Use your own web address

Families and staff already know your district's own domain. You can give them an address on it, like support.yourdistrict.org or help.yourdistrict.org, that takes them to schoolOS.

schoolOS can't host your own domain yet, so this works with a forward: whoever runs your domain or website sends anyone who opens your address on to your schoolOS address. This article explains which address to point it at, who to ask, the steps for common providers, and how to check it with Check my forward on Admin › Account › Account Settings.

You need a vanity URL first, like olympia.theschoolos.com. A forward needs a schoolOS address of your own to point to.

What a forward is#

A forward (also called a redirect, URL redirect or domain forwarding) is a rule on your domain's web server. When someone opens support.yourdistrict.org, the server answers "this has moved" and sends their browser to the schoolOS address you chose. It takes a moment, and people don't need to do anything.

A forward is not a DNS record. A record like a CNAME only says which server answers for a name; it doesn't move anyone. See Common mistakes for why a CNAME alone doesn't work.

Which address to point it at#

Point each of your addresses at the schoolOS page people should land on. Copy the address from schoolOS rather than typing it.

| You want people to reach | Point the forward at | Where to copy it | | --- | --- | --- | | Sign-in, for staff and students | Your vanity URL, like https://olympia.theschoolos.com | Vanity URL on Admin › Account › Account Settings | | A department's public support form, for families and visitors | The department's Public support URL | The department's Requesters tab on Admin › Account › Departments (see Requesters) | | Your help center | Its Address | General on Admin › Help Center › Settings |

For example, a district gives families help.olympia.org for the help center and support.olympia.org for the Facilities public support form, and tells staff to keep using olympia.theschoolos.com to sign in.

Each of your addresses forwards to one place. To send people to two pages, use two addresses.

What visitors see#

People type or select your address, and their browser shows the schoolOS address once they arrive: the address bar ends on olympia.theschoolos.com. That's how it should work. Your address is what you print on flyers and in emails; the schoolOS address is where people sign in and fill in forms.

Don't try to keep your address in the address bar with a "masked" or "framed" forward. schoolOS won't open inside a frame, so people get a blank page. See Common mistakes.

Who to ask#

The forward is set up wherever your domain's web traffic is handled. That's usually one of these:

| Who runs it | How to tell | Choose it when | | --- | --- | --- | | Your website platform (Finalsite, Edlio, Apptegy, SchoolMessenger Presence, CatapultK12) | Your district website is built on it, and your web team asks the platform to make domain changes. | Most districts: ask them first. They often run the domain's web traffic, even for addresses other than your main website. | | Your DNS provider or registrar (Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Squarespace Domains, Namecheap, Network Solutions, IONOS) | Your IT team signs in there to add DNS records. | Your IT team manages the domain directly and the provider offers forwarding. | | Your own servers or cloud (AWS Route 53, Azure DNS) | DNS lives in your district's own AWS or Azure account. | Neither offers forwarding on its own; see AWS Route 53 and Azure DNS. |

If you aren't sure, ask whoever added your district's last DNS record. Ask for "a permanent (301) redirect, not masked, from https://support.yourdistrict.org to" the address you copied, and give them a link to this article.

Steps by provider#

These steps were checked against each provider's own help pages as of October 2026. Menus change: if a step doesn't match what you see, follow the provider's current help page or ask their support for "a 301 redirect, not masked".

New forwards can take from a few minutes to 48 hours to work everywhere. Once yours should be working, use Check my forward.

K-12 website platforms#

Finalsite, Edlio, Apptegy (Thrillshare), SchoolMessenger Presence and CatapultK12 don't publish public steps for forwarding an address to another site; their guides are for customers signed in to their support sites. Ask your platform's support or your account manager:

1. Say which address to forward, like support.yourdistrict.org, and paste the schoolOS address you copied, starting with https://.
2. Ask for a permanent (301) or temporary (302) redirect, not masking or framing, that works over https://.
3. When they say it's done, run Check my forward.

Cloudflare#

Cloudflare forwards with a Redirect Rule. A rule only runs for a name that has a proxied DNS record (the orange cloud), so add one first. Its address doesn't matter, because the rule answers before anything is reached.

1. In your domain's DNS records, add an A record named support (for support.yourdistrict.org) with the IPv4 address 192.0.2.1, and leave Proxy status on Proxied.
2. Go to Rules > Overview, select Create rule, then Redirect Rule.
3. Give it a Rule name, like "schoolOS support form".
4. Under When incoming requests match, choose Wildcard pattern and set Request URL to https://support.yourdistrict.org/*.
5. Under Then, set the Target URL to the schoolOS address you copied, the Status code to 301, and leave Preserve query string off.
6. Select Deploy.

Cloudflare's guides: Create a redirect rule in the dashboard and Redirect one domain to another.

GoDaddy#

1. Sign in to your GoDaddy Domain Portfolio and select your domain to open Domain Settings.
2. Select DNS, then Forwarding, then Add Forwarding.
3. Choose Subdomain and enter the subdomain, like support.
4. Choose https:// and enter the schoolOS address you copied, without the https://.
5. Choose Permanent (301) or Temporary (302). Don't choose Forward with masking.
6. Select Save.

GoDaddy says most changes work within an hour, and some take up to 48 hours. Its guide: Forward my GoDaddy domain.

