diff --git a/lib/common.sh b/lib/common.sh
index 89851cb..351f554 100644
--- a/lib/common.sh
+++ b/lib/common.sh
@@ -66,6 +66,9 @@ load_site_config() {
     while IFS='=' read -r key val; do
         [[ "$key" =~ ^[[:space:]]*# ]] && continue
         [[ -z "${key// }" ]] && continue
+        # Strip leading/trailing whitespace from both sides so hand-edited files work
+        key="${key#"${key%%[^[:space:]]*}"}"; key="${key%"${key##*[^[:space:]]}"}"
+        val="${val#"${val%%[^[:space:]]*}"}"; val="${val%"${val##*[^[:space:]]}"}"
         case "$key" in
             SITE_TZ)           SITE_TZ="$val"                              ;;
             SITE_DOMAIN)       SITE_DOMAIN="$val"                          ;;
@@ -328,10 +331,11 @@ configure_caddy_for_service() {
     # Domain prompt — pre-fill from SITE_DOMAIN when available
     echo ""
     local _default_domain=""
-    if [ -n "$SITE_DOMAIN" ] && [ "$SITE_DOMAIN" != "example.com" ]; then
+    if [ -n "$SITE_DOMAIN" ]; then
         _default_domain="${DEFAULT_SUBDOMAIN}.${SITE_DOMAIN}"
         echo "  Default: $_default_domain"
     else
+        echo "  No base domain set — run: sudo ./setup.sh configure"
         echo "  Examples: ${DEFAULT_SUBDOMAIN}.example.com, ${DEFAULT_SUBDOMAIN}.yourdomain.com"
     fi
     echo ""
diff --git a/setup.sh b/setup.sh
index a534991..cea74e5 100755
--- a/setup.sh
+++ b/setup.sh
@@ -231,7 +231,10 @@ if ! grep -q '^SITE_TZ=' "$DOCKER_DIR/.config" 2>/dev/null; then
     echo "  and Caddy network for every service — you type them once, not every time."
     OFFER_CONFIG=""
     prompt_yn "Configure site defaults now? (y/n):" "y" OFFER_CONFIG
-    [ "$OFFER_CONFIG" = "y" ] || [ "$OFFER_CONFIG" = "Y" ] && run_site_configure
+    if [ "$OFFER_CONFIG" = "y" ] || [ "$OFFER_CONFIG" = "Y" ]; then
+        run_site_configure
+        load_site_config   # reload so subsequent service prompts see the new values
+    fi
 fi
 
 # 4) Offer Caddy first (most services proxy through it).