Customizing your portal brand

Your help center is often the first place customers go for answers, so it should feel like a natural extension of your brand. Deskwoot's portal branding options let you align the look, feel, and URL of your help center with the rest of your online presence. Below you'll find step-by-step guidance on customizing your brand color, setting up a custom domain (Enterprise only), removing the "Powered by Deskwoot" footer, and tips to get the best results.

Brand color

Set a primary color that matches your brand. This color is used for links, buttons, and accent elements throughout your help center portal.

How to set your brand color

Navigate to your Portal Settings in the Deskwoot dashboard.
Locate the Brand Color field.
Enter your brand's hex color code (e.g., #1A73E8) or use the color picker to select the desired shade.
Preview the changes to make sure links, buttons, and accent elements look consistent.
Save your settings.

Best practices for brand color

Contrast matters: Choose a color that provides sufficient contrast against white or light backgrounds so links and buttons remain easy to read and click.
Stay consistent: Use the same hex value you use on your website and other customer-facing assets for a unified experience.
Test on mobile: Colors can render slightly differently on various screens, so preview your portal on both desktop and mobile devices.

Custom domain (Enterprise)

By default, your help center is hosted on a Deskwoot subdomain like acme.deskwoot.com. On the Enterprise plan you can map a domain you own, for example help.yourcompany.com, and Deskwoot provisions a free SSL certificate via Let's Encrypt automatically.

How to map a custom domain

Open Help Center → Settings for the portal you want to map.
Scroll to the Custom domain section, type the domain you want to use (e.g. help.yourcompany.com), and click Register.
Deskwoot returns two CNAME records. Copy them into your DNS provider exactly as shown.
- A main CNAME on your full hostname (this routes traffic to Deskwoot).
- A second CNAME on _acme-challenge.<your-hostname> (this lets Let's Encrypt issue the SSL certificate). Some DNS providers also accept this as a TXT record.
The status badge in Help Center settings updates automatically as DNS propagates and the certificate is issued: Waiting for DNS → Issuing SSL → Live.

You do not need to copy the DNS target from anywhere else, Deskwoot generates fresh values for your specific domain at registration time. If you make a typo, click Remove in the same panel and start over.

Troubleshooting custom domains

Stuck on "Waiting for DNS": Double-check both CNAME records were added exactly as shown, and that there is no conflicting A record on the same hostname. Use dig CNAME help.yourcompany.com or an online DNS checker to verify both records have propagated.
"Issuing SSL" longer than a few minutes: Once DNS is propagated, Let's Encrypt usually completes in under a minute. If it stays stuck, the most common cause is the _acme-challenge record being missing or pointing to the wrong target.
Removing the domain: Click Remove in the same panel. This unregisters the domain on the routing layer and clears all stored DNS targets. The deskwoot.com subdomain keeps working in parallel the entire time.

White-label: remove "Powered by Deskwoot" (Enterprise)

By default, every public help center page shows a small footer that reads "YourPortalName is a Help Center · Powered by Deskwoot". This footer keeps your branding clear on free and paid plans alike.

On the Enterprise plan you can hide the footer entirely so the help center looks fully white-labeled.

Open Help Center → Settings for the portal.
Scroll to the White-label section and toggle Hide "Powered by Deskwoot" footer.
The change applies instantly to the public help center.

The toggle is locked on Hacker, Startup, and Business plans. Lower plans see the same toggle in the UI but with a lock badge and a link to upgrade.

Tips for a polished help center

Keep your branding minimal and clean. A consistent color and a recognizable domain go a long way in building customer trust.
Revisit your portal settings whenever you refresh your brand identity so everything stays in sync.
If you operate multiple brands, create one portal per brand (each with its own slug, domain, and color) rather than mixing them in one portal.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a root domain like yourcompany.com instead of a subdomain?

CNAME records cannot be set on a root domain at most DNS providers. We recommend a subdomain such as help, support, or docs. Some providers offer "CNAME flattening" or "ALIAS" records that work on the apex, but they are vendor specific and not formally supported.

Will changing the brand color affect the live chat widget as well?

No. The brand color in portal settings applies only to the help center. The live chat widget has its own appearance settings under Inbox → Widget.

How long does DNS take to propagate?

Most providers update within a few minutes. Worst case is around 30 minutes for the records to be visible to Let's Encrypt and the routing layer. We poll the records every few seconds and update the status badge automatically.

What happens if I cancel my Enterprise plan?

Custom domain and white-label are Enterprise-only features. If you downgrade, the white-label toggle reverts to off (the "Powered by Deskwoot" footer reappears) and the custom domain stays mapped for the remainder of the current billing period before unbinding.