Open Arms

Internal Document

Launch day plan for Orbis + Open Arms — password-protected.

Back to site
Launch Day

Launch Day Steps

Every step required, in order, to flip the site from its current preview URL (openarmsak.netlify.app) over to a public custom domain. Each step is tagged with an owner so it's clear who is doing what.

Document owner: Orbis (Gary) Currently live at: openarmsak.netlify.app
Orbis  = Gary at Orbis Design Open Arms  = Lori, Tina, or staff Joint  = both teams collaborate

Quick orientation for Open Arms (Lori, Tina) — read this first

You only handle two of the nine steps below: Step 3 (updating DNS at your domain registrar) and Step 9 (adding our notification senders to your safe-senders list so emails don't get spam-filtered). Both are highlighted in green and marked with a green-numbered circle so they're easy to find.

Everything else on this page is Orbis's job — you don't need to read or do anything for those steps. They're listed so you can see the full picture and know what's happening behind the scenes.

Important: if anything is unclear or doesn't match what you're seeing on your screen, screenshot it and email Gary at gary.ricke@orbisdesign.com — don't guess. DNS mistakes can knock out your domain's email at the same time, so we'd much rather lose 30 minutes to a question than half a day to a fix.

Pick a low-traffic morning — Tuesday or Wednesday is ideal. DNS propagation runs in the background and can take up to 24 hours, so plan around that. Avoid Friday afternoons.

1
Orbis

Remove password gates from public pages

Strip the gate from index.html, employment.html, and waitlist.html. Keep the gate on status.html, admin-video-interview-guide.html, and launch.html (this page) — those stay admin-only. Commit + push. Netlify auto-deploys within 1–2 minutes.

2
Orbis

Add custom domain in Netlify

Netlify dashboard → Domains → Add custom domain → enter target domain (e.g., openarmsfairbanks.org). Add www.openarmsfairbanks.org as an alias in the same step. Netlify will display the exact DNS records that need to be set at the registrar.

3
Open Arms — your action

Update DNS at your domain registrar

What this is, in plain English When someone types your website address into a browser, their computer first asks "where does this address actually live?" That lookup happens at your domain registrar (the company you bought the domain name from). Right now your domain points nowhere; we need to update its DNS settings to point at our website on Netlify.
Before you start — find your registrar
  1. Your registrar is whoever you bought the domain from. Most likely GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace, Google Domains (now Squarespace), or Network Solutions.
  2. If you're not sure, search your email inbox for "domain renewal" or "invoice" — the receipt will tell you the registrar's name.
  3. Make sure you have the login credentials for that account before you start.
The exact records to enter

Add these two records. Gary will confirm the exact values the morning of launch — Netlify also displays them in the dashboard during step 2 — but as of now (the IP has been stable for years) the values are:

TypeHost / NameValue / Points ToTTL
A @  (or leave blank, or your domain name — depends on registrar) 75.2.60.5 Auto / 3600
CNAME www openarmsak.netlify.app Auto / 3600
Step-by-step — at the registrar
  1. Log in to your registrar.
  2. Find your domain in the list of domains you own and click Manage (or DNS, or DNS Settings).
  3. Look for a section called DNS Records, Manage DNS, or Zone Editor. (It might be hidden under an Advanced tab.) Do not touch the Nameservers section — that's a different setting and changing it would break things.
  4. Add the A record using the row from the table above. The registrar will prompt you for "Type" (choose A), "Host" or "Name" (enter @ or leave blank — varies by registrar), and "Value" or "Points To" (enter 75.2.60.5).
  5. Add the CNAME record using the second row from the table. "Type" = CNAME, "Host"/"Name" = www, "Value"/"Points To" = openarmsak.netlify.app.
  6. Delete any existing record that conflicts — i.e., any other A record on @, or any other CNAME on www. The registrar will usually warn you if there's a conflict. Don't delete MX records — those are for your email and are unrelated to the website.
  7. Click Save (sometimes labeled Apply, Update, or Confirm).
What success looks like
  1. The DNS records list now shows your two new entries (A on @ and CNAME on www).
  2. The registrar may display a message like "It can take up to 48 hours for changes to take effect." That's normal worst-case wording — in practice, propagation is usually 15 minutes to 4 hours.
  3. Reply to Gary's launch-day email letting him know you've saved the records. He'll watch the propagation and confirm when the site is live on the new domain.
If something doesn't look right Don't guess. Take a screenshot of whatever screen you're stuck on and email it to Gary at gary.ricke@orbisdesign.com. DNS mistakes can interrupt email service to anyone using @yourdomain.org addresses, so the cost of a wrong click is much higher than the cost of a 5-minute pause to ask.
4
Orbis

Verify SSL certificate provisioned

Once DNS resolves, Netlify auto-provisions a free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate (usually within 5 min of DNS hitting). Verify https://openarmsfairbanks.org loads with a valid cert and that http:// auto-redirects to https://.

