With Sunday support from my web host company we were seemingly able to get it working, although I guess it has to roll through the domain name servers. If you get a chance, can you try www.photo.lynnesite.com and see if you get the site or the invalid URL message? I had to embarass myself and put the word out on several forums, redirecting them manually to my real site.
FWIW, my custom domain has been like that since 2004, a pretty long time, whether I'm the one who did it wrong or not. It does make me rethink whether it was smart to have it on all my marketing media rather than the primary host, lynnesite.com.
I don't think that the majority of domain name owners speak "control panel" and "domain server settings", that's a fairly recent phenomenon. So good luck with getting through this shift. And I'm a tech pro and still don't have my own registrar login info, I depend on my DNS and web host to take care of that stuff for me.
It was interesting to try to communicate the importance of my smuggy site to my web hosting company--I tried saying 2,000 orders, as a clue. It would be nice to know somewhere just how many galleries smuggy is hosting for me.
Lynn, it looks ok from my end. Again, I am very sorry that this caught you ad a bad time. It was never our intention. We just wish that we knew that the changes would have this effect and that so many people had it set wrong. At least we will help user get things straight and that is a good thing.
Hmmm...
Disappointed to say the least. I was able to redirect and get my site back-up early this morning, but its always a big gut bubbler when it goes down. Only after I got the dreaded "URL Not found" page did I go to DGrin and find this thread.
Sure the cop out is "you had your CNAME wrong," but no notice prior to a change that could result in a bunch (an assumption on my part, and yes I know the risk) of sites being on the fritz? Seems some level of notification (other than thread in DGrin) would be good business insurance to me.
Anyway no harm, no foul. All is now good and I still love SmugMug!
I promise it is no cop out. We did not know that this many people had it set wrong. We also did not know that this was going to happen.
If we had known, I can assure you that we would have sent notification. This thread is for a different change all together. It is for people that had it properly setup from the start. That is why the instructions are written the way they are.
I will work as long as needed to get every one of these fixed. I have already worked on a bunch and I will probably be here long into the night. The rest of the heros are pitching in and helping.
I promise it is no cop out. We did not know that this many people had it set wrong.
--Doc
Just to say that I was one of those who had it set wrong.. I knew I was just 'getting away with it' for a long time and as the SM instructions had clearly been not to do it the wrong way it was me that went for the the easy cop out way , so I knew trouble would come .. one day.
However luckliy for me I saw this thread before it did and Doc sorted me out in no time at all, and now for the first time I'm set up properly! Thanks to SM heroes and Doc especially for his hard work
not working for me
First off, I would highly recommend that smugmug sends out a notice via email or whatever when making changes that can affect a large user base. I was totally surprised when I tried to go to my website and all I got was an invalid page error! - not impressed by that one. I only came across this forum topic only after emailing Help@smugmug.com. So please, in future, I think it be best for smugmug to notify all pro users with any changes big or small - preferably in an email and in the smugmug account (or at least give users the option as to how they would like to receive news updates).
Anyhow, after seeing how my setup is, I noticed that I am one of those that uses nicknames in the setup - which is incorrect to do. So then I tried to figure out how to resolve it and I noticed that I have a subdomain setup with my domain host (Netfirms).
So the question is this:
What and how do I set it up correctly so that I can use my subdomain to point to my smugmug page?
for example,
My domain is "www.silverhorizon.ca"
my subdomain is "photos.silverhorizon.ca"
my smugmug acct (with nickname ) is: "silverhorizon.smugmug.com"
I want only my subdomain to be able to point to my smugmug acct. Would I have to create a CNAME or A-Record? or both? In Netfirms, it seems that I can only create one or the other for "photos.silverhorizon.ca" and not both.
Any assistance would be great... thanks for your time.
As I indicated before, we had no idea that it would effect so many. If the domains were set up correctly, it would have effected no one. I am still stunned that so many are effected.
For your situation, all you need is the subdomain CNAMEd to domains.smugmu.com
You do not need an A record.
Which reminds me. Something for other Netfirms users to note. You cannot create a blank subdomain A record. In order to have just have yourdomain.com you must create an htaccess file. They have instructions for this here: http://support.netfirms.com/article.php?id=829
I found that out late last night helping another customer.
