Sign-in addresses on your church's own domain

Your staff can sign in at an address on your church’s own domain, such as dash.yourchurch.org, and your members at members.yourchurch.org. HoW’s own addresses keep working beside them, so nobody has to change anything unless they want to.

What it is

Every church already has two HoW addresses: the staff dashboard at dash.how.dcxlogic.com/yourchurch and the member portal at yourchurch.members.how.dcxlogic.com. A sign-in address is a second address for the same place, on your domain. Both open the same church, the same people and the same data.

• Both addresses always work. Whatever address someone typed or bookmarked, HoW’s or yours, they stay on it. HoW never moves anyone from one to the other by itself.
• Bookmarks keep working. Nothing your staff or members saved stops working when you add, or later remove, your own address.

How to add your addresses (the owner)

You need two-step verification on your own login first. If the page says Set up two-step verification to change sign-in addresses, choose Open Security, set it up, and come back.

1. In the staff dashboard, open Settings, then Manage sign-in addresses under Sign-in addresses. Only the church’s owner sees it.
2. Under Add a sign-in address, type your church’s domain, such as yourchurch.org (without www). If your website already has its own domain, it is filled in for you.
3. Tick who signs in there: Staff (dash.yourchurch.org), Members (members.yourchurch.org), or both. Choose Add.
4. Each address shows the record to add: a Type (CNAME), a Name (dash or members) and a Value. Use the Copy buttons.
5. At the company that runs your domain’s DNS (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace, Cloudflare and so on), add that record. If your domain is on Cloudflare, set the record to DNS only (the grey cloud).
6. Come back to the page and wait. Each address moves through these states on its own:
   • Waiting for your DNS record: HoW is looking for the record. It checks for you, usually within a few minutes of your adding it; some DNS companies take up to a day.
   • Issuing the certificate: your record is right and HoW is getting the security certificate.
   • Live: staff (or members) can sign in at your address.
   • Needs attention: the page says what went wrong. Fix the record and choose Check now.
   • Turned off: DCX Logic turned the address off. Contact support@dcxlogic.com.

You can close the page while you wait; it updates on its own. Check now asks HoW to look again straight away. It is there for every address that is not Live or Turned off.

Our preferred address

Our preferred address decides where HoW’s own links take people, such as “Open my member portal” in the staff dashboard and “Open the staff dashboard” in the portal. Choose HoW’s address (the default) or Our own address.

• Our own address can be chosen once one of your addresses is Live. Each link then uses your address for the app that has a live one, and HoW’s address for the other.
• It never moves anyone. Someone who opened HoW’s address stays there, and someone who opened yours stays there. It changes only where HoW’s links point.
• Switching yourself. Once an address is Live, the account menu of each app offers Open at dash.yourchurch.org (or Open at members.yourchurch.org), and on your own address Open at HoW’s address. Each lands on the same page, whatever you chose above.
• Following a link to the other address asks the person to confirm their account there, and staff enter their two-step code there once.
• If your address stops working (for example the DNS record was deleted), HoW’s links go back to HoW’s address by themselves, and the page says “Paused”. They use your address again as soon as it is live.

Removing an address

Choose Remove beside the address and confirm. Anyone signed in there will need to sign in at HoW’s address. If it was your last address, your preferred address goes back to HoW’s. Then delete the CNAME record at your DNS company.

Good to know

• One address each. One staff address (dash.) and one member address (members.) per church. They do not count toward your website’s five domains. Your domain itself (yourchurch.org) cannot be a sign-in address; only dash. and members. in front of it.
• Emailed links open at HoW’s address. The emailed sign-in link and invitations always open at HoW’s address. The person stays there unless they choose to follow a link to yours.
• One sign-in per address. A person who uses both addresses signs in on each, and staff enter their two-step code once on each where your church asks for it.
• If your address breaks. HoW looks again every hour; Check now looks straight away. HoW’s address always works in the meantime.
• Who controls your DNS controls the address. Whoever runs your domain’s DNS decides where dash.yourchurch.org points. Keep that account safe, with two-step verification at your DNS company too.
• It is part of every plan.
• It is recorded. Adding, removing and checking an address, and changing the preferred address, are in your church’s audit log.

What DCX Logic support can do

DCX Logic support can see your addresses and where each one stands, and tell you which record is missing or wrong.

DCX Logic can ask HoW to check an address again, but never while a support session for your church is open. A support session can’t add, remove or check a sign-in address, or change your preferred address; if one tries, the page says so. DCX Logic can turn an address off if it is misused, but can’t remove it. Only your church’s owner, signed in with two-step verification, can add or remove one. Support also can’t change records at your DNS company; only you can.

Coming from Planning Center

Planning Center does not offer your own domain for signing in. Its help says of Church Center: “Every Publishing domain has ‘.churchcenter’ in its URL, which is not customizable.” and “Your own website will allow you to customize your domain.” Staff sign in at Planning Center’s own address. HoW matches it by keeping one HoW address that always works, and adds your own address for staff and members beside it.