Guests type in the domain name of your website when they want to visit your site. For example, www.guineapigrestaurant.com Usually, you own this domain yourself, or the party that manages your website does. In that case, you can ask them to transfer the domain to your name.
The website domain that you get via Formitable is always set up like this: https://restaurant-ID.ft.restaurant. For example https://1a2b3c4b.ft.restaurant.
We strongly recommend at least changing the restaurant ID into your restaurant name to increase your findability on Google. Even better, is to connect your own domain name. This way, the URL will only contain your restaurant info and not Formitable's. You can buy a domain name, for example, via Google Domains.
In this article, you'll learn how to change the standard URL into your own and how to connect your own website domain to Formitable.
How to add your own name to the standard Formitable domain
By clicking on 'Edit' in the URL you can replace the Formitable ID for your own restaurant name. Once changes, click Save.
How to connect your own domain to a Formitable website
Do you want to use your own domain instead of the Formitable domain? For example, www.guinea-pig.com instead of restaurants.formitable.com/guinea-pig?
After completing the steps described below the domain name will stay registered at the party where you bought it, but the Formitable website will be displayed on it.
If you don't have a domain name yet, register one via Google Domains.
Connecting your own domain to a Formitable website step by step
To connect your domain, first go to Marketing > Website and scroll down to connect your website.
Click on Connect a domain.
Now we will check if your domain name is correct. Fill in your domain name without www. and without '/' or other additions. Then click Continue.
Now your DNS records will show up as displayed in the pop-up above. You need to fill these in at the party where you registered your domain name. This way, guests that fill in your domain name, will be transferred to the website that you use via Formitable.
Filling these in can be done like this:
Login at the party where you bought your domain name. Keep one tab open with the Formitable DNS records.
Once logged in, find the place where you can manage your DNS settings. This differs per provider. If you cannot find it, contact their customer support and ask where to manage your DNS settings. Depending on your provider it is sometimes called Advanced DNS Records, Manage Domains, or simply DNS.
In some cases, it can happen that you already have DNS records connected. If this is the case, you'll need to adjust and/or delete this. Make sure to not touch the 'MX records', as these apply to your email and not your website.
Once you registered your DNS records at the party from which you get your domain name, you go back to Formitable and click on Test connection.
A pop-up as displayed above will appear. Here you can keep an eye on the status of your connection. It can take up to 24 hours to connect your domain to Formitable.
You can either close the pop-up or delete the connection.
If everything went goes well, your website will be connected to your own domain within 24 hours. The status will then display this.
In case you want to connect multiple websites, then you can set one website as the main domain. You can set this up by clicking on one of your current connections and selecting Use as the main domain in the pop-up that appears. All other websites will then be redirected to this domain.
What's next?
Show a website pop-up on your website that highlights your tickets, takeaway, or gift vouchers.