Why isn’t my domain live?
When to use this
Use this page when the Your domain card in Settings → Branding is stuck, when something branded looks stale, or when you’re not sure whether a symptom is a problem at all. Each section below is one symptom, its likely cause, and the safe next check.
Stuck on “Awaiting DNS”
The checks can’t see your records yet. In order of likelihood:
- The CNAME was added on the bare domain, not the subdomain. Most
registrars silently refuse or rewrite a CNAME on
your-studio.comitself. Connect a subdomain likeproposals.your-studio.comand put the CNAME there. - Proxying is on. If your DNS is on Cloudflare, the record must be DNS only (grey cloud). An orange-cloud proxy hides the target and verification can never complete.
- A copy slipped. Compare each record at your registrar against the
card character by character — a trailing dot, a duplicated subdomain
(
proposals.proposals…), or a stray space is enough. - It’s genuinely still propagating. Most changes land in minutes, but some registrars take longer. Press Check again after a short wait.
”Needs attention”
The card found your records but something specific is wrong, and the message under the status names it. Fix exactly what it names at your registrar, then press Check again. If the message doesn’t match anything you can see, contact support with a screenshot of your registrar’s DNS records.
”Verifying” for more than ten minutes
DNS is right and the secure certificate is being issued, which normally takes a minute or two. If it sits longer than ten minutes, re-check the records rather than waiting — a near-miss in the TXT record is the usual cause.
The TXT record disappeared from the card
Not a problem. Once your address is Live, the setup records are hidden because the job is done. Don’t delete them at your registrar — the CNAME is what routes your clients — but there’s nothing to put back on the card.
Reconnecting an address you previously disconnected issues a new TXT value. If you kept the old record at your registrar, replace its value with the fresh one the card shows — the old value no longer proves anything.
”My old links still say bloomboard”
Links you sent before connecting your domain keep their original address — that’s deliberate, so nothing a client holds ever breaks. When a client opens one, the page itself carries your branding, and anything they’re sent from now on uses your domain. PDFs a client already downloaded are sealed records and never change.
WhatsApp or iMessage still shows the old preview
Messaging apps cache link previews on their own schedule — hours or even days. Nothing is wrong on your side. A link never shared before will show the fresh preview immediately; previously-shared links update when the app refreshes its cache.
The browser tab still shows the old icon
Browsers refresh favicons slowly and on their own schedule. A hard refresh or a private window shows the current icon; regular tabs catch up on their own.
Branding vanished from my pages
Check three things, in order:
- The master switch — is Remove BloomBoard branding still on, under Settings → Branding → What clients see?
- Your plan — custom branding is a Studio-plan feature. On another plan it goes dormant: your setup is saved and switches back on when you upgrade.
- Your DNS — if your custom address stopped resolving, links on it can’t reach their pages. Confirm the CNAME still exists at your registrar.
Client pages themselves stay reachable throughout — clients see the default look rather than an error.