Benton Drones logo Benton Drones

Domain & DNS Setup Plan

Benton Drones lead ingest MVP: Shopify-friendly public signup, owned backend data, protected admin, exports, and a clear path to production.

Recommended Domain Architecture

Keep Namecheap as the registrar, move authoritative DNS to Cloudflare, keep Google Workspace for email, keep Shopify as the storefront, and host the lead ingest backend at leads.bentondrones.com.

ServiceRecommended roleStatus
NamecheapDomain registrar onlyKeep
CloudflareAuthoritative DNS, TLS/security/CDN optionsSet up
Google WorkspaceEmail for @bentondrones.comPreserve
ShopifyMain storefront at bentondrones.comPreserve
Lead backendOwned app at leads.bentondrones.comDeploy next

Launch Subdomains

SubdomainPurposeWhen
leads.bentondrones.comSignup, admin login, exportsNow
staging.bentondrones.comPre-production testingSoon
admin.bentondrones.comDedicated admin UILater
api.bentondrones.comDedicated APILater

Preflight Checklist

Namecheap

  • Screenshot current nameservers
  • Screenshot all DNS records
  • Check advanced DNS and email sections
  • Record current A and CNAME values

Google Workspace

  • Confirm MX records
  • Confirm SPF
  • Generate/confirm DKIM
  • Add DMARC in monitor mode
  • Test send/receive before cutover

Shopify

  • Confirm required A/CNAME
  • Check domain health
  • Check SSL status
  • Keep Shopify records DNS-only initially

Cloudflare

  • Add site
  • Verify imported records
  • Add missing MX/TXT
  • Add leads record after backend host exists
  • Only then change Namecheap nameservers

Initial DNS Template

A     @       VERIFY_SHOPIFY_OR_CURRENT_IP       DNS only
CNAME www     VERIFY_SHOPIFY_TARGET              DNS only
CNAME leads   VERIFY_BACKEND_HOST_TARGET         DNS only

MX    @       VERIFY_GOOGLE_MX
TXT   @       v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all
TXT   google._domainkey  VERIFY_FROM_GOOGLE_ADMIN
TXT   _dmarc  v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:admin@bentondrones.com; adkim=s; aspf=s

Brand/Design Preflight

No Benton Drones logo/theme files are currently in this repo. Before final styling, capture the current Shopify design system:

View Roadmap View Shopify Preview