1and1 custom domain is working

AccelerateFX

Hey all, I recently set up a smugmug account and have been getting everything set up here.

The very last part of my integration into Smugmug was trying to get my custom domain to show up instead of Smugmug. After reading countless articles that Smugmug doesn't support 1and1 etc, I decided I was going to try just to make sure it really doesn't work. Ultimately I wasn't able to make the custom domain work with my main domain, I actually killed complete access to my website for 2 days without knowing it, but I was able to get it to work with a subdomain.

After about 4 days of fiddling with this, I finally got it to work. I don't know exactly what made it work, but here are the steps I followed, using a subdomain instead of my original domain.

I followed this tutorial - http://dgrin.smugmug.com/Tutorials/SmugMug-Site-Stuff/11-Domain-Setup/3759676_P6Z9BR

Following that tutorial didn't give me a working domain on Smugmug right off the bat, I needed to change the CNAME and A record to:

CNAME: domains.smugmug.com
A Record: 208.79.45.23

The method from the first tutorial has you set up your CNAME first, then change the A Record. Doing this didn't give me a working domain on smugmug's site. I had to go back and then change my DNS settings from DNS back over to CNAME pointing to domains.smugmug.com and now low and behold everything works I confirmed my e-mail is working too when registering here on Dgrin. Its semi-limited as far as not being able to use your original domain, but I'd rather just use a subdomain and save the hassle of switching to another hosting company.

Check it out for yourself

www.acceleratefx.com
store.acceleratefx.com
http://www.whois.com/whois/acceleratefx.com

docwalker

I am sorry that you had trouble setting the domain up correctly.

Most users want www.example.com and example.com to point at their SmugMug site. That is what the www CNAME to domains.smugmug.com and A record pointed at 208.79.45.23 are for. That is the part that does not work correctly at 1and1. The tutorial you pointed at is a bit out of date. I have taken if offline until it can be updated or replaced.

If you just want a subdomain, you can use 1and1 by pointing it at domains.smugmug.com using a CNAME. An A record should not be needed and can possibly cause problems if set.

After many years of dealing with this issue I have reached out to 1and1 management recently via twitter and made contact with them. I am hoping that we can get them to explain to us exactly how the domain should be pointed at SmugMug correctly using their system. They are one of the only domain hosts that we have problems with so I want to see this issue fixed.

wagulo

I'd like to add up to this thread for the users that might be having problems with 1and1. I have successfully made it to work. Here's what I did.

Basically, yes, 1and1 interface is quite confusing vs the usual manual DNS records management.

1. Login to your 1and1 backend, and go to Domain Overview
2. Click on the checkbox beside the domain you want to point to smugmug
3. Click on the DNS dropdown at the top of the list.
4. Select Edit DNS Settings
5. Under Domain Data, select DNS for General Settings
6. Under Advanced DNS settings, select Other IP Address and enter 208.79.45.23
7. Click OK, it will say "Process Successful" but the message below it says "error", weird i know. But after recheck, they seem to have saved the settings.
8. Go Back to Domain Overview.
9. Click the New dropdown on top of the list, and select Create Subdomain
10. Enter www on the textbox and select your domain on the dropdown next to it (e.g. mysite.com)
11. Click OK. It will show a success confirmation.
12. Go Back to Domain Overview.
13. Click on the checkbox beside the www subdomain you just created (e.g. www.mysite.com)
14. Click on the DNS dropdown on top of the list, and click Edit DNS Settings (like #3 and #4)
15. Under Domain Data, select CNAME for General Settings
16. Under CNAME settings, enter domains.smugmug.com on the textbox.
17. Check the confirmation box, and click OK.

Now go to your smugmug backend, and enter your url on the custom domain (e.g. www.mysite.com), and click save. Don't enter the main domain (like mysite.com). When you have saved, if you type in the browser address bar your domain, it will redirect to your www subdomain automatically.

Hope this helps

Wil

coleygm

docwalker wrote: »

I am sorry that you had trouble setting the domain up correctly.

Most users want www.example.com and example.com to point at their Smug Mug site. That is what the www CNAME to domains.smugmug.com and A record pointed at 208.79.45.23 are for. That is the part that does not work correctly at 1and1. The tutorial you pointed at is a bit out of date. I have taken if offline until it can be updated or replaced.

If you just want a subdomain, you can use 1and1 by pointing it at domains.smugmug.com using a CNAME. An A record should not be needed and can possibly cause problems if set.

After many years of dealing with this issue I have reached out to 1and1 management recently via twitter and made contact with them. I am hoping that we can get them to explain to us exactly how the domain should be pointed at SmugMug correctly using their system. They are one of the only domain hosts that we have problems with so I want to see this issue fixed.

1&1 unfortunately points the issue back to SmugMug saying "why don't they support A Record without CNAME as other such services do?" ...direct quote from one of their support folks to me.

I don't understand why this is an issue, but can tell you that i have other services i use such as smugmug where i have a domain through 1&1 but the website is hosted elsewhere (squarespace for example). In all of these other cases, they simply require i change the A Record which leaves my email and MX Record alone.

So, although it'd be great if 1&1 allowed a CNAME with separate MX record so our email wouldn't break, educate me on why SmugMug requires CNAME.

thanks in advance.

Greg

rainforest1155

coleygm wrote: »

So, although it'd be great if 1&1 allowed a CNAME with separate MX record so our email wouldn't break, educate me on why SmugMug requires CNAME.

Greg,
The CNAME is required so your custom domain can also make use of our server network all over the world to deliver you fast page and photo loads regardless of location. A records can't provide the feature and are therefore not supported as the main record.
Read more on the feature here.