Setting Up A Custom URL For Your Apps

The Apps you create with MyPhotoApp are Mobile Web Apps (HTML5), in effect custom websites, and every App you create has its own unique URL or web address.  By default, Apps use the MyPhotoApp domain but if you prefer you can choose to 'White Label' the Apps you create so that they use a URL (domain name) of your choosing instead of the default MyPhotoApp domain. 

Tip: If you are confident working with domains and their settings in your domain host providers control panel you can click on the Setup Tab in the builder and then on the Custom URL tab to find basic instructions on how to add your own custom URL to your MyPhotoApp Brand. 

When you create an App it will have a unique URL that has 3 elements and will usually look something like this: 

https://m.mp-app.com/inspirationsphotography/VizslaFavorites 

By default, the first part of the URL is the domain used by the MyPhotoApp Builder for Apps: 

https://m.mp-app   

The second element is your brand name, in this example  /inspirationsphotography and finally, the third element is the App name, this is the one you assigned when you created the new App in the builder  /VizslaFavorites 

For many people, this is all they need and they continue to create, use and share their Apps using the default URL.  But if you would like to offer a more customized experience to your clients you may prefer to have the Apps use your own custom domain or subdomain. 

A custom URL or domain is where the default MyPhotoApp domain is replaced with one specified by you.  This is done by setting your own domain or sub-domains URL to point to the MyPhotoApp server so that in future the Apps for that domain will use the new domain name in their URL instead of https://m.mp-app . 

A custom URL does not include the MyPhotoApp Brand name in the App URL and consists of only the Custom URL and App name like this: 

https://inspirationsphotography.co.uk/appName   

Setting a Custom URL up for a Brand is permanent and cannot be changed later without breaking existing Apps. It is, therefore, important that you make the right choices before verifying and saving a new Custom URL.  You should think carefully about how you are already using MyPhotoApp and what you want to achieve by setting up a Custom URL. 

Answering the following questions will help you decide whether or not you can use the domain URL or will need to use a subdomain URL instead: 

1.  Do you want to set a Custom URL for more than one MyPhotoApp Brand? 

If so you will either need a different Domain URL for each brand or multiple subdomains of a domain if you only have the one. 

2.  Do you want to create a website for this Brand using MyPhotoApp? 

If you wish to create a website using MyPhotoApp you will need a dedicated URL for MyPhotoApp that is not used anywhere else. 

3.  Do you already have a website hosted elsewhere that uses the Domain URL you want to use as a custom URL for MyPhotoApp? 

If so or if you intend to create one that is hosted elsewhere you will either need to use a subdomain of that URL for MyPhotoApp or purchase a different domain URL. 

4. Have you already created Apps for the brand you want to set a Custom URL for using the default m.mp-app.com URL that you have distributed to clients? 

If yes, adding a Custom URL will cause them to break as the URL will change for all Apps in the brand.  Unless the apps already created are unimportant or just your own templates which you can happily republish after setting up the custom URL you will need to create a new brand to set up the custom URL in and create ALL future Apps using the New Brand.  This will leave your existing Apps unharmed in the original brand so Apps already supplied to clients will continue to work without any difficulty even if you update and republish them in the old Brand  If you wish to use an existing App from the old brand in the new Brand you can create a new App based on the old one using the shared template option. This is greater for creating copies of any templates you regularly use.   

Check out this article to find out how to do this:  

5.  Are you already using the Https Builder website?  Previously custom URL's were not supported by default on the Https builder but from May 15 2021  SSL is automatically included so if you are not already doing so you should ensure that you are working in the HTTPS version of the builder  https://builder.mp-app.com and not the older http://builder.mp-app.com 

After switching to the HTTPS builder Apps you created in other Brands using the older HTTP builder should continue to work with the original URL shared with your clients with no issues even if you republish these older Apps. 

Important: Once you select a Custom URL and save it, you cannot switch from a subdomain to a domain Custom URL at a later date without breaking the apps you published on the previous format type. 

Custom URL's are Brand specific and you need a different domain or sub-domain URL for each Brand you want to set up a custom URL for.  You can only set one custom URL per brand. 

If you have a NEW domain name that is not currently in use, and you want to use it ONLY for MyPhotoApp you will first need to set it up with your domain host ready to use with MyPhotoApp before you can set up a custom URL click below for instructions on how to do this: 

New Domain Setup 

If you want to use an existing domain name that already has a website hosted on it. You will need to create a subdomain (CNAME) for MyPhotoApp to use and should follow the instructions below. 

Go to your domain name provider/host and in the domain control panel, set up a new CNAME record (sometimes referred to as an alias, subdomain or zone record) then have it point to proxy.mp-app.com. This will cause your new subdomain to be directed to go to the MyPhotoApp server. A subdomain can be anything you like for example, apps.yourdomain.com or hello.yourdomain.com 

NOTE: creating a CNAME is NOT the same as setting up a REDIRECT, which will not work. 

To give you an idea of what yours should look like here is an example of what the CNAME record looks like on Godaddy for a new subdomain apps.cookdesignerportraits.com.

 

Note: Every domain provider has slightly different settings and options and you should check out their help files or contact their support for advice on how to do this if you are stuck. 

If you have more than one Brand select the Brand you wish to set up your Custom URL for from the Brand drop-down list. Remember existing Apps created in this Brand using the m.mp-app.com URL will break after verifying and saving the new Custom URL.  To avoid this you should use a new brand instead.   

Next click on the Setup tab and then on the Custom URL tab  and under Step 2  enter the new subdomain or domain that you wish to use as your Custom URL including https:// in the Custom URL Box like this:

 
If you are using a subdomain, like apps, you would enter https://apps.yourdomainname.com, and if you are using a new domain that you have set up to only use with MyPhotoApp, you would enter https://yourdomainname.com 

This tells MyPhotoApp to use your Custom URL in future when generating the URL for the Apps you create. 

Double-check that you have correctly entered your custom URL. You will see a preview of what your app URLs will look like depending on whether you are using a domain or subdomain: 

   https://apps.yourdomainname.com/appName  (subdomain) 

   https://yourdomainname.com/appName  (domain) 

To finish click the Verify and Save custom URL button to confirm everything is set up properly and apply the new Custom URL. 

 

IMPORTANT: Once you have set up a custom URL  you cannot change either the type of Custom URL you originally set or the URL for that Brand without breaking the Apps you have created.  

It may take an hour or more for the new Custom URL to work. This is dependent on how quickly the new subdomain is verified and how quickly details are confirmed to the MyPhotoApp server. 

Finally, if you haven't already done so, create an app for your website or master business App and call it index.  This will be displayed whenever anyone enters your custom URL in a browser just like a traditional webpage.