Custom Club Website Setup and Usage Guide

    Watch: Your club website (0:51)

    ▶ Watch: Your club website (0:51)

    Overview

    The Club Site feature lets your club run its own branded website with a Horsify subdomain (e.g. yourclub.horsify.club) or your own custom domain (e.g. www.yourclub.com.au). You build pages from ready-made content blocks, set up a menu, choose a look, and publish — no coding required. This guide walks through the whole process.

    Table of Contents

    1. Getting Started
    2. Enabling Your Club Site
    3. Managing Pages
    4. Building Pages with Blocks
    5. Building Your Navigation Menu
    6. Choosing Your Look (Theme)
    7. Setting Up a Custom Domain
    8. Publishing Your Site
    9. Best Practices
    10. Troubleshooting

    Getting Started

    Prerequisites

    • A Horsify account with an Organiser, Organiser Admin, or Organiser Contributor role
    • An organisation/club set up in Horsify
    • Administrator access to that organisation — the Club Sites screen lists every organisation you belong to, but the management tools only open for the ones you administer
    • A subscription that includes Club Sites

    What You Can Build

    • A public website for your club with as many pages as you like
    • Upcoming-events listings and a full event calendar pulled from your Horsify events
    • About, contact, membership, gallery, news and results pages
    • Store and booking pages (where those features apply to your club)
    • A branded menu and colour scheme
    • Your own custom domain for a professional address

    Where Everything Lives

    Go to Club Sites from the organiser menu. You'll see a card for each of your organisations; click Manage Club Site on the one you want. (If your club doesn't have a Club Site subscription yet, this is where you'll be shown what's included and can subscribe.)

    That opens the Club Site Management screen, where all of your club-site tools are gathered as cards:

    • Site Settings — enable the site and choose your subdomain
    • Pages — create, edit, publish and order your pages
    • Navigation — build your menu
    • Theme — colours, fonts and logo
    • Custom Domains — use your own web address
    • Communication Settings — email and SMS setup
    • Riding School Landing — the custom landing page for riding schools
    • Facebook — connect your club's Facebook Page (used by the Facebook feed block)

    Each section below tells you which card to open.

    Enabling Your Club Site

    Step 1: Open Site Settings

    From Club Site Management, open the Site Settings card.

    Step 2: Enable the Site and Choose a Subdomain

    1. Tick Enable Club Site.
    2. Enter a Site Slug — this becomes your subdomain. For example, a slug of myclub gives you myclub.horsify.club.
      • Use lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only (3–50 characters).
      • It must be unique across all Horsify clubs.
    3. As you type, the page shows the address your site will use.

    Step 3: Save

    Click Save settings. Once the site is enabled and a slug is saved, you'll see a View Site link, and the other tools (Pages, Navigation, Theme, Custom Domains) are available from Club Site Management.

    Managing Pages

    Watch: Building your club site pages (1:29)

    ▶ Watch: Building your club site pages (1:29)

    Open the Pages card to see all of your site's pages.

    Creating a New Page

    1. Click Create Page. A template picker appears.
    2. Choose a starting template. The full set is Home Page, Club Landing (Pro) (a fuller marketing-style home page), About Us, About the Club, Contact Us, Contact Page (a more detailed version), Events Calendar, Membership, Photo Gallery, News & Updates, Riding School, Riding School Home, Store Page, Competition Landing Page, Competition Results, and Blank Page if you'd rather start from scratch.
    3. The page is created with its blocks already in place, ready for you to edit.

    The Page List

    Each page row shows its title and current status (Published or Draft). From a row you can:

    • Move up / down — change the order pages appear in navigation
    • Edit — open the page builder
    • Duplicate — copy the page as a starting point for another
    • Publish / Unpublish — show or hide the page on your live site
    • Delete — remove the page (you'll be asked to confirm)

    Page Settings

    When you edit a page, the settings panel lets you set:

    • Title — the page name
    • Slug — the URL path (e.g. about, contact)
    • Layout — the page layout
    • SEO Title — the title search engines and browser tabs show
    • SEO Description — the summary shown in search results
    • Sort Order — lower numbers appear first in navigation
    • Hide from navigation and public listings — keeps a page reachable to admins for editing while hiding it from visitors

    Building Pages with Blocks

    Pages are built from content blocks — self-contained sections you stack in any order. There are around 40 block types, from simple rich text and hero banners through to image galleries, FAQs, upcoming events, event calendars, contact info, team and sponsor showcases, testimonials, countdown timers, results boards, video embeds, a Facebook feed, membership forms, store product grids, booking widgets, and more.

    Tip: an FAQs block does double duty — its questions and answers are also published as structured data, which is the content search engines and AI assistants quote most readily. See the SEO guide.