Last night, I noticed that I could not access my site using my domain name, hhtp://www.richardmcdonald.ca. I poked around the settings with my domain name provider as I had just renewed my domain name and thought it was related to that. I was unsuccessful last night, and I'm not doing any better this morning. I found this thread as I was not aware that changes were happening here with regards to this functionality. It appears that I too had set it up incorrectly and was pointing to http://rmcd.smugmug.com. I tried correcting it, but I'm not getting anywhere.
I sent you a note via help@smugmug.com. Any chance you can give me a hand with this?
As I indicated before, we had no idea that it would effect so many. If the domains were set up correctly, it would have effected no one. I am still stunned that so many are effected.
For your situation, all you need is the subdomain CNAMEd to domains.smugmu.com
You do not need an A record.
Which reminds me. Something for other Netfirms users to note. You cannot create a blank subdomain A record. In order to have just have yourdomain.com you must create an htaccess file. They have instructions for this here: http://support.netfirms.com/article.php?id=829
I found that out late last night helping another customer.
Hi Doc,
Ok... just made it so that "photos.silverhorizon.ca" has a CNAME containing the value "domains.smugmug.com". Just have to wiat 24 hours to see if it works.
Btw, for users that have A-record setup instead of CNAME (and are with Netfirms), the wildcard A-Record is only for those that want two or more domians/subdomains to point to one particular ip address?
eg.
user who wants "photos.mydomain.com" and "travels.mydomain.com" to point to "208.79.45.23"
Anyhow, thanks for helping me out with my problem - hopefully this will resolve it. Not much harm done, but hopefully smugmug take my (and others) advice with notifying and changes (big or small) - with the option on how they would like to be notified)... ).
Y'know... Not all of us have time to hang here on Dgrin. An email notice of the required change would have been helpful before causing my site to fail. Fortunately, it wasn't hard to fix.
We know that not everyone hangs out here. We are going to send out the email and post a quicknews on your homepage about the original post changes soon. The problem you are having is not exactly the same issue. That was a total surprise to us so there was no way to warn you. Sorry :-(
Perfection. Thanks. I read that a few times thinking "domains.smugmug.com" was the example domain and we were to insert our own in place of "domains."
Again, thank you for your patience.
Oh, that's good feedback. Thanks for pointing that out.
We're obviously stunned that this happened and trying to fix the fail in our instructions. We're so close to the issue we didn't realize where our wording was ambiguous.
We should be the ones thanking you for your patience.
We should be the ones thanking you for your patience.
Baldy is right. I have had my head down in the trenches apologizing and fixing, that I have not had time to think about saying thank you for being patient. I know that you want your domains working and I will do everything I can to help get them fixed. Thank you folks for giving me the info needed to fix your sites and allowing me time to do it right.
With Sunday support from my web host company we were seemingly able to get it working, although I guess it has to roll through the domain name servers.
Yikes, Lynn. We've been fussing over umpteen drafts of a 30-day notice email, feeling proud of ourselves for getting this right with plenty of notice. None of us saw this coming because it didn't occur to us that CNAMES were configured that way.
I'm starting to see how our wording was ambiguous so we'll definitely change it for the notice we're sending out.
We're really sorry this happened to you. If it happened to me, I'm not sure I could be as civil as you've been...
Yikes, Lynn. We've been fussing over umpteen drafts of a 30-day notice email, feeling proud of ourselves for getting this right with plenty of notice. None of us saw this coming because it didn't occur to us that CNAMES were configured that way.
I'm starting to see how our wording was ambiguous so we'll definitely change it for the notice we're sending out.
We're really sorry this happened to you. If it happened to me, I'm not sure I could be as civil as you've been...
You guys will laugh at this, I kept repeating over and over to myself that day, "Ten atta-boys can be wiped out by one "ah, SHIT!'" It reminded me of my own tech life, shooting life too where you're only as good as your last action no matter how good a job you've done for the client in the past. It really underscored just how important this site is to my business life. One of the reasons I like doing business so much with you guys is how high your performance standards are for yourselves, not from external forces.
Johnny J. Chin ~ J. Chin Photography Facebook ♦ Flickr ♦ SmugMug
SmugMug referral coupon code: ix3uDyfBU6xXs
(use this for a discount off your SmugMug subscription)
We're taking care of you via the help desk. Hang tight. We'll get you sorted right away!
We are very sorry for the inconvenience. We had no idea that the changes we made would cause this problem. The problem is only affecting those customers who had their domains set up improperly to begin with. We didn't realize the number of those, but we are doing what we can to get your site back to normal as quickly as possible.
