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Setting up the URL for your engagement platform

Nola Moreau avatar
Written by Nola Moreau
Updated this week

If you’re getting ready to launch your participation platform, you’re probably thinking about what web address you want to use. The web address, also commonly referred to as a URL, is the link that you’ll send to people to join and participate on your platform, so it’s important to choose one that’s easy to understand and remember.

When setting up your participation platform, you have three choices:

  1. Use the Go Vocal web address (Recommended for Quick Setup)

    • Format: yourname.govocal.com

    • Examples:
      hello.govocal.com
      cityname.govocal.com

    • Pros:
      Easiest out-of-the-box solution
      No additional configuration needed

    • How it works:
      You choose what goes before ".govocal.com"
      Go Vocal handles the rest

All participation platforms come by default with a govocal.com web address.

2. Use a sub-domain of your organisation’s website for your participation platform (Recommended for Brand Recognition)

  • Format: subdomain.yourwebsite.com

  • Examples:

    • participate.cityname.gov

    • engage.cityname.gov

  • What is a subdomain?

    • It's the part that comes before your main domain

    • In the example, "participate.cityname.gov", "participate" is the subdomain

  • Pros:

    • Consistent branding with your main website

    • Shows the platform is part of your organization

  • Important to note:

    • Your participation platform will still be a separate website from your main site, even though they share a domain

    • This option requires more technical setup

3. Use a root domain of your own choosing (Advanced option)

  • Format: yourcustomdomain.com

  • Example: participatecityname.com

  • Pros:

    • Complete control over your web address

    • Ideal for unique branding

  • Note: This option requires more technical setup. You’ll need to register the domain name that you’d like to use (there are a number of websites that help you check if the web address you want is still available or is already in use) and we can help you get it set up.

Choose the option that best fits your organization's needs and technical capabilities.


Setting up a sub-domain or root domain*

*Please, involve your technical team in this step.

If you want to set up a non-Go Vocal web address, there are a couple of steps that you'll need to go through to set it up. This process requires a bit of coordination between your technical team and us, and can take up to 10 days, so do plan ahead!

STEP 1: Register your sub-domain or root domain

Once you have registered your sub-domain/domain please communicate to the support team what your chosen sub-domain/domain is and continue to step 2.

STEP 2: Link your sub-domain or domain to Go Vocal servers

You can choose if you prefer to link using NS records or CNAME records in your DNS management.

NS records are the preferred method for when you are using a sib-domain or root domain. It is much faster and easier to set up. This gives us full access to the domain at the name server level to make sure that we can offer your platform under an encrypted SSL connection (and thus protect your platform data). Also in the future NS records give us flexibility and control to install different settings for you more easily (such as custom email address, and www. redirects). However for security reasons or due to limitations of the DNS management system you are using you may need to use the CNAME method instead.

NS Method

Add the following name servers as DNS NS record(s) in your DNS management system. Please, note we used to be called CitizenLab, so the below name servers are correct:

  • ns1.citizenlab.eu

  • ns2.citizenlab.eu

  • ns3.citizenlab.eu

  • ns4.citizenlab.eu

You can check if the NS records have been successfully added by opening your computer’s terminal (on Mac, or in Windows) and typing the following: dig NS +trace “your new url” (remove the quotations)

Hit ‘enter’, and the 4 NS records should appear in the resulting output. If not, please try again to add the DNS NS records.

CNAME Method

Note: If you're using the CNAME approach to configure your domain, please be aware that many DNS providers do not allow root domains (e.g., yourwebsite.com) to be set as a CNAME record. While there are workarounds—such as using ANAME or ALIAS records—these are not universally supported and can introduce complexity. For this reason, we recommend using CNAMEs only with a subdomain (e.g., subdomain.yourwebsite.com).

If you choose to go with the CNAME method you will need to contact our support team first, we will need to create and send you 2 unique CNAME records to add to your DNS management system.

You can check if the CNAME records have been successfully added by opening your computer’s terminal (on Mac, or in Windows) and typing the following: dig “your new url” (remove the quotations)

STEP 3: Our support team will activate the new domain

Once you've added the records of your choice and they are propagating well our support team will activate the new domain on our side. Once we have activated it on our side, you will be able to use and communicate the new URL!

STEP 4: Optional redirects

From old.govocal.com to your new domain/sub-domain

If you have already communicated your old.govocal.com URL and need a redirect to your new domain/sub-domain we can set this redirect up for you. You need to let our support team know to add this.

From custom domain to new custom domain

If you want a redirect from a domain that is own to a new domain which you also own you will need to set up the redirect yourself. Our support team can also help guide you or set up this redirect for you but at a cost.

WWW. redirects

As www. is an old internet format, we do not support this format, we instead support HTTPS. However, if you wish to have a www. redirect it is automatically integrated within an NS set up but with CNAME you have contact our support team to ask for this set up.

Configuring a FROM email address:

When notifications are being sent from the platform, by default these emails will be sent from: notifications@mail-eu.citizenlab.co. However, you can configure this to a different address if wanted.

Important remarks on configuring a FROM email address:

  • You can't pick an email domain that is already being used for emails - no active mailbox can exist for the email domain - it needs to be unique. as this configuration would conflict with the your existing email server configuration.

The email domain that you can choose depends on wether you have set up your platform with CNAME or NS records:

  • With NS: it's best to use the same domain for the emails as the one we're using for the platform itself. For example: notification@participation.city.com if the platform lives at https://participation.city.com.

  • With CNAME: you cannot use the same domain for the emails as the one we're using for the platform itself due to conflicting records. You will need to choose a different subdomain. For example: notification@mail.participation.city.com if the platform lives at https://participation.city.com.

Our support team can finalize this configuration for you, once you have decided on an email address you want to configure as a from email, you can send it to us on:

FAQs:

Can I use multiple domain names (for example, one for each project)?

A platform can only be linked to a single domain. If you really need to have multiple domains, you could create the domain and then set up a HTTP redirect to the platform URL (contact support@govocal.com to create this redirect).

How do I add NS DNS records?

Typically, they can be found in the online admin panel of your DNS management system, where the domain names are controlled. If possible, we’d advise asking your internal technical support to help set up the records.

My DNS management interface only lets me add 2 name servers, is that a problem?

Add as many name servers as your DNS management systems allows you to and we’ll take a look to make sure it’s ok.

Why can't I use a A record instead of NS records?

Our platform is served through a CDN (content delivery network) with many different local data centers to deliver a fast response time. This implies that there are multiple, changing IP addresses. Unfortunately, as a consequence, the use of an A record is not an option. Instead, we use NS records for our (sub)domain names.

Why can't I use a CSR file?

If you are obliged to use a root certificate we can generate a CSR file for you that you can sign. So it is possible, but requires some extra work and time. Let us know if this is necessary to set up the right records in your domain.

Note: Make sure not to externally share the ‘old’ url if you still plan to customize it.

For Dutch client only - What to do when platforms score low on internet.nl?

  • This is a Dutch website testing tool that checks the security standards of websites

  • Government agencies and organizations in the Netherlands often use this tool to verify website security

The Solution:

There are two technical solutions available where we can help improve the score:

  • Using a CNAME record (a type of DNS record that points one domain to another)

  • Enabling HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security - a security feature that enforces secure connections).

  • Contact support and we will be happy to help you implement these solutions to increase your security score




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