# Connect a custom domain from Cloudflare

Your domain is managed in the Cloudflare dashboard. The single most important thing here: the record must be set to "DNS only" (grey cloud), or your secure connection will not work.

## Steps

1. Sign in at **dash.cloudflare.com** with your Cloudflare email and password.
2. On the home screen, click the **website (domain)** you want to connect from your list of sites.
3. In the left-hand menu, click **DNS**, then click **Records**.
4. Click the **Add record** button above the list of existing records.
5. Open the **Type** dropdown and choose the type Droply shows you (usually **CNAME**, or **TXT** for a verification record).
6. In the **Name** field, enter the label exactly as Droply shows it (see "Good to know" below for the root domain).
7. In the **Target** field (called **Content** for a TXT record), paste the **Value** Droply shows you (the one shown above).
8. For a CNAME, click the **Proxy status** toggle so it reads **DNS only** and shows a grey cloud, not an orange one. This step does not apply to TXT records.
9. Leave **TTL** set to **Auto**.
10. Click **Save**.

## Notes

- **Critical:** for the CNAME, **Proxy status** must be **DNS only** (grey cloud), NOT **Proxied** (orange cloud). If it stays orange, your site fails with an SSL handshake error (Error 525). Just click the cloud icon to switch it to grey.
- The **Name** field takes only the label, not the full address. For a subdomain like `www.yourdomain.com`, enter just `www` and Cloudflare adds the rest. For the root domain (e.g. `yourdomain.com` with nothing in front), enter `@`.
- Cloudflare automatically flattens a CNAME on the root (`@`), so pointing your root domain at Droply works here even though plain DNS normally forbids it.
- If a record with the same name already exists (an old `www` or `@`, or an A record), edit or delete it first, since duplicates conflict.
- Changes are usually live within a few minutes, though it can occasionally take up to an hour to fully propagate before Droply confirms the domain.