We had no idea that the changes we made would cause this problem. The problem is only affecting those customers who had their domains set up improperly to begin with. We didn't realize the number of those, but we are doing what we can to get your site back to normal as quickly as possible.
I'm pretty sure at one time (about when my account was created, perhaps) that you had your help files tell us to CNAME to nickname.smugmug.com. I don't think I would have set it up that way on my own -- I don't know enough about DNS to not follow a recipe for setup.
I never got a notice until my customer today told me the site is giving the "Invalid URL" error.
I never got a notice, either. I also got a call from one of the many people I handed a card out to over this last weekend. My CNAME was set up like this because I was _told_ to set it up like this years ago when I first got my account.
I've also emailed customer service twice over the last 12 hours and received no response. I only found out about this forum post because I came to the forums to PM someone on staff who might bother to respond.
After months of troubles with Dreamhost and now having this unannounced change on Smugmug take my photo site down, too, I'm starting to remember why I used to run everything myself instead of relying on hosting providers...
I never got a notice, either. I also got a call from one of the many people I handed a card out to over this last weekend. My CNAME was set up like this because I was _told_ to set it up like this years ago when I first got my account.
I've also emailed customer service twice over the last 12 hours and received no response. I only found out about this forum post because I came to the forums to PM someone on staff who might bother to respond.
After months of troubles with Dreamhost and now having this unannounced change on Smugmug take my photo site down, too, I'm starting to remember why I used to run everything myself instead of relying on hosting providers...
I sent you a reply on 8/26/2008 at 10:29 PM PDT. You didin't receive it?
I concur!
I agree with DillWaters and Petro! I set up my CNAME back in early May of 2007 and the instructions said to put in yourdomain.smugmug.com! I followed the instructions on how to do it, having never set up my own web-site before, never heard of CNAME, or any of this stuff. If I had done it without help, I would have assumed I needed to set it up using the URL!
I am profoundly disappointed that there was not notice sent out to pro/power users about this issue. I was ready to give the benefit of the doubt, but then I checked this thread and found that you have known about this since JULY 21st and haven't sent out ANYTHING to let us know!!! I am even more disappointed that the response I got when I e-mailed the help desk indicated that I had set up things wrong in the first place, when it was the way I was told to set it up! I haven't TOUCHED the set-up for my domain since May of 2007 and it has worked fine until now.
I have a pro account and I followed the steps above to correct the direct of my url to my custom Cname... the only problem is now the image I used in my header above my links is not showing up at all... also, I tried to view the image independently of my smugmug account on ie and firefox and the image url: http://www.nuena.com/images/banner.jpg is redirecting itself to my smugmug page... so I can't even see it -- but it is there!
I have a pro account and I followed the steps above to correct the direct of my url to my custom Cname... the only problem is now the image I used in my header above my links is not showing up at all... also, I tried to view the image independently of my smugmug account on ie and firefox and the image url: http://www.nuena.com/images/banner.jpg is redirecting itself to my smugmug page... so I can't even see it -- but it is there!
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Kira
Have you uploaded your image to your SmugMug site? Why not upload your image to an unlisted gallery called Site Files or something and link to it from there. We'll be happy to help with that
Comments
FWIW, my custom domain has been like that since 2004, a pretty long time, whether I'm the one who did it wrong or not. It does make me rethink whether it was smart to have it on all my marketing media rather than the primary host, lynnesite.com.
I don't think that the majority of domain name owners speak "control panel" and "domain server settings", that's a fairly recent phenomenon. So good luck with getting through this shift. And I'm a tech pro and still don't have my own registrar login info, I depend on my DNS and web host to take care of that stuff for me.
It was interesting to try to communicate the importance of my smuggy site to my web hosting company--I tried saying 2,000 orders, as a clue. It would be nice to know somewhere just how many galleries smuggy is hosting for me.
Galleries here Upcoming Ranch/Horse Workshop
http://help.smugmug.com
Disappointed to say the least. I was able to redirect and get my site back-up early this morning, but its always a big gut bubbler when it goes down. Only after I got the dreaded "URL Not found" page did I go to DGrin and find this thread.
Sure the cop out is "you had your CNAME wrong," but no notice prior to a change that could result in a bunch (an assumption on my part, and yes I know the risk) of sites being on the fritz? Seems some level of notification (other than thread in DGrin) would be good business insurance to me.
