If you are setting up a custom domain, your Domain Name System (DNS) will point your community hostname (e.g., community.yourdomain.com) to our platform via Cloudflare.
However, if your domain is in a Cloudflare Zone Hold state, Cloudflare might block the provisioning/serving of the hostname; this can delay the cutover and cause errors that are impossible for the Vanilla team to bypass.
A Zone Hold is a Cloudflare account/zone status that only your Cloudflare/domain administrators can see and resolve.
- A Zone Hold can prevent Cloudflare from activating your custom hostname even if DNS records look correct. Verify this up front to avoid cutover delays.
Who should perform this check
If you encounter this issue and suspect a Zone Hold, you should route the issue to the team or vendor that owns your domain's DNS and/or Cloudflare account. This is typically:
- Network / Infrastructure / IT Operations
- Web Platform / SRE
- Security team
- Your managed DNS/Cloudflare vendor or agency
What to check
First, confirm whether your domain is managed in Cloudflare.
- If your authoritative nameservers are Cloudflare (*.ns.cloudflare.com), your domain is managed in Cloudflare.
- If you don’t use Cloudflare for DNS, you might still have a Cloudflare account/zone for the domain; an Admin should confirm this.
Release a Zone Hold
If it's determined that you use Cloudflare for DNS or Zone Management and that there is a Zone Hold, it must be temporarily released in order to allow another team to register a subdomain in a separate Cloudflare account.
NOTE: This has to be done during the custom domain update on the Vanilla community.
To do so:
- 1. Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard.
- 2. Select your account and zone.
- 3. On the zone homepage, go to Quick Actions.
- 4. Toggle Zone Hold to Off.
- 5. Choose the duration of your temporary release.