If you own your own domain name, it’s now possible to configure a Tiddlyhost site to be served at that domain. So instead of mysite.tiddlyhost.com being the URL for your site, it could be instead served at mydomain.com , or at a subdomain of your choice, e.g. mystuff.mydomain.com .
Registering a domain name is something you have to do for yourself using one of the many domain registrars, e.g. namecheap or porkbun.
There are a few steps required to verify that you own a domain, and then it may take a little while to generate a certificate. Instructions will be provided once you specify what the custom domain name should be. To get started, go to the settings page for your site, and click “Custom Domain”. This works for any site, so it could be FeatherWiki, Siteleteer, or TiddlyWiki Classic if you like.
It’s a new feature, so there might be bugs. Please let me know if you find any problems, or have suggestions for improvements.
Thanks for this Simon. I will be utilising this when I do my domain services review. I have being paying quite a bit to maintain domain registration but not making full use of it perhaps I can publish some master domains and a low annual fee for a subdomain under these to return some of the costs ? I expect you may have some too?
Why would people be interested in my subdomains?
I think I may have some well chosen domains available.
So I am interested in the idea of providing a list of off-the-shelf domain options. It’s actually quite different to the “BYO custom domain” feature discussed above in this thread.
Instead of needing to go purchase your own domain, there might be a drop-down list of options, e.g. you could choose your favorite domain name from the list, e.g.
foo.tiddlyhost.com (default)
foo.tw.plugin
foo.tiddly.uk
foo.tiddlyhub.com
These are just examples to illustrate the idea, I don’t know if tw.plugin or tiddly.uk are actually possible, (but actually I do still own tiddlyhub.com , so that one is a real option.. ).
Once you choose an option, it would work immediately, no need to create any DNS records to confirm ownership, no need to wait for a certificate, DNS propagation etc.
If you have some interesting domain names to donate or rent out I think we could figure something out. There would be some work needed so Letsencrypt can create/renew the wildcard SSL certs, but it should be doable.
I am interested in this idea, but I have some doubts whether anyone really cares about domain names these days. It might end up being a bunch of effort to build something that no one uses.
What do you think? Any Tiddlyhost users out there wishing their sites could have a more fun domain name?
Regarding me. I may be a case that illustrates the / a problem. I own 3 domain names. Have done a decade +.
Issue is this: domains without host is useless. So, of course, having domains, I have a hoster (DreamHost).
There is the issue. DreamHost just billed me for 2 years ($438).
I could switch to TH for named hosting but not until 2028 having paid the bill.
Given the normal strong relation between “naming” & “hosting” I am wondering if linking up with a Domain Registrar might help you / TH avoid the deadlock issue I’m in for your freer Newbies?
If you’re using Dreamhost solely to host your websites, be aware that you can use GitHub Pages nowadays for free and skip your next $438 bill. I think also CloudFlare has a good enough free tier for basic hosting as an alternative to GitHub Pages.
(If you’re doing Wordpress or something other than static files, it’s not quite so simple.)
One use case I’m thinking of: Suppose your non-technical friend/neighbor/relative wants a website for their hobby/business/project with a specific domain name that they’ve already purchased. Maybe they already have a Facebook or Instagram, but an actual website is something they want but don’t have yet.
My idea is that Tiddlyhost could be one of the easiest and fastest ways to make it happen. They’re probably gonna need your help still, but if you’re comfortable already with TiddlyWiki or Feather Wiki, and you have a Tiddlyhost account, you get them online in 10 minutes or so (give or take some time to gather/create the actual content).
So perhaps this is the niche target market: TiddlyWiki enthusiasts with non-technical friends/neighbors/relatives who want a website for their hobby/business/project..?
Just FYI in TW lingo we talk about “Developers” as the experts.
But, regarding your points above, the term “TiddlyHost Producer” might work better for expert folks well capable of quickly enabling / producing a TH instance for an end user (including bespoke setups).
No. They are separate. Separate, but practically co-terminus—meaning I bought domain names because I was paying for hosting and wanted unique addressing.
Right!
My mistake was to not to review my current hosting fully before paying.
Regarding the OP what I may not have made clear enough is to suggest to @simon that linking-up to a Domain Name Registrar might be worth exploring… (1) to ease registrations that will be used on TH; (2) and maybe get a small financial kickback for each registration??
perhaps I can publish some master domains and a low annual fee for a subdomain under these to return some of the costs ? I expect you may have some too?
).