Anyway no harm, no foul. All is now good and I still love SmugMug!
dSchamp
If we had known, I can assure you that we would have sent notification. This thread is for a different change all together. It is for people that had it properly setup from the start. That is why the instructions are written the way they are.
I will work as long as needed to get every one of these fixed. I have already worked on a bunch and I will probably be here long into the night. The rest of the heros are pitching in and helping.
Again, I am very sorry.
--Doc
http://help.smugmug.com
Just to say that I was one of those who had it set wrong.. I knew I was just 'getting away with it' for a long time and as the SM instructions had clearly been not to do it the wrong way it was me that went for the the easy cop out way , so I knew trouble would come .. one day.
However luckliy for me I saw this thread before it did and Doc sorted me out in no time at all, and now for the first time I'm set up properly!
Thanks - I appreciate it
...pics..
First off, I would highly recommend that smugmug sends out a notice via email or whatever when making changes that can affect a large user base. I was totally surprised when I tried to go to my website and all I got was an invalid page error! - not impressed by that one. I only came across this forum topic only after emailing Help@smugmug.com. So please, in future, I think it be best for smugmug to notify all pro users with any changes big or small - preferably in an email and in the smugmug account (or at least give users the option as to how they would like to receive news updates).
Anyhow, after seeing how my setup is, I noticed that I am one of those that uses nicknames in the setup - which is incorrect to do. So then I tried to figure out how to resolve it and I noticed that I have a subdomain setup with my domain host (Netfirms).
So the question is this:
What and how do I set it up correctly so that I can use my subdomain to point to my smugmug page?
for example,
My domain is "www.silverhorizon.ca"
my subdomain is "photos.silverhorizon.ca"
my smugmug acct (with nickname ) is: "silverhorizon.smugmug.com"
I want only my subdomain to be able to point to my smugmug acct. Would I have to create a CNAME or A-Record? or both? In Netfirms, it seems that I can only create one or the other for "photos.silverhorizon.ca" and not both.
Any assistance would be great... thanks for your time.
For your situation, all you need is the subdomain CNAMEd to domains.smugmu.com
You do not need an A record.
Which reminds me. Something for other Netfirms users to note. You cannot create a blank subdomain A record. In order to have just have yourdomain.com you must create an htaccess file. They have instructions for this here: http://support.netfirms.com/article.php?id=829
I found that out late last night helping another customer.
http://help.smugmug.com
Hi Doc,
Last night, I noticed that I could not access my site using my domain name, hhtp://www.richardmcdonald.ca. I poked around the settings with my domain name provider as I had just renewed my domain name and thought it was related to that. I was unsuccessful last night, and I'm not doing any better this morning. I found this thread as I was not aware that changes were happening here with regards to this functionality. It appears that I too had set it up incorrectly and was pointing to http://rmcd.smugmug.com. I tried correcting it, but I'm not getting anywhere.
I sent you a note via help@smugmug.com. Any chance you can give me a hand with this?
Thanks,
Richard
Richard McDonald
Ottawa - Gatineau, Canada
http://rmcd.smugmug.com
http://help.smugmug.com
Hi Doc,
Ok... just made it so that "photos.silverhorizon.ca" has a CNAME containing the value "domains.smugmug.com". Just have to wiat 24 hours to see if it works.
Btw, for users that have A-record setup instead of CNAME (and are with Netfirms), the wildcard A-Record is only for those that want two or more domians/subdomains to point to one particular ip address?
eg.
user who wants "photos.mydomain.com" and "travels.mydomain.com" to point to "208.79.45.23"
Anyhow, thanks for helping me out with my problem - hopefully this will resolve it. Not much harm done, but hopefully smugmug take my (and others) advice with notifying and changes (big or small) - with the option on how they would like to be notified)...
Netfirms is one of the few that use this screwy setup. Give me GoDaddy, Joker, or Network Solutions anyday :-)
http://help.smugmug.com
http://help.smugmug.com
Thanks for your patience m8! Here are my DNS Results:
DNS Lookup Results
No CNAME records were found for csomephotos.com
on server 208.79.45.23
Am I waiting for the DNS to take or something? I had it set up properly from the get-go.
www.csomephotos.com. 3600 IN CNAME csomephotos.smugmug.com.
The part on the right must be domains.smugmug.com
The A record looks ok.