    Editing a Block

    Each block type has its own visual editor — you fill in fields and pick options in a form, and Horsify handles the layout and styling. You never edit raw code or JSON.

    1. Open a page in the page builder.
    2. To add a block, click Add Block and choose a block type. Its editor opens.
    3. To change an existing block, click Edit on it — the same visual editor opens.
    4. Fill in the fields (headings, text, images, links, and so on) and save.

    For example, a Hero block asks for a heading, subheading, background image and an optional button; an Image Gallery block lets you upload and arrange photos; a rich-text block gives you a formatting toolbar for headings, lists, and links.

    Arranging and Removing Blocks

    • Use the move up / move down controls to reorder blocks on the page.
    • Use Delete to remove a block (you'll confirm first).
    • Switch to Preview Mode to see the page as visitors will, then back to Edit Mode to keep working.

    Building Your Navigation Menu

    Open the Navigation card to manage your site's main menu.

    Menu Items

    Each menu item has:

    • Label — the text shown in the menu (e.g. "Home", "About", "Events")
    • URL — where it links to
    • Icon — an optional Tabler icon (e.g. ti-home, ti-calendar)
    • Opens in a new tab — tick this for external links
    • Appears under — leave as Top level, or pick a top-level item to make this a dropdown sub-item (for example putting "30 Min Lessons" under "Our Services")
    • Where it appears — Menu and footer (the default) or Footer only, for the links you want available but not in the main menu. This applies to top-level items; a sub-item always follows its parent.

    Adding and Editing Items

    1. Click Add Menu Item and fill in the fields, then save.
    2. To change an item, click Edit, adjust the fields, and save.
    3. To remove one, click Delete and confirm.

    Linking Options

    • Internal pages: use the slug path (e.g. /about, /contact)
    • Home: use /
    • External sites: use the full address (e.g. https://facebook.com/yourclub)
    • Email: use a mailto: link (e.g. mailto:info@yourclub.com.au)

    Use the move up / move down controls to set the order, which matches the order on your live site.

    Dragging Items into Dropdowns

    You can also arrange the menu by dragging. Take hold of an item by its grip handle (the dotted icon on its left) and:

    • Drop it on another top-level item to make it a sub-item in that item's dropdown.
    • Drop it on a sub-item to place it in that dropdown just before the sub-item.
    • Drop it on the gap between two items to move it back to the top level at that position.

    An item that already has its own sub-items stays at the top level, because the menu only shows one dropdown level. Move or remove its sub-items first if you want to nest it.

    Saving

    Changes are held in the editor until you click Save Navigation; an "unsaved changes" note appears above the button while there is something to save. If you try to leave the page with unsaved changes, Horsify asks whether to save and leave, leave without saving, or keep editing.

    Saved changes usually appear on your club site within a minute. Visitors who already have a page open see the new menu when they next load one.

    Navigation Tips

    • Keep the menu to around 5–7 items
    • Use clear, short labels
    • Put the most important items first
    • Make sure each URL matches a published page slug

    Choosing Your Look (Theme)

    Watch: Styling your club site (1:14)

    ▶ Watch: Styling your club site (1:14)

    Open the Theme card to open the Theme Builder. It's a guided, visual tool — pick a style, set two colours, and Horsify derives the rest of the palette so text stays readable automatically. See the dedicated Theme Editor guide for full detail; in brief:

    1. Choose a look — start from a ready-made preset (Classic Green, Bold Blue, and several others). Every new club site starts on the default deep sage green.
    2. Set your colours — pick a brand colour and an accent colour. The navigation, buttons and readable text are worked out for you.
    3. Add a logo — upload an image file (JPEG, PNG, WebP or SVG).
    4. Pick fonts — choose a heading-and-body pairing and set the base text size.

    A live preview updates as you go. Click Save & publish to apply your theme.

    Setting Up a Custom Domain

    Use your own domain instead of the default yourclub.horsify.club address. Open the Custom Domains card.

    Before You Start

    • You own a domain (e.g. from GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Crazy Domains)
    • You can edit that domain's DNS records
    • Your club site is enabled

    Setting this up takes three steps and usually a couple of business days end to end. Your existing website keeps working the whole time — nothing moves until the very last record you add.

    The Custom Domains page always shows you which step you're on and exactly which records to add, so you never have to work it out from this page.

    Step 1: Add your domain and prove it's yours

    1. Click Add Custom Domain and enter your full domain (e.g. www.yourclub.com.au).
    2. Horsify shows one TXT record. Add it at your domain registrar:
    Type Name Value
    TXT _horsify-verification.yourdomain (shown in full in Horsify) the verification token shown in Horsify
    1. Wait a few minutes, then click Check DNS record.

    If the record isn't found, Horsify tells you what it did find at that name, so you can compare it with what you entered. Nothing about your website changes at this step.