5
Orbis

Set canonical domain (apex vs. www)

In Netlify: Domain settings → set the primary domain to either openarmsfairbanks.org (apex) or www.openarmsfairbanks.org. The other one auto-redirects. Apex is the modern default; recommend that unless Open Arms already advertises a www version anywhere.

6
Orbis

Swap EmailJS allowed origin

EmailJS dashboard → Account → General → Domains → remove openarmsak.netlify.app, add the new domain. Save. The free tier allows 1 origin, so this is a replace, not an add. No code change required — credentials stay the same. (Documented in docs/EMAILJS.md.)

7
Orbis

Configure Netlify form-notification recipients

Netlify dashboard → Forms → for each form (enrollment, employment-application, waitlist, proposal-acceptance): Settings → Form notifications → Add email notification → enter the recipient address(es) Open Arms designated for that form.

8
Joint

End-to-end test on the live domain

Submit one real test through every form and confirm the notification lands in the right inbox. Orbis runs the submissions; Open Arms confirms receipt:

  • Enrollment Inquiry on landing page → check designated inbox
  • Employment Application (full multi-step form) → check designated inbox
  • Waitlist Application → check designated inbox
  • Staff Message (click any staff card → send) → check that staffer's inbox
  • Calendar Print/Save PDF → confirm clean output
  • Mobile spot-check on a real phone (not just a desktop simulator)
9
Open Arms — your action

Add Netlify + EmailJS to your safe-senders list

Why this matters When a parent fills out a form on the new website, the site sends a notification to the inbox(es) you designated in step 7 (likely frontdesk@ plus Lori or Tina). The first time these notifications arrive, your email service may flag them as spam because the sender is unfamiliar. Adding the senders to a safe list now prevents that — so you don't miss a real enrollment inquiry because it got buried in junk mail.
Senders to allow (add all three)
  1. team@netlify.com  — sends notifications for the Enrollment, Employment, and Waitlist forms
  2. noreply@netlify.com  — Netlify's secondary notification address, included for safety
  3. noreply@emailjs.com  — sends notifications when a parent uses a staff "Message" button on the staff page
How to add them — pick the email service your inbox uses

Repeat this for every recipient inbox from step 7. If multiple staff are receiving notifications (e.g. Lori + Tina + frontdesk), each person needs to do this on their own inbox.

Gmail / Google Workspace
  1. Open Gmail. Click the gear icon (top-right) → "See all settings".
  2. Click the "Filters and Blocked Addresses" tab.
  3. Click "Create a new filter".
  4. In the From field, paste team@netlify.com → click "Create filter".
  5. On the next screen, check "Never send it to Spam" and "Always mark it as important" → click "Create filter".
  6. Repeat for noreply@netlify.com and noreply@emailjs.com (one filter per address).
Outlook / Microsoft 365 / Hotmail
  1. Click the gear icon (top-right) → "View all Outlook settings".
  2. Go to Mail → Junk email.
  3. Under "Safe senders and domains", click "Add".
  4. Enter team@netlify.com and press Enter.
  5. Repeat for noreply@netlify.com and noreply@emailjs.com.
  6. Click Save.
Apple Mail / iCloud Mail
  1. Open the Contacts app on the Mac (or Contacts on iCloud.com).
  2. Add a contact for each sender — name doesn't matter; just enter team@netlify.com as the email. Apple Mail trusts senders that exist in Contacts.
  3. Repeat for noreply@netlify.com and noreply@emailjs.com.
  4. If a notification still ends up in Junk after step 8's test, find it, right-click → "Move to Inbox", then right-click the sender → "Add Sender to Address Book" if not already there.
Test it
  1. Once Gary confirms the test submissions in step 8 are sent, check the inbox(es) for those test emails.
  2. If the test emails are in the Inbox — you're done.
  3. If they're in Spam / Junk — open them and click "Not spam" (or "Mark as not junk") to retrain the filter, then double-check the safe-sender entries above.
If you can't find a setting Email Gary at gary.ricke@orbisdesign.com with the name of your email service (Gmail, Outlook, etc.) and a screenshot of where you're stuck. He'll send you the exact path for that service.

Orbis Design · Gary Ricke · gary.ricke@orbisdesign.com

Questions or changes to this plan — just reply to the email it was shared in.