Summary: Shifter supports both non-www and www domains. At this time, Shifter does not support redirecting from one to the other. Most DNS providers support this type of redirect as a standard feature; if yours does not, there are third-party providers that offer it for free. Shifter supports both the apex domain (the non-www version) and subdomains such as www.example.com. Technically, you can use both domains at the same time. However, when adding a custom domain, it is common to choose one of them. In this example, we assume you want to use the www version of your domain name. To do this, you need to use a DNS provider that offers 301 redirects or URL forwarding for your domain, or connect your domain to a third-party redirect provider.
Domain Redirection via DNS
This is the simplest option, but not all DNS providers support it. For example, here are some providers known to support it:
- DNSimple
- Hover
- Namecheap
- Name.com
- GoDaddy
- Ghandi.net
These are published guides on how to use DNS alone to redirect the non-www version of a domain to the www version or a similar one.
Domain Redirection via Third-Party Providers
This is known as “Redirect-as-a-Service.” If your DNS provider does not support URI/URL/domain redirection, there are partners who can assist you. Our recommended partner is EasyRedir. They offer a simple redirect by having you point the non-www version of your domain to their service, which then forwards it to the desired domain. This type of redirect is covered by their free plan. Click here for details on how to set up this type of redirect.
Domain Redirection via Shifter Redirects
Shifter Redirects Plugin
This plugin provides domain name redirection, such as from https://www.example.com to
https://example.com.
Four steps to use this plugin:
- Download and install it (you can do this from the theme/plugin installer).
- Activate it.
- Configure the source and destination.
- Generate and publish.
Why doesn’t Shifter offer domain redirection?
We get this question often. To answer it, it’s important to understand how redirects work. Redirects occur at the DNS layer or on the server itself using software such as Apache or NGINX. Since Shifter does not maintain or control your DNS and is completely serverless, it does not support DNS redirects for this reason. However, please note that this may change in the future! We believe there is great value in offering this service so that everyone can get started right away.If you’re unsure whether your DNS provider supports this, or if you need help with the setup, please feel free to let us know. We’d be happy to help!