Can I change online.flippingbook.com to my own domain?
Note! This article contains information on one of the advanced FlippingBook Online features. If you feel like it might be difficult to understand from just plain text or you need some help with the domain, feel free to book a meeting with one of our specialists.
Yes, it is possible to replace the online.flippingbook.com part of your links with a subdomain of your website, for example, brochures.mybrand.com. We call this feature Custom Domain. It is available in FlippingBook Online Advanced, Team, and Enterprise plans.
Such branded URLs look much more professional when you share them. It also increases trust when your clients find your flipbooks on search engines. (According to bitly.com, a branded URL can increase click-through rates by up to 34%).
Want to learn more about Custom Domain?
- How does a custom domain work?
- What do I need to do to set up my custom domain?
- How do I configure the CNAME?
- How long does it take to activate or change my domain?
- Can I change the view/123456789 part of the URL as well?
- Related articles
How does a custom domain work?
Even though the links will show your domain, all your flipbooks are still hosted on our cloud servers. You keep creating flipbooks in your FlippingBook Online account, just like you normally do. We just link your FlippingBook account to your domain, so when a viewer clicks your branded link, they see your flipbook. To achieve this, you will also have to make a small modification on your end. But this is just once, and all your flipbooks, new and existing, will be available via your branded URL.
What do I need to do to set up my custom domain?
Custom Domains are available for the Advanced, Team, and Enterprise plans only. If you use a lower FlippingBook plan, you need to upgrade your account to at least Advanced. You also need to have your own domain registered already (e.g., yoursite.com)
Setting up a custom domain requires 4 steps:
- Decide what subdomain you want to use
Carefully consider what your custom domain should look like. For example, catalogs.yoursite.com or publications.yoursite.com. We advise you not to set the scope too narrowly. A domain like privacy-policy.yoursite.com will not be useful for any other document than your privacy policy. It is possible to change the custom domain later, but the old links will stop working! Please note that it has to be a subdomain. We can't use yoursite.com directly. - Set up a DNS alias for your subdomain to online.flippingbook.com
You'll need to set up something on your end so that the traffic for your custom domain is redirected to us. This requires a small technical change (you have to set up a CNAME in the DNS for your domain). You may need some help from your IT staff or hosting provider. Please follow our instructions to set up a CNAME or forward them to your IT staff. -
Contact our support to finalize the setup
After you have set up the CNAME, inform our support team which custom domain you have set up. We will check it and set up everything on our end. We'll also request an SSL certificate so your custom domain will work over HTTPS. When all is done, we will get back to you to confirm that your custom domain is live. This typically takes about an hour, but it could take up to 24 hours. -
Check your existing embedded flipbooks
If you have embedded any of your flipbooks into your website before requesting a custom domain, the embed code needs to be updated (you can generate the new version of it with the same Embed button) when the domain starts working. If you do not update the embed code, the full-screen mode will not work.
How do I configure the CNAME?
To set up the CNAME, it’s best to contact the administrator of your website or your hosting provider for assistance. The general way to create a CNAME record for a domain publications.yourdomain.com is outlined in the instructions below.
- Open the DNS management page of the hosting provider where you host yourdomain.com.
- Create a CNAME record. The exact field names may differ in different control panels. to set up a custom domain like catalog.yourdomain.com:
- Name — “publications”. In some control panels, the record name must specify the full name, such as "publications.yourdomain.com.".
- Value — “online.flippingbook.com.”
- TTL (Time to Live) — there is generally no need to change this, but we advise no more than 600.
The exact way of adding a CNAME record depends on your domain provider. Here are instructions from some popular domain providers:
- GoDaddy
- Bluehost
- HostGator
- Dreamhost
- EasyDNS
- SiteGround
- If you use Cloudflare, ensure that your CNAME record is not proxied through Cloudflare. (Click on the orange cloud icon and it should turn grey.)
If in doubt, please ask your hosting provider for help.
How long does it take to activate or change my domain?
After we set up your custom domain, it typically starts working within an hour, but it can take 24 hours or even longer. We can't do anything to speed that up, sorry. This is inherent to the way the internet is built. All over the internet, there are Domain Name Servers that store information about which domain name is connected to which server. These servers don't update their information instantly.
Can I change the view/123456789 part of the URL as well?
Yes, after we have set up your custom domain and it's up and running, you can change the second part of your URL. So you can have a fully customized URL like publications.mydomain.com/newsletter-june-2025. Learn more in our article Customizing your flipbook URL.