Branded website on your domain

Example: Cherokee Landing

• Guest brand site: cherokeelanding.net (or www.cherokeelanding.net). Guests see Cherokee Landing logo, colors, about, and stays.
• Same listings on the marketplace: Guests can also find those stays on Find a Place under Yall Come Back discovery. Each listing still shows the host.
• Host work happens here: Sign in at yallcomeback.app → Admin. Edit listings, calendar, brand, and messages in one place. The public brand domain only shows the guest site.

Three different host paths

Choose one path. Do not mix the names — they are different products. Prices are per published listing per month. There is no cut of each booking.

• 1 · Marketplace only — $5 / listing / month — Publish listings on Find a Place. You do not need a custom domain. Guests book through the shared marketplace. Use this path if you do not keep a separate brand website.
• 2 · Branded website — $15 / listing / month — Yall Come Back hosts a site that looks like your brand. Point your domain with DNS. This plan includes marketplace listing for the same stays — you do not pay $5 again on top. Guests can book on your domain or on Find a Place.
• 3 · Free self-host / open source — $0 platform fee — You run the MIT code on your own servers (or free self-host mode). Different setup. See Free self-host website.

Example: three published stays on the branded plan cost $45 / month total ($15 × 3). The same three stays on marketplace only cost $15 / month ($5 × 3).

What guests see vs what you use

• Guests on your domain — Your logo, colors, about, services, contact, and stays. The site feels like your business. The booking flow still runs on Yall Come Back infrastructure.
• Guests on the marketplace — On the branded plan, marketplace listing is included for those same stays. Guests can find you on Find a Place without a second fee. You can still hide a stay from the marketplace in Admin if you need to.
• You (the host) — Always manage on yallcomeback.app under Admin (Brand, Properties, Bookings, Messages, Earnings). You do not edit a separate WordPress site.

Before you change DNS

• Finish brand setup: logo, colors, about, contact, and at least one published listing.
• Preview the site under /h/[your-slug] on yallcomeback.app (Demo publish). Fix content before cutover.
• Keep your old website online until the new site looks correct.

Step-by-step: point your domain

1. Save the domain in Brand

Saving Brand does not move your old website or change DNS. It only tells Yall Come Back which brand owns the hostname.

• Open Admin → Brand & website.
• Set Domain name to connect to the bare hostname only (example: cherokeelanding.net). Do not add https://.
• Keep publish on Demo while you test. Switch to Live only after SSL and DNS work.
• Select Save brand. Guests still use your old site and the /h/[your-slug] preview until steps 2 and 3 are done.

2. Platform enables the domain for SSL

When you save your domain in Brand, Yall Come Back usually registers www for HTTPS automatically and shows the DNS values on that same page. Ops also receives an inbox alert. Pointing DNS alone is not enough — the platform must know the hostname first.

3. Update DNS at your registrar

Log in where you bought the domain. Use the exact CNAME and TXT values shown under Brand → Domain (not a guess).

• Add a CNAME for www that points to the target on the Brand page.
• Add the TXT verify record if Brand shows one.
• Optional: forward the apex (example: cherokeelanding.net) to https://www.cherokeelanding.net with a 301 redirect. Many registrars cannot use CNAME on the apex.
• Remove old A or CNAME records that still point at your previous website host.

4. Verify

• Wait for DNS to update (often minutes; sometimes up to 24–48 hours).
• Open https://www.your-domain.com. You should see your brand site, not the Yall Come Back marketplace home.
• Until DNS is ready, keep using the Demo preview under /h/[your-slug].

Who does each DNS step

• Host (or your web person) — Save the domain in Brand. Edit DNS at the registrar when Ops sends the CNAME and TXT values.
• Yall Come Back Ops — Receives a Messages alert when you save a domain. Steps in only if auto-provision fails.

Do not invent DNS targets. Always paste the CNAME and TXT values from Brand. Do not point your domain at www.yallcomeback.app unless Brand shows that as the target.

After go-live

• Edit brand and listings only in Admin on yallcomeback.app. Changes show on your domain after save and publish.
• Marketplace listing is included in the branded plan. Keep list on marketplace on for stays you want on Find a Place (default for most hosts).
• Guests who book on your domain still create bookings in your Admin inbox and calendar.