When signing up for mastohost with an existing domain I own (whatever.com) the signup process forced me to use a subdomain (something.whatever.com). I don’t currently have a website on that root domain, but I would like to one day. Do I really have to have a long three part domain? Is there a way around it or is this a limitation of mastodon/mastohost?
Sorry for all the comments you’re getting. You can absolutely do what you’re trying to do.
The technical answer is you first have to setup a subdomain. Then, using webfinger, you can point that subdomain back to your primary domain. This will make your Mastodon server appear as your primary domain even though your website / email is already parked there.
It’s explained in this blog post on Masto.host. I had someone else set this up as I’m not technical, but it absolutely works.
https://masto.host/mastodon-usernames-different-from-the-domain-used-for-installation/
Oh great, documented right on mastohost. I’ll give that a go this weekend.
Yeah, I don’t really why this caused so much confusion. Seems like having a better domain is one of the first things people would want to do.