Connect a Namecheap domain to your Artery portfolio

When you connect your own domain, your portfolio site opens at an address like yourname.com instead of yourname.getartery.com. The free getartery.com address keeps working too.

Before you start

• Custom domains are part of the Pro plan. Each portfolio can have one custom domain.
• You need to be able to sign in to the Namecheap account that holds the domain.
• Decide which address you want: the domain itself (yourname.com) or a subdomain (art.yourname.com). When you connect the domain itself, www.yourname.com is set up too and sends visitors to yourname.com.

1. Add the domain in Artery

1. In your Artery dashboard, open Settings, then the Portfolio tab.
2. Open Custom domain and select Add domain.
3. Type your domain, for example yourname.com, and select Add domain.

Artery now shows the DNS records to add, with a status of Waiting for DNS. Keep this page open: each name and value has a copy button.

For yourname.com, you get three records:

Type	Name	Value
A	@	The IP address Artery shows
CNAME	www	domains.getartery.com
TXT	_artery-verify	Your verification code, which starts with artery-verify-

For a subdomain such as art.yourname.com, you get two: a CNAME named art with the value domains.getartery.com, and a TXT named _artery-verify.art with your verification code. Use the names Artery shows you.

Always copy the IP address and the code from Artery: the code is unique to your portfolio and your domain.

On Namecheap, what Artery calls Name goes in the Host field.

2. Open Advanced DNS in Namecheap

1. Sign in to Namecheap and select Domain List in the left menu.
2. Select Manage next to your domain.
3. Open the Advanced DNS tab. The records are in the Host Records section.

If there is no Host Records section, the domain does not use Namecheap’s DNS (its nameservers point somewhere else, such as Cloudflare or a web host). Add the records where the DNS is managed, or switch the domain back to Namecheap BasicDNS under Nameservers on the Domain tab.

3. Clear the records that are in the way

A name can only point to one place, so remove what is already there for @ and www. A new Namecheap domain often comes with parking records such as:

• a URL Redirect Record with Host @
• a CNAME Record with Host www and a value like parkingpage.namecheap.com.

Delete them with the trash icon next to each one. Also delete any other A Record, AAAA Record, CNAME Record, ALIAS Record or URL Redirect Record whose Host is @ or www. A second address sends some visitors somewhere else and can stop the secure certificate for your domain from being issued.

Leave your email records alone: MX records and the TXT records your email provider gave you are not affected.

4. Add the records

Select Add New Record for each one and fill in the row:

1. A Record: Host @, Value the IP address from Artery.
2. CNAME Record: Host www, Value domains.getartery.com.
3. TXT Record: Host _artery-verify, Value your verification code.

Leave TTL on Automatic. Type only the part before your domain in Host: Namecheap adds the domain itself, so _artery-verify becomes _artery-verify.yourname.com.

Save each row with the green check mark, or select Save All Changes once you have added them all.

5. Wait for the check

Artery checks your domain every five minutes, so you can close the page. Namecheap says new records usually take about 30 minutes to take effect. To check right away, open Settings, Portfolio, Custom domain and select Check again.

Each record shows Live once it is found. When the domain is live, Artery sets up the secure (https) certificate for it on its own; there is nothing to buy or install.

If www works before the @ record does, your site opens on www.yourname.com first, and moves to yourname.com as soon as the @ record points to Artery.

If something does not work

• Still Waiting for DNS after an hour. Compare each record in Namecheap with Artery, character by character. The most common mistakes are a parking record or URL redirect still on @ or www, the domain typed into the Host field, or a row that was never saved.
• Failed. Artery found your verification code before and cannot find it now. Check that the TXT record with Host _artery-verify is still there with the code Artery shows, then select Check again.
• “This domain is connected to another portfolio”. Add the TXT record the message names, wait a few minutes, then add the domain again in Artery. Whoever controls the domain’s DNS decides which portfolio uses it.
• Namecheap’s screens look different. Namecheap changes its pages from time to time. The names of things may move, but the records stay the same: whatever the screen calls it, you need an A record, a CNAME record and a TXT record with the names and values Artery shows. Namecheap’s own guides are How to set up an A record and How to create a CNAME record.

Still stuck? Contact us with your domain name and we will look at it.