Quick Start

By the end of this guide, you'll have a live job board with a custom theme, jobs importing automatically, and a public URL you can share.

Before you begin

You need a Cavuno account (sign up if you don't have one), a name for your job board, and a short description of your niche. The niche description drives everything Cavuno generates for you, so be specific: "Remote engineering jobs" or "Climate tech careers" works better than "Jobs."

Create your board

1. Log in to your Cavuno dashboard
2. Enter your board name and niche description
3. Click Create

Your board is now live at a default subdomain (e.g., yourboard.cavuno.com). Cavuno's AI immediately starts generating your color theme, page content, SEO settings, and backfill rules based on what you described. You can track progress in the onboarding checklist on your dashboard.

The backfill rules begin looking for relevant jobs. Processing time and available volume depend on the companies and rules in your niche. You can review and adjust these rules at any time.

Customize your design

There are two ways to open the website builder. If you're a new board, click Customize design in the onboarding checklist on your dashboard. Otherwise, click Website builder in the sidebar.

Once in the editor, click the Design tab in the right panel to access your board's global design settings. The logo upload is in the Logo section: click Upload and add a square image (minimum 200x200px, PNG or JPG). A transparent PNG works best because your logo needs to look good in both light and dark mode.

Below the logo, you'll find color schemes and typography. Browse the preset color schemes for a professionally designed palette, or click Customize to enter your own brand colors. Each preset includes balanced values for both light and dark mode. Pick heading and body fonts that match your brand identity.

All design changes apply globally across every page on your board. For the full guide, see Customize your design.

Connect a custom domain

A custom domain like jobs.yoursite.com builds trust with visitors and improves your SEO. You can set this up now or come back later.

1. Go to Settings in the sidebar
2. Click the Domains tab
3. Enter your custom domain
4. Add the DNS records shown to your domain provider
5. Click Verify

DNS propagation can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. See Connect a custom domain for provider-specific instructions.

If domain verification does not complete

Compare every DNS value with the records currently shown in Cavuno, including the host name and record type. Remove conflicting records only when you understand what they are used for. Keep using the default Cavuno subdomain while DNS changes propagate, and follow the recovery checks in Connect a custom domain if the status remains incomplete.

Set up payments

Connect Stripe when you're ready to charge for job postings. If you're still validating demand, you can skip this step. Decide when to monetize from the value and intent of your audience, employer demand, and the results you can demonstrate — there is no universal traffic threshold.

1. Go to Settings in the sidebar
2. Click the Payments tab
3. Connect your Stripe account
4. Create your pricing plans

See Connect Stripe and Create pricing plans for detailed setup instructions.

What to do next

Before moving on, open your board's public URL in a signed-out browser. Confirm the homepage loads, your branding is visible, at least one intended job can be opened, and its application path works. Return to the onboarding checklist for any setup item still processing or failing.

Your board is live with jobs importing automatically. Here's the recommended order for what comes next.

Review your backfill rules. Go to the Grow section of the sidebar and open the Backfill page. Make sure the right companies and job types are importing, and remove anything that doesn't fit your niche. Tight, relevant backfill beats high volume. See Configure backfill.

Customize your pages. Open Website builder from the sidebar. Use the page type dropdown in the top bar to switch between your homepage, job listing pages, company pages, and more. The builder provides pre-designed sections that you can adapt to your content and brand. See Website builder.

Set up job alerts. Job alerts give subscribers a direct way to return when new jobs match their criteria. Use your own subscriber and engagement data to judge their contribution. See Job alerts.

Add your analytics. Connect Google Analytics from Settings → Analytics, and Google Search Console from Settings → Google Search Console. Search Console is especially important because it shows you how your job pages perform in Google search results, including Google for Jobs impressions.

Invite your team. Open Settings → Members to add collaborators. You can assign Admin or Member access; Members are read-only by default. See Invite team members.

For a comprehensive launch plan covering everything from branding to marketing, see the launch checklist.