Overview

There are two separate things people mean by “domain”, and Cobber handles them independently:

1. Your web address - the URL supporters type or click to reach your pages (your homepage, donation pages, petitions, sign-up forms).
2. Your email sending domain - the address your emails come from, and the behind-the-scenes authentication that proves those emails are genuinely yours so they land in the inbox.

You have a lot of flexibility on both, and - importantly - you don't have to move everything at once. Cobber is designed to run happily next to your existing system during a transition, so you can move pages and email across at your own pace.

Your web address

Every Cobber site works straight away on a free Cobber subdomain. From there you can connect any address you control. These are the options, from simplest to most branded:

Using a subdomain during a transition

A subdomain like action.yourmovement.org.au is often the smoothest choice while you're moving across from another platform. Your existing main website (yourmovement.org.au and www.yourmovement.org.au) keeps running exactly as it does today, untouched, while specific pages - donation pages, petitions, sign-up and membership forms - live on the Cobber subdomain.

From a supporter's point of view it still looks and feels like you, because it's still your domain. And because it's a subdomain, there's nothing to buy and nothing to migrate on your main site. When you're ready, you can move the apex domain across too.

How routing works

Connecting an address takes two pieces, and Cobber handles the fiddly parts for you:

1. You point your address at Cobber. For a subdomain or top-level domain you control, this is a small change with your DNS provider. The Go Live page in your dashboard shows you exactly what to do for your address.
2. Cobber secures it with HTTPS automatically. Once your address points at us, Cobber provisions and renews the security (SSL/TLS) certificate for you, so the padlock “just works” with no extra steps.

After that, every visit to your address routes straight to your site. Custom domains and subdomains are matched first and take priority, so there's never any ambiguity about which site a visitor should see. All of your pages - homepage, donation pages, petitions, sign-up and membership forms, embeddable widgets - are served over the same address in exactly the same way.

Email

Cobber sends two kinds of email on your behalf:

• Transactional email - receipts, membership welcomes and renewals, volunteer and contact-form confirmations. These come from sensible addresses on your sending domain, like donations@, membership@ and contact@.
• Campaign email - mass emails to your supporters, sent from whatever from address and name you configure for the campaign.

You choose which domain those emails send from. Until you set up your own, emails go from a Cobber domain so you can start sending immediately. To send from your own domain (recommended for trust and deliverability), you authenticate it - that's the next section.

Authenticating your email domain

“Authenticating” a domain means proving to mailbox providers (Gmail, Outlook and the rest) that Cobber is allowed to send email as your organisation. This is what keeps your email out of spam and out of the way of impersonation. Cobber uses two standard mechanisms:

You set this up once and there's no ongoing maintenance. The Go Live page in your dashboard generates everything specific to your domain, tells you exactly what to add, and verifies it for you - so you don't have to work any of it out by hand.

Sending email from a subdomain

Just like your web address, you can authenticate and send from your top-level domain (e.g. donations@yourmovement.org.au) or from a subdomain (e.g. donations@action.yourmovement.org.au). Both are fully supported - the authentication simply attaches to whichever domain or subdomain you choose to send from.

Sending from a subdomain is a common and clean approach during a transition: it lets Cobber's email run on its own clearly-separated domain while your existing system keeps sending from the main domain. It also keeps your sending reputations independent, which is good hygiene.

Running Cobber alongside your existing system

You do not need to move everything across in one go, and you do not need to move your email authentication the moment you start using Cobber. Both platforms can send and operate at the same time during an overlap period. This is the recommended way to transition - a gradual move, not a risky big-bang switch.

Why both can coexist

Email authentication was designed for exactly this. Turning Cobber on is additive - it doesn't switch off your existing system's email:

• DKIM: each provider signs with its own selector, so multiple signing keys coexist with no conflict. Adding Cobber's doesn't touch your existing one.
• Return-Path: Cobber's bounce handling sits on its own subdomain, separate from anything your current system uses.
• SPF: because Cobber uses a custom Return-Path, it generally doesn't need a change to your main domain's SPF at all.
• DMARC: a single policy for your domain. Both providers pass it independently, so your existing policy can stay exactly as it is.

A staged transition that minimises risk

1. Start on a subdomain. Point a subdomain (e.g. action.yourmovement.org.au) at Cobber and build your pages there. Your main site is untouched.
2. Authenticate email early - it's harmless. Set up Cobber's email authentication whenever you like. It sits quietly alongside your existing system and changes nothing until you start sending through Cobber.
3. Keep sending through your existing system for as long as you need. There's no deadline to switch.
4. Move traffic across gradually. Shift campaigns and pages to Cobber at your own pace, and confirm everything looks right.
5. Cut over fully when ready. Point your top-level domain at Cobber and retire the old setup only once you're confident. Nothing forces this step until you choose it.

Recommended setup

For most organisations transitioning from an existing system, we suggest:

1. Build and review your pages on the free Cobber subdomain first.
2. Launch on a subdomain of your own domain - keeps your branding, with your main site untouched.
3. Authenticate your email domain early, since it's additive and safe.
4. Run both systems in parallel through the overlap, moving campaigns and pages across gradually.
5. When you're confident, move your top-level domain to Cobber and retire the old setup.

Work through each of these on the Go Live page in your dashboard (/dashboard/go-live), which guides you step by step.

Common questions