This is a detailed guide on how to set up your White-Labeled Social Media platform. The following three mandatory technical requirements must be completed on your end:
1. Creating a custom CNAME record
2. Configuring SPF Records
3. Choosing to configure SSL
How to create a custom domain
Go to your DNS provider’s website (e.g. GoDaddy or Cloudflare). If you’re choosing one for the first time, go with one that supports SSL.
Create a CNAME (“canonical name”) record for your custom domain.
Point it at the host domain: app.promorepublic.com
These steps will vary, so check with your own DNS provider for support.
Creating a custom CNAME record with Cloudflare
As an example, here’s how to set up a CNAME record with Cloudflare:
Set up Cloudflare as the resolver for your custom CNAME by changing your domain nameserver to Cloudflare.
Go to the ‘DNS’ section in Cloudflare and add a CNAME record for your Help Center custom domain. Give it a name, like ‘Help’.
Point it at the PromoRepublic host domain: app.promorepublic.com
To enable the CNAME record, click on the Cloud icon under the Status so it turns orange.
Configuring SPF Records
The Sender Policy Framework (SPF) was designed to prevent fraudsters from using legitimate email addresses to send spam or other fraudulent emails. An SPF record is a TXT record that allows you to specify which servers can send emails on your behalf and helps prevent these emails from getting caught in recipients’ spam folders. Some of PromoRepublic’s features, like email invitations and notifications, can send emails to customers on your behalf. Before we can enable these features, the following steps must be completed:
Add 'include:app.promorepublic.com' to your SPF record. Your full SPF record should look something like this: v=spf1 include:_spf.promorepublic.com ~all
2. Contact your Account Manager to verify your SPF record has been set up correctly; you will not be able to send email receipts or notifications until you complete this step.
If you're having trouble setting up your SPF record, check Mail Tester to see if there is a guide available for your host or registrar. For additional troubleshooting assistance, contact your website’s domain provider; the process varies depending on your provider, so they will be your best resource for updating your record.
Choosing to configure SSL
After you set up a custom domain, your Social Media Platform will be hosted on your domain but on HTTP rather than HTTPS. Your Social Media Platform will now appear as ‘not secure’ on web browsers like Chrome. Here’s how to secure it.
SSL (or TLS), is the most widely used way to secure the connection between your server and your browser. It ensures the connection between the server and browser is encrypted and safe and appears as HTTPS. Here’s what an SSL-configured website (with HTTPS) typically looks like on the Chrome browser:
This is what it looks like if you’ve visited a website not secured by SSL (without HTTPS):
There are two ways to set up SSL on your custom domain:
Use a flexible SSL (using a third-party DNS provider like Cloudflare or AWS CloudFront)
Use your own SSL certificate (using a TLS Termination Proxy)
You can configure SSL for your custom domain to keep sensitive information encrypted. If you want to do this, make sure you’ve set up your CNAME with a DNS provider that supports SSL, like Cloudflare.
⭕ IMPORTANT: DNS changes can sometimes take up to 72 hours to take effect but are typically much faster.
Configuring SSL with Cloudflare
Add SSL support to your domain. Go to the “Crypto” section and change SSL to “Flexible” or “Full.” Don’t choose “Full (Strict)” as this will result in an invalid SSL certificate.
2. Create a page rule enforcing HTTPS. Go to “Page Rules” and create a new page rule with the following settings, replacing exampleapp.com with your own custom domain.
3. Disable Cloudflare page speed features. Go to “Speed” and disable Rocket Loader and Mirage for your custom Social Media Platform domain. Both of these features result in Cloudflare attempting to add some javascript to your Social Media Platform. This will break functionality on your Social Media Platform due to security settings your Social Media Platform has enabled.
Your custom domain should be fully secured and ready to go. Visitors to your Social Media Platform will see the green lock icon in their browser to let them know the site is secure.
Сonfiguring SSL with AWS
The kind folks at Trade Defender Social have contributed a video outlining the configuration with AWS CloudFront: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKOGu0li070
Dropdown Name Changed
The "Forward Headers" dropdown has been replaced by: "Cache Based on Selected Request Headers" drop down.
In the new dropdown selector, the item "All" indicates that no caching will occur and setting this will force CloudFront to pass the correct 'host' header value to app.promorepublic.com
Using your own SSL certificate with Apache and Nginx
If you wish to host your own security certificates, you can do so through a TLS termination proxy. You’ll need to edit the configuration file on your proxy web server. Note that If you created a CNAME record that points to app.promorepublic.com, you'll need to delete this to host your own SSL certificate. Here are the basic instructions to set up your own SSL using Apache and Nginx web servers.
apache.conf (example)
# Step 1: set up a normal server with HTTPS https://letsencrypt.org/
# Step 2: set up proxy settings as shown below
# Step 3: make sure your DNS record is configured to IP of your Apache server
<IfModule mod_ssl.c>
<VirtualHost *:443>
ServerName your-social-media-platform.custom-domain.com # specify your custom domain here
SSLEngine on
SSLProxyVerify none
SSLProxyEngine on
SSLProxyCheckPeerCN off
SSLProxyCheckPeerName off
SSLProxyCheckPeerExpire off
SSLCertificateFile /path/to/your/fullchain.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /path/to/your/privatekey.pem
ProxyPreserveHost On
ProxyPass / https://app.promorepublic.com/
ProxyPassReverse / https://app.promorepublic.com/
</VirtualHost>
</IfModule>
nginx.conf (example)
# Step 1: set up normal server with HTTPS https://letsencrypt.org/
# Step 2: set up proxy settings as shown below
# Step 3: make sure your DNS record is configured to IP of your Nginx server
resolver 8.8.8.8; # use own DNS server if you have one
server {
listen 443 ssl;
server_name your-social-media-platform.custom-domain.com; # replace this with your domain
ssl_certificate /path/to/your/fullchain.pem;
ssl_certificate_key /path/to/your/privatekey.pem;
location / {
# using "set" is important as IP addresses of PromoRepublic servers
# changes dynamically. "set" enables nginx to follow dynamic IPs
set$promorepublic"https://app.promorepublic.com:443";
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_pass$promorepublic;
}
}
There are many ways to set up your own SSL certificate - we can’t guarantee that we can support every type of proxy setup. If you have specific needs, we can't support you in configuring it.
Note that you may also need to add a redirect from HTTP protocol (port 80) to HTTPS as part of your server configuration.
While most modern browsers support SNI, a few older ones don’t. If you’re supporting those browsers, you should use your own SSL certificate instead. Check with your DNS provider to see if this option is available.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR NEED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON HOW TO CREATE A CUSTOM DOMAIN FOR YOUR WHITE LABEL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM, PLEASE, CONTACT YOUR ACCOUNT MANAGER OR EMAIL US AT [email protected] BY ADDING "WHITE LABEL SET UP" INTO THE SUBJECT