    Step 2: Horsify connects your domain

    Once ownership is confirmed, the page shows With Horsify. We register your domain on our network and request its HTTPS certificate. That part isn't automatic — we'll email you as soon as it's ready, usually within one business day.

    There's nothing for you to do here. Leave your DNS as it is.

    Step 3: Add the last two records

    When we're ready, the Custom Domains page shows two more records. Add them in this order:

    Order Type Name Value
    First TXT _dnsauth.yourdomain (shown in full in Horsify) the token shown in Horsify
    Last CNAME your full domain the address shown in Horsify

    The TXT record lets us issue your HTTPS certificate — add it within seven days and then leave it in place permanently, because it's also used to renew the certificate.

    The CNAME is the switch: once it's live, www.yourclub.com.au serves your Horsify club site, and whatever was there before stops being served. Only add it after the TXT record.

    We'll email you when your domain is live, and the page changes to Live.

    If your domain has no "www"

    Most registrars can't put a CNAME on a bare domain like yourclub.com.au. Either use an ALIAS or ANAME record if your registrar offers one, or point www.yourclub.com.au at us and set your registrar to redirect the bare address to it.

    DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours to take effect. Most complete within an hour or two.

    Until your custom domain is live, your site keeps working normally at yourclub.horsify.club.

    Publishing Your Site

    Draft vs Published

    • Draft — created but not visible to visitors
    • Published — live on your site

    Publish or Unpublish a Page

    From Pages, use the Publish or Unpublish control on any page row. Changes take effect on your live site right away.

    Before You Publish

    • Edit the page and review every block
    • Check the page settings (title, slug, SEO title and description)
    • Test your links
    • Confirm images display correctly
    • View the page in Preview Mode

    Go-Live Checklist

    Viewing Your Live Site

    Best Practices

    Content

    • Keep events, news and details current
    • Write clearly for your members and visitors
    • Use web-optimised images (JPEG or WebP, ideally under 1 MB)
    • Make sure pages read well on mobile
    • Include clear calls to action on key pages
    • Add alt text to images

    SEO

    • Replace the placeholder text on every seeded page. A page still showing the example copy ("We are a vibrant equestrian community…", 123 Equestrian Way, a literal [YEAR]) is deliberately kept out of your sitemap and marked noindex, because it is identical to every other new club's copy. It becomes indexable the moment you write your own words.
    • Give each page a unique SEO title, or leave it blank and let Horsify generate one from your club name, discipline and location
    • Write a compelling SEO description (roughly 150–160 characters)
    • Keep slugs short, descriptive and lowercase with hyphens
    • Use headings in order (one main heading, then sub-headings)
    • Link between your pages

    Full detail is in the SEO for Club Sites and Riding Schools guide.

    Performance and Design

    • Compress images before uploading
    • Use only the blocks a page needs
    • Keep your club's colours and fonts consistent
    • Leave plenty of white space
    • Keep body text a comfortable, readable size
    • Make sure text contrasts well with its background

    Troubleshooting

    Subdomain Won't Load

    • Make sure the site is enabled in Site Settings
    • Check the slug saved correctly
    • Allow a few minutes for changes to take effect

    Custom Domain Not Working

    • Check which step the Custom Domains page says you're on — it only shows the records that are due now
    • Double-check each record matches what Horsify shows, character for character
    • Allow time for DNS to propagate (up to 48 hours, usually much less)
    • Stuck on Action needed at step 1? Click Check DNS record again; Horsify lists what it found at that name so you can compare
    • Stuck on With Horsify for more than a couple of business days? Email support@horsify.com.au
    • Getting a security or certificate warning in the browser? You've likely added the CNAME before the TXT record at step 3. Remove the CNAME, add the TXT, wait for us to confirm your certificate, then put the CNAME back

    Published Page Not Appearing

    • Confirm the page status is Published
    • Check it isn't set to "Hide from navigation and public listings"
    • Add it to your navigation menu
    • Clear your browser cache and refresh

    Published Page Not Appearing in Google

    • Check the page for leftover placeholder text and that it has more than a sentence or two of real content — pages that still look like the starter template are deliberately not offered to search engines. See the SEO guide.

    A Block Looks Wrong

    • Reopen the block's editor and check the fields are filled in
    • Make sure any images you referenced are uploaded and display in the editor
    • Preview the page to confirm

    Theme Changes Not Showing

    • Click Save & publish in the Theme Builder
    • Hard-refresh your browser (Ctrl+Shift+R)

    Menu Changes Not Showing

    • Confirm you saved your changes in the Navigation builder
    • Check each URL matches a published page slug
    • Refresh the page

    Related Documentation

    Published:
    WYSIWYG Email Template Editor
    Theme Editor for Club Sites