Squarespace Domains (formerly Google Domains)#

We couldn't confirm Squarespace's current steps for forwarding a subdomain from its own help pages. In general: open your domain in the Squarespace domains dashboard, look for its forwarding settings, add a rule from your subdomain to the schoolOS address with a 301 or 302 redirect, and keep forwarding over SSL (https://) on. If you don't see forwarding for your domain, ask Squarespace support for "a 301 redirect for a subdomain, not masked".

Namecheap#

1. Sign in, and select Manage next to your domain.
2. Open the Advanced DNS tab, find Host records, and select Add New Record.
3. For Type, choose URL Redirect Record.
4. For Host, enter the subdomain, like support.
5. For Value, enter the schoolOS address you copied, starting with https://.
6. Choose Permanent (301) or Unmasked (a 302). Don't choose Masked.
7. Save the changes, and remove any other A, CNAME or redirect record for the same host, which stops it working.

Namecheap says changes usually work within 30 minutes. It also says that forwarding from an https:// address needs a certificate for your own domain, so check support.yourdistrict.org with Check my forward: if it reports a certificate problem, ask Namecheap how to forward over https://, or have your website platform do it instead. Its guide: How to set up a URL redirect for a domain.

Network Solutions#

We couldn't confirm Network Solutions' current steps for forwarding a subdomain from its own help pages. In general: in your account, open your domain's forwarding (it calls it web forwarding), add a forward to the schoolOS address, and leave masking off. Ask Network Solutions support for "a 301 redirect for a subdomain, not masked, that works over https://".

IONOS#

1. Sign in and select the Domain & SSL tile, then your domain.
2. On the Details tab, select Adjust Destination, then Domain Forwarding.
3. Set Type to Arbitrary URL and enter the schoolOS address you copied, starting with https://.
4. Choose HTTP Redirect, not Frame Redirect.
5. Select Save.

The name you forward can't also be connected to a website or another service. IONOS's guide covers a whole domain and its www.; it doesn't describe a subdomain like support.. If you don't see your subdomain there, ask IONOS. Its guide: Forwarding a Domain to a Different Domain.

AWS Route 53 and Azure DNS#

Neither forwards on its own: both only answer DNS questions. The simplest answer is to have whoever hosts your district website add the redirect there. Otherwise, the usual approach is:

• AWS. An S3 bucket named after your address, set under Static website hosting to Redirect requests for an object to the schoolOS address with Protocol https, with CloudFront and a certificate for your address in front of it (S3 alone only answers over http://), and a Route 53 alias record pointing your address at CloudFront. See AWS's Configuring a webpage redirect.
• Azure. Microsoft says Azure DNS doesn't offer URL redirects (Azure DNS FAQ). The usual approach is a URL redirect in an Azure Front Door rule set, with your address added to Front Door as a custom domain.

Check your forward#

Under Vanity URL on Admin › Account › Account Settings, Check my forward follows your address the way a browser would and says where it lands. Type your address, like support.yourdistrict.org, and select Check. It appears once you have a vanity URL, and needs Change account settings.

| Result | What it means | What to do | | --- | --- | --- | | Your forward works | Your address reaches your vanity URL. It names the page: the sign-in page, a public support form, the help center, or another page. | Nothing, unless it named the wrong page. | | No forward found | Your address answers, but never sends anyone to schoolOS. | Set up the forward, or ask whoever runs it to check it's turned on. | | It's a masked forward | Your address shows schoolOS inside a frame. | Change it to a 301 or 302 redirect, without masking. | | Certificate problem | Browsers show a security warning at your address, usually because a DNS record (CNAME) points straight at schoolOS with no forward. | Replace the record with a forward that works over https://. | | This address doesn't exist | There's no DNS record for it. | Check the spelling, or add the record your provider's forward needs, and wait for it to take effect. | | It goes to another district or It goes to the wrong schoolOS address | The forward reaches schoolOS, but not your vanity URL. | Change its target to the address you copied from schoolOS. | | Nothing answered | The address exists but didn't answer over https:// in time. | Ask whoever runs it to make the forward work over https://. | | Too many redirects | It redirects more than five times without reaching schoolOS, which is usually a loop. | Point it straight at your schoolOS address. | | schoolOS can't check this address | It points to a private or reserved network address. | A forward has to be on the public internet for families and staff to reach it. |

A working result can also suggest an improvement, like changing an http:// target to https://. Select What schoolOS saw to see each step it followed.

It only reads: it changes nothing on your domain or in schoolOS. It checks from schoolOS's servers, on the public internet, so an address that only works inside your district's network shows as not working. You can run about 20 checks every 10 minutes.

Common mistakes#

• A CNAME record alone. Pointing support.yourdistrict.org at olympia.theschoolos.com with a CNAME makes browsers show a security warning, because schoolOS has no certificate for your domain. Use a forward instead. (Cloudflare is the exception that needs a DNS record as well: a proxied one, for its Redirect Rule.)
• A masked or framed forward. It tries to keep your address in the address bar by showing schoolOS inside a frame. For your security, schoolOS pages refuse to open inside another site's frame, so people see a blank or error page instead of sign-in or the form. Use a permanent (301) or temporary (302) redirect, without masking.
• A forward that only works over http://. Browsers try https:// first, and many never fall back. Make sure the forward works when someone types https://support.yourdistrict.org.
• Forwarding to the wrong page. Pointing your support address at sign-in, or at another department's form. Copy the address from the table in Which address to point it at.
• Forgetting https:// on the target. Without it, some providers treat the target as a page on your own site, or send people to schoolOS over an unencrypted connection first. Start the target with https://.