Best Practices for Setting Up Custom Domains in Skilljar for Your Training Portal

So you want your training portal to look like it’s really yours—not some off-the-shelf platform with a forgettable address. Smart move. Setting up a custom domain in Skilljar is one of the quickest ways to boost your branding and make your training feel professional. But the process isn’t always as simple as the sales pitch makes it sound. This guide is for folks running customer education or partner enablement programs who want their Skilljar portal to live at a branded URL—without headaches, mistakes, or lost sleep over DNS errors.

Let’s break down what actually matters, what you can skip, and how to get it right the first time.

Why Bother With a Custom Domain?

Before you dive in, let’s be clear: you don’t have to set up a custom domain. Skilljar will happily give you a yourcompany.skilljar.com address. But here’s why most teams do it anyway:

  • Brand consistency: A custom URL looks pro and keeps your learners confident they’re in the right place.
  • Trust: Users are less likely to get confused (or phished) if the portal sits at a familiar domain.
  • Integration: Sometimes Single Sign-On (SSO), analytics, or marketing tools work better (or only work) on your own domain.

If none of that matters for your use case, save yourself the hassle. But for most, it’s worth a few extra steps.

Step 1: Decide on Your Domain Name

Don’t overthink it, but do think ahead. Here are some patterns that work:

  • training.yourcompany.com
  • academy.yourcompany.com
  • learn.yourcompany.com
  • If you have multiple brands or audiences, consider using subdomains like partners.yourcompany.com or customers.yourcompany.com.

Pro tip:
Use a subdomain, not a whole new domain. It’s way easier for IT and you’ll avoid SEO headaches.

What to avoid:
Don’t pick something you’ll regret later (like skilljar.yourcompany.com). And don’t try to set up on your root domain (yourcompany.com)—it’s a mess for everything else you run.

Step 2: Get Buy-In From IT Early

This step gets skipped a lot. Don’t do that.

  • Your IT or DNS admin will need to create CNAME records (more on that soon).
  • If you use SSO, they might need to update trust relationships or redirect settings.
  • If your company has strict domain security (think: enterprise), you’ll want them in the loop ASAP.

Pro tip:
Bring IT in early, not when you’re blocked and frustrated. It’ll save everyone time.

Step 3: Prep Skilljar for a Custom Domain

Inside the Skilljar dashboard, only admins can add custom domains. Here’s how:

  1. Go to the Domains & Publishing section.
  2. Click Add Domain.
  3. Enter your chosen subdomain (e.g., training.yourcompany.com).

Skilljar will spit out a DNS record—usually a CNAME—that you’ll need to add wherever your DNS is managed (GoDaddy, Cloudflare, AWS Route 53, etc.).

What Skilljar actually does: - They’ll use this CNAME to point your subdomain to their hosting. - They’ll handle SSL certificates with Let’s Encrypt (automatic, but only if DNS is set up right).

Step 4: Set Up the DNS Record

Now’s the moment to rope in whoever manages your DNS. Here’s what works:

  1. Create a CNAME record for the subdomain you want (training.yourcompany.com).
  2. Point it to the target Skilljar gives you (looks something like custom-domains.skilljar.com or a unique value).
  3. TTL (time to live) doesn’t matter much—leave it at the default unless IT says otherwise.

What doesn’t work: - You can’t use an A record (IP address) for this. It must be a CNAME. - Don’t try to set up a subfolder (like yourcompany.com/training). Skilljar doesn’t support it and you’ll break your site.

Common gotchas: - DNS changes can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 24 hours to propagate, depending on your provider. - Double-check there’s no typo in the subdomain or target.

Step 5: Confirm SSL and Go Live

Once DNS is set up, Skilljar will automatically provision an SSL certificate for your new domain. You don’t need to buy one or upload anything.

How to check: - Visit your new URL (https://training.yourcompany.com). You shouldn’t see any security warnings. - The address bar should show a padlock. - If you get a certificate error, give it more time (DNS may still be updating). If it persists after a day, open a ticket with Skilljar support.

What NOT to do: - Don’t try to set up your own SSL certificate. Let Skilljar handle it—otherwise, you’ll just create a maintenance headache.

Step 6: Update Your Portal Settings and Branding

Now that your custom domain works, make sure everything in your Skilljar portal reflects your brand:

  • Update email templates and notification settings to match your new URL.
  • Swap out any “skilljar.com” links in your help docs, onboarding flows, or SSO configs.
  • If you use third-party analytics, double-check tracking is still working on the new domain.

Pro tip:
Test the learner experience as if you’re a new user. Sometimes, redirects or login flows break in subtle ways after a domain change.

Step 7: Communicate the Change

Don’t skip this. If learners, admins, or partners are used to the old URL, they’ll get lost.

  • Send a clear, short email about the new address.
  • Update bookmarks, help articles, and internal docs.
  • If you’re using SSO, warn users they might need to log in again.

What to ignore:
You don’t need a huge launch campaign. Just make sure no one is surprised.

What Works, What Doesn’t, and Pitfalls to Avoid

Works well: - Using a subdomain for your portal. It’s the intended design. - Letting Skilljar handle SSL and hosting. Less to maintain. - Bringing IT in early—seriously, this saves so much time.

Doesn’t work: - Fiddling with root domains or complicated redirects. - Trying to host other content (like docs or marketing pages) on the same subdomain. - Overcomplicating with advanced DNS services unless you really need them.

Avoid these pitfalls: - Waiting until launch day to test everything—do it before you announce. - Forgetting about cookies or login flows if you use SSO (sometimes domain changes break things). - Ignoring analytics or third-party tool updates—these often reference the old domain.

Advanced Stuff (Only If You Need It)

Most teams don’t need to mess with this, but here’s what comes up:

  • Custom SSL Certificates:
    Only do this if your security team insists. Skilljar’s auto SSL works for 99% of use cases.

  • Multiple Custom Domains:
    Skilljar lets you set up more than one domain if you have different training portals for brands or regions. Just repeat the steps above.

  • Redirects:
    If you’re moving from another platform or changing URLs, set up 301 redirects so learners don’t land on dead pages. Your IT team or Skilljar support can help.

Keep It Simple and Iterate

Setting up a custom domain in Skilljar isn’t rocket science, but it’s also not “push button, done” like the demos make it look. Pick a clear subdomain, involve IT, follow the steps, and test before you announce anything. If something breaks, don’t panic—most issues are DNS or SSL hiccups that resolve with a little patience.

Don’t get bogged down trying to make it perfect on day one. Launch, see what works, and tweak as you go. That’s how you avoid headaches and get your training portal looking like it belongs.