, when you invite people to collaborate on your timelines, either using Preceden's collaboration features or as other users on your account, they'll be working on the preceden.com domain, not the custom domain. Custom domains let people view timelines on there, but editing timelines still takes place on the preceden.com domain.

Can multiple users use the same custom domain?

Not normally: for security reasons we only let 1 user use a specific custom domain.

However, if you're in the same organization as the other user, we can confirm with them they're fine with you using the same custom domain and set it up for you. Contact support if you're interested in this.

Also, if your account supports multiple users, you (the account owner) can set up a custom domain and then all of the other users will be able to use that as well, not just you.