Hosted Blog

Can't add a blog to your existing site? Grandranker hosts one for you on your own subdomain (for example blog.yourdomain.com). You point one DNS record at us, and every article you publish goes live automatically with SSL included. There is no code to paste and a theme change on your site can't break it.

How to Connect

Connecting means enabling the hosted blog on your subdomain:

1. In Grandranker, go to Integrations and choose Hosted Blog.
2. Choose your blog subdomain. Enter a subdomain of a domain you own. blog.yourdomain.com is recommended. Click Save subdomain.
3. Add the DNS record. The wizard shows a table with exactly what to enter at your DNS provider: a CNAME record with the Name / Host and Value / Target displayed on screen (both have copy buttons). Choose Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace, Wix, Bluehost, Hostinger, or IONOS for detailed instructions tailored to that provider. Most registrars want just the label (blog), but some want the full name (blog.yourdomain.com). The wizard notes both.
4. On Cloudflare? Open the Cloudflare guide to use automatic or manual setup. For automatic setup, paste an API token with Zone → DNS → Edit permission and click Create record. Grandranker creates the CNAME for you. You only need one of the two methods.
5. Click Verify. The status moves from Not connected through Provisioning DNS + SSL… to Live. SSL is issued automatically once the record resolves.
6. Match your website. In Blog appearance, choose a background color with the picker or enter a six-digit hex color, then click Save appearance. Grandranker automatically adjusts text, cards, links, borders, and code blocks so both light and dark backgrounds stay readable.

When the status shows Live, the wizard links straight to your blog URL.

Hosted blog pages are cached for performance. A saved background color can take up to five minutes to appear on a page you recently opened.

Publishing & Verifying

There is nothing extra to configure for publishing: every article you publish in Grandranker appears on the hosted blog automatically.

To verify:

• Check the status line on the Hosted Blog screen. It should read Live, with your blog URL next to it.
• Open the blog URL and confirm your published articles render there over HTTPS.

If you later disconnect, the subdomain is removed and the blog stops being served. Your articles stay in Grandranker.

Troubleshooting

Status stays on "Provisioning DNS + SSL…"

DNS changes take time to propagate, usually minutes or longer depending on your provider. Confirm the CNAME record exists and its target matches the Value / Target shown in the wizard exactly, then click Verify again.

My registrar rejected the record or created a weird name

Two common mistakes:

• Entering the full hostname where the registrar expects only the label. If you enter blog.yourdomain.com in the Name field at a provider that auto-appends your domain, you end up with blog.yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com. Use just blog there. Other providers do want the full name. The wizard shows both forms.
• Creating an A record instead of a CNAME. It must be a CNAME pointing at the target shown in the wizard.

The Cloudflare automatic setup fails

Check the API token: it needs Zone → DNS → Edit permission for the zone that contains your subdomain. Tokens scoped to a different zone, or with read-only DNS permission, cannot create the record.

Status shows "Setup failed"

Re-check the DNS record against the wizard's values, fix any mismatch, and click Verify to retry. If the record is correct and it still fails, contact support.

Questions? Contact us at [email protected].