Contents
How to Publish
Customizing Your URL
Facebook Integrations
Your Campaign URL/Managing Your Publications
Overview
Publishing a campaign is the process of taking the campaign you've built in ShortStack and putting it on the web where people can view it. There are a couple of types of publications: publishing to a landing page we host for you, and embedding your campaign on your website (or as a pop-up on your website). No matter which type you choose, you can have as many different publications of your campaign as you need.
In this help doc, we'll walk you through publishing your campaign as a landing page we host for you. For more information on the other publication types, check out these help docs:
Embedding a Campaign
Embed Your Campaign as a Pop-Up on Your Website
How to Embed to Squarespace, WordPress, Shopify, or Wix
How to Publish
We've tried to make publishing as easy as possible on ShortStack. To start, click on the blue Publish Campaign button in the top-right corner of your Campaign Builder.
Before proceeding, you will see a Campaign Recommendations checklist; the checklist aims to help you make sure your campaign is as complete as possible. This step is optional, but we do highly recommend taking a look at any areas that might need attention. Once you're done, click the blue Next button.
Note: If you're a pro at building campaigns and no longer need to view the checklist when publishing, simply check the Skip These Recommendations in the Future box in the bottom-left before clicking Next.
After that, you will be presented with two publication options: Embedded on Website or Landing Page. Click Landing Page to proceed.
Customizing Your URL
You'll now be given access to your campaign's URL, so that you can change the subdomain (Business Plan or higher) or domain (Agency Plan or higher). This is an optional step; if you're happy with the URL, just click the blue Publish button at the bottom.
Subdomain
To change the subdomain, click on the subdomain shown in the URL (in this example, the m) and you'll see a Subdomain field appear. Enter your custom subdomain--you'll see the displayed domain change right with it--and click the blue checkmark when you're finished.
Custom Domain
If you plan on using a custom domain for your campaign, you will start by clicking the displayed domain - which will open a dropdown with some options.
Using A ShortStack Domain
If you'd like to use one of our domains, your steps forward are simple! Click on the domain you'd like to use from the dropdown.
You'll then see the displayed URL change to reflect your choice. From there, simply click the blue Publish button in the bottom-right to finish publishing your campaign.
Using Your Own Domain
Note: Before going through this process, you will need to make sure that your domain is properly set up first. Instructions on how to set everything up can be found in our Custom Domains, Subdomains, and Subfolders for Campaigns help doc.
To use your own domain, click on the displayed domain, then select Add Custom Domain from the dropdown.
When you've done so, you'll see a new field pop in below the display URL. Add your domain into this new field, then click the Save button.
When you add the domain, our system will automatically run a verification process to ensure the domain is legitimate and set up correctly. If the system has an issue verifying the domain, you'll see a message like this:
If you know everything is set up correctly, you can click the verify DNS settings link to have the system check it again. If there are problems (or if the server just needs a bit more time to reflect your changes) you'll see an error message like this:
Once you've selected your domain and the domain has been verified, it'll appear in the display field. If you want to add a custom path, click on the area in the display URL where a path would go, and a Custom Path field will pop in. Add your custom path and click the blue checkmark to confirm.
Note: The site will check in real-time to ensure your chosen URL is available; this information is listed below the Custom Path field.
If you're not using any Facebook Integrations--all that's left is to click the blue Publish button in the bottom-right to publish your campaign to the chosen domain.
Facebook Integrations
If you're using Facebook Login for either your Form Widget or Entry Display Widget (for voting), your campaign's visitors will get a Facebook Login prompt at some point. After setting up the domain/URL, the following section allows you to choose which of your FB apps to use for that prompt.
Once you've provided your App ID and App Secret, click Next. If you haven't made your FB app live, the next step will walk you through exactly how to do that.
You can see a walkthrough of these Facebook steps in our video for How to Publish Using Facebook Integrations.
Your Campaign URL and Managing Your Publications
Once you've hit publish, you'll soon see a congratulations message letting you know your campaign has been published. You'll also see the URL to your campaign and a QR code that lets you quickly access your campaign using your mobile device.
To copy your URL, just click the Copy button to the right of the URL. Paste the URL on whatever channels you typically use to promote your campaign.
When you're done, click the Close button.
From here, you may want to manage an existing publication or make another publication of the same campaign. To do this, first click on your new Publication Panel icon in the top-right of your Campaign Builder. It looks like a little bookmark icon with the number of publications listed to the right of it.
Now you'll see the Manage Publications panel. 
For each publication, you'll see the following information and options:
- The title of the campaign
- The URL for the campaign
- The last time the campaign was installed or updated
- The QR code for the campaign
- A Settings button for the campaign
- The Unpublish button for the campaign
Clicking the Settings button will bring up a pop-up that allows you to change the title and the subdomain of the selected campaign.
To make changes, type the new Title or Subdomain into the appropriate field, then click the Save button.
Clicking on the Unpublish button will immediately remove that publication from being live on the web. This does not delete your campaign, it merely removes that specific publication.
To add a new publication, click the Add Publication button at the bottom of the Manage Publications Panel to start the process again.