So if you made the changes, they are still pending.
http://help.smugmug.com
Sorry for the bother: "3600?" Oy! What does this mean? I'm sorry; I just don't know what I'm doing.My domain control below:
Click the total DNS control and edit that www record. Change the csomephotos.smugmug.com to domains.smugmug.com
Thats it.
http://help.smugmug.com
Perfection. Thanks. I read that a few times thinking "domains.smugmug.com" was the example domain and we were to insert our own in place of "domains."
Again, thank you for your patience.
Warm Regards,
BN
We're obviously stunned that this happened and trying to fix the fail in our instructions. We're so close to the issue we didn't realize where our wording was ambiguous.
We should be the ones thanking you for your patience.
Baldy is right. I have had my head down in the trenches apologizing and fixing, that I have not had time to think about saying thank you for being patient. I know that you want your domains working and I will do everything I can to help get them fixed. Thank you folks for giving me the info needed to fix your sites and allowing me time to do it right.
http://help.smugmug.com
I'm starting to see how our wording was ambiguous so we'll definitely change it for the notice we're sending out.
We're really sorry this happened to you. If it happened to me, I'm not sure I could be as civil as you've been...
You guys will laugh at this, I kept repeating over and over to myself that day, "Ten atta-boys can be wiped out by one "ah, SHIT!'" It reminded me of my own tech life, shooting life too where you're only as good as your last action no matter how good a job you've done for the client in the past. It really underscored just how important this site is to my business life. One of the reasons I like doing business so much with you guys is how high your performance standards are for yourselves, not from external forces.
Galleries here Upcoming Ranch/Horse Workshop
Andy, I never got a notice until my customer today told me the site is giving the "Invalid URL" error.
I updated my DNS settings and the IPs are now correct, but I still get the error message.
Facebook ♦ Flickr ♦ SmugMug
SmugMug referral coupon code: ix3uDyfBU6xXs
(use this for a discount off your SmugMug subscription)
Hi Johnny,
We're taking care of you via the help desk. Hang tight. We'll get you sorted right away!
We are very sorry for the inconvenience. We had no idea that the changes we made would cause this problem. The problem is only affecting those customers who had their domains set up improperly to begin with. We didn't realize the number of those, but we are doing what we can to get your site back to normal as quickly as possible.
Smug since 2006
SmugMug Help
PhotoscapeDesign
I'm pretty sure at one time (about when my account was created, perhaps) that you had your help files tell us to CNAME to nickname.smugmug.com. I don't think I would have set it up that way on my own -- I don't know enough about DNS to not follow a recipe for setup.
I never got a notice, either. I also got a call from one of the many people I handed a card out to over this last weekend. My CNAME was set up like this because I was _told_ to set it up like this years ago when I first got my account.
I've also emailed customer service twice over the last 12 hours and received no response. I only found out about this forum post because I came to the forums to PM someone on staff who might bother to respond.
After months of troubles with Dreamhost and now having this unannounced change on Smugmug take my photo site down, too, I'm starting to remember why I used to run everything myself instead of relying on hosting providers...
I'll resend it now. Sorry for your troubles......
I agree with DillWaters and Petro! I set up my CNAME back in early May of 2007 and the instructions said to put in yourdomain.smugmug.com! I followed the instructions on how to do it, having never set up my own web-site before, never heard of CNAME, or any of this stuff. If I had done it without help, I would have assumed I needed to set it up using the URL!
I am profoundly disappointed that there was not notice sent out to pro/power users about this issue. I was ready to give the benefit of the doubt, but then I checked this thread and found that you have known about this since JULY 21st and haven't sent out ANYTHING to let us know!!! I am even more disappointed that the response I got when I e-mailed the help desk indicated that I had set up things wrong in the first place, when it was the way I was told to set it up! I haven't TOUCHED the set-up for my domain since May of 2007 and it has worked fine until now.
http://www.prairieperspectivesphotography.com/
info@prairieperspectivesphotography.com
Hello,
I have a pro account and I followed the steps above to correct the direct of my url to my custom Cname... the only problem is now the image I used in my header above my links is not showing up at all... also, I tried to view the image independently of my smugmug account on ie and firefox and the image url: http://www.nuena.com/images/banner.jpg is redirecting itself to my smugmug page... so I can't even see it -- but it is there!
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Kira
Have you uploaded your image to your SmugMug site? Why not upload your image to an unlisted gallery called Site Files or something and link to it from there. We'll be happy to help with that
Smug since 2006
SmugMug Help
PhotoscapeDesign