# How to setup custom domain in Hashnode?

### The Backstory

I came across Google Domains because of the discount they gave in one of the conferences I attended. Registering a domain looks so complicated when I did some research. Or was it just overwhelming?

My first domain just sat there unused for around 2 years. 😔 
Well, I did try to connect it to an AWS instance while trying to learn about certificates...

### Stuck again for a few days

There's a pretty good instruction on how to set up the custom domain. But then, I encountered an error in Google Domains.

> CNAME records for the root domain are not supported

![cname not supported.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1605715470229/4B4TXCYOU.png)

### What worked?

1. Set the host name to `blog` and the value to `hashcode.network`
![working cnamepng.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1605716181061/yY7GInI_i.png)

2. Then use the same value in Hashnode
![blog dashboard.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1605716509555/uzNThWvpH.png)

### What I just realized? 💭

I first saw the following and immediately went on with it. Use `@` it said...
![Dashboard_-_Domain.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1605717874946/adA6XIgWn.png)

> It's not recommended to use CNAME at the root level.

Turns out the instructions were actually dynamic. When I changed to blog.reiopd.com, it also changed to set the host name to `blog` instead of `@`.
![Dashboard_-_Domain2.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1605718002827/01Aa8vSwn.png)

So all along, maybe I had it backwards. 😹