Customizing Freshdesk URL - Checks, impacts, and reconfigurations post change

Note: If you are on Customer Service Suite, you can customize the portal domain from the Portal Settings page. For details, check this article.

When you sign up for a standalone Freshdesk account, you will be provided a Freshdesk URL address or subdomain that your admins and agents will use to log in to your Freshdesk account. Your customers will also use this URL to access your self-service portal. E.g., acmesupport.freshdesk.com

Here’s a list of significant considerations and updates you need to make when changing the default Freshdesk URL.

• Important considerations before changing the URL
• Steps to customize the default URL
• Impacts of URL change
• Steps to perform post URL update

Important considerations before changing the URL.
Before you rename your helpdesk URL, consider changing your portal URL instead. This enables you to change the URL your customers see when accessing your help desk without changing the address of your agent interface or Freshdesk account. 

If you wish to change this default Freshdesk URL, here are some important considerations before proceeding with the change:

1. Renaming your subdomain takes effect immediately. We recommend changing the URL during low-volume hours or non-business hours to reconfigure few functionalities post-change.
   
   

2. URL naming conventions: 
   The new URL should,

   1. be unique and not already exist in the web domain.

   2. only contain alphabets and numbers.

   3. not contain a space or special characters except a hyphen (-).

   4. be longer than 3 characters.
      
      

3. Make sure to add the CNAME for the new custom URL as a record in your DNS provider (like godaddy, namecheap, etc.)

Steps to customize the default URL

With Freshdesk, you can change your helpdesk URL twice.

1. Change default URL at the time of account creation.

2. Change default URL through Admin settings
   
   

Change default URL at the time of account creation.
When you sign up for a Freshdesk account, you can customize your URL by changing the autogenerated URL.

Here, freshworks4360.freshdesk.com is an auto-generated URL. You can change this to suit your brand, that your team and customers can easily remember. For example, acmesupport.freshdesk.com. 

Change default URL through Admin settings

If you wish to change your URL after signing up, you can change it from your Admin Settings by following the below steps.

1. Navigate to Admin from the menu.

2. Select Account and click on the Helpdesk Settings option.

3. Under the Helpdesk page, click on Edit next to the Helpdesk URL field.

4. A warning banner will display the message "Helpdesk URL can only be changed once."

5. Provide your new helpdesk address in the text box per the naming conventions. 

6. Click Save.
   
   

Impacts of URL change

The impacts of updating the default URL are as follows,

1. Agent relogin - Once you change the default URL, all the logged-in agents will receive an error message "We couldn't find the URL." They must use the updated URL to login again.

2. In-line image break - The inline images will break for existing tickets in your helpdesk; however, this is not the case for new tickets after the URL change. 

3. Invalid ticket URL - All ticket URLs used to check the ticket status in your replies, email notifications, etc. before the URL change will now be invalid. When you try to access such URLs, an error message, "We couldn't find that helpdesk," will be displayed.

4. Invalid Knowledge base links - The links to solution articles and Forums sent to customers before the URL change will also be invalid. You must provide the updated link for such artifacts to your customers post the URL change.
   
   

Steps to perform post URL update

Here is the list of steps you need to perform  after updating your URL,

1. Update “Forwarded to” address - The Freshdesk system will automatically update the "Forwarded to" Address under Email settings, post URL change; however, the Admin must manually copy and re-configure the updated "Forwarded to "address in the support mailbox for a seamless email to ticket conversion. 

2. Reauthorize custom mailbox - If you are using a custom mailbox, the Admin has to manually reauthorize the mailboxes within Freshdesk to avoid disconnection.
   

3. Reconfigure webhooks in automations - If you use webhook triggers in automation, you must update the callback URL in the respective automation rule to avoid webhook failures.
   
   
   
   

4. Update feedback widget code - You must update the feedback widget code placed on any website or business application after changing the helpdesk URL.
   
   
   

5. Change URL for accounts integrated with Freshcaller - If you have integrated Freshdesk Messaging and Freshcaller, then you need to update the new URL in the integration. This also applies to any 3rd Party application integration that requires a Freshdesk URL or domain at the time of integration. (For Eg, Freshdesk - SugarCRM Integration).
   
   Please reach out to support@freshdesk.com if you require further assistance in customizing your helpdesk URL.