Restaurant and café on your own subdomain: fixed paths for table stands

A table stand often stays on the table for years. The link behind it should therefore belong to you, not to the provider where you once created the code. With your own subdomain such as qr.yourcompany.com, your address is in the code, and you can change where it leads later without reprinting a single stand.

Which paths are worth having on the table

When you create a code, you choose the path yourself. For a venue, four are usually enough, short and easy to remember:

• qr.yourcompany.com/menu leads to the digital menu.
• qr.yourcompany.com/wifi leads to a page with the network name and password.
• qr.yourcompany.com/review leads straight to your venue’s review form.
• qr.yourcompany.com/book leads to your booking form or your phone number.

The paths stay fixed, and you can change the destinations behind them at any time. When the menu changes with the season, you edit the code and the stand stays as it is. Each path can be used only once per domain and stays taken even if you delete the code, so choose ones you will still like in three years.

Who holds the DNS access in your business

You do not have to enter the subdomain in the DNS yourself, but someone has to. In many businesses that is not the owner but the web agency, the hosting company or whoever registered the domain years ago. Sort this out first, because the whole process depends on it.

• Where is the domain registered, and who knows the login?
• Who manages the DNS if it lives elsewhere, for example at Cloudflare?
• Can that person set two records: a TXT record and a CNAME?

Send the agency both records ready-made from the dashboard. It takes them a few minutes, and you do not have to explain anything. If you use Cloudflare as your DNS, the CNAME should be set to “DNS only”, the grey cloud.

The process on a quiet day

• In the morning, enter the subdomain under “Own domain” in the dashboard, for example qr.yourcompany.com.
• The dashboard shows the TXT record “_sameqr.qr.yourcompany.com” with a value starting with “sameqr-nachweis=”, and the CNAME to kunden.sameqr.com. Send both to the agency.
• Once both records are set, the service issues the HTTPS certificate automatically. Wait until the status shows “Active”.
• Create the four codes again, choosing your own domain as the address, then type in the paths.
• Scan each code with an iPhone and an Android phone and check that menu, Wi-Fi page, review and booking open without a warning.
• Only now print the stands.

Plan the setup for a time without a rush, because the process depends on the agency and a certificate takes a few minutes. You only print after the scan test.

What happens to the old stands

Codes you have already printed keep their address, since it is already on the stand. New codes get the new address. Scans are counted as usual, and time rules such as breakfast until 11 am apply unchanged. At Same-QR the number of domains you can connect depends on the plan: Gastro Pro includes one, Gastro Starter and the Free plan include none.

The domain always remains yours. If you switch providers later, you point the CNAME elsewhere, and printed codes keep working as long as the new provider can serve the same paths on your domain.

Frequently asked questions