2nd Domain Name Questions

THE TOUCH · June 29, 2006

Need some help on Domain Names:D

When I first started our company, I went with www.the-touch.biz for our website because it was the closest thing to our name - The Touch. Since then, I've discovered that it's VERY difficult to give this address to someone over the phone!

So, I just checked and found that www.thetouchphoto.com is available so...I bought it!:thumb

Here's my thoughts...

1. Do I move everything to the new domain and forward the old domain?
2. Do I keep everything how it is and forward the new domain?
3. What's the difference between sub domain, domain alias, and a new domain?
4. Though my website is kind of new, I don't want to mess up the search results that I've already built, and have to start from being nobody again!
5. Anything I'm missing?

Thank you!!!

dragon300zx · June 29, 2006

Forward the new domain. Thats the easiet way. Who is the registrar? With godaddy, I'd forward the domain then mask it and enter new keywords into the keyword boxes on godaddy.

THE TOUCH · June 29, 2006

dragon300zx wrote:

Forward the new domain. Thats the easiet way. Who is the registrar? With godaddy, I'd forward the domain then mask it and enter new keywords into the keyword boxes on godaddy.

My only concern was getting everything lined up now before the website is well established. I feel that if I don't do it now, I'll always have two domains to deal with. Just a thought

My registrar is register.com. They have a free forwarding service with each domain but it puts a banner on the visitors window (no way!). I can pay $49 per year for no banner but it doesn't mention anything about keywords. Could I just transfer the domain to my host and do it there? Host is websitesource.

Thanks!

Andy · June 29, 2006

whatever y ou do, the domain you use with SmugMug must be CNAME Aliased to www.smugmug.com NOT forwarded to your smugmug site.

http://www.smugmug.com/help/professional-accounts
http://blogs.smugmug.com/pros/2005/12/01/dont-get-framed-or-forwarded/

dragon300zx · June 29, 2006

THE TOUCH wrote:

My only concern was getting everything lined up now before the website is well established. I feel that if I don't do it now, I'll always have two domains to deal with. Just a thought

My registrar is register.com. They have a free forwarding service with each domain but it puts a banner on the visitors window (no way!). I can pay $49 per year for no banner but it doesn't mention anything about keywords. Could I just transfer the domain to my host and do it there? Host is websitesource.

Thanks!

Depends on how you ahve your site setup. If your host offers you parked domains you may want to set it up with the dns info pointing to your host and park it on your host. Then it will automatically go to your current site. Never use register.com to expensive, and you get screwed when it comes to stuff like forwarding. I cannot recommend godaddy.com enough and they don't even pay me

.

Now you can make this domain the primary domain with your host and then park the other domain but this will become more complicated and you will have to discuss this option with your hosting company.

THE TOUCH · June 29, 2006

Andy wrote:

whatever y ou do, the domain you use with SmugMug must be CNAME Aliased to www.smugmug.com NOT forwarded to your smugmug site.

http://www.smugmug.com/help/professional-accounts
http://blogs.smugmug.com/pros/2005/12/01/dont-get-framed-or-forwarded/

I think I understand, and I read both the links but let me repeat it back to you just to make sure!:D

Most people have SmugMug as their website and forwarding or framing will not work without some additional work. But, in my case, my site is stored at a separate host and I link to my SmugMug account from my website. This should not create a problem if I setup forwarding...correct?

dragon300zx · June 29, 2006

THE TOUCH wrote:

I think I understand, and I read both the links but let me repeat it back to you just to make sure!:D

Most people have SmugMug as their website and forwarding or framing will not work without some additional work. But, in my case, my site is stored at a separate host and I link to my SmugMug account from my website. This should not create a problem if I setup forwarding...correct?

Correct

Andy · June 29, 2006

THE TOUCH wrote:

I think I understand, and I read both the links but let me repeat it back to you just to make sure!:D

Most people have SmugMug as their website and forwarding or framing will not work without some additional work. But, in my case, my site is stored at a separate host and I link to my SmugMug account from my website. This should not create a problem if I setup forwarding...correct?

Forwarding and Framing WILL NOT work. We do NOT support it.

THE TOUCH · June 29, 2006

dragon300zx wrote:

Depends on how you ahve your site setup. If your host offers you parked domains you may want to set it up with the dns info pointing to your host and park it on your host. Then it will automatically go to your current site. Never use register.com to expensive, and you get screwed when it comes to stuff like forwarding. I cannot recommend godaddy.com enough and they don't even pay me .

Now you can make this domain the primary domain with your host and then park the other domain but this will become more complicated and you will have to discuss this option with your hosting company.

Sounds good. I've been using register.com for years and never really shopped around!

Opps!

So...I agree with keeping the site the same and forwarding the new one, since switching it over would probably be days and days worth of work! But, I'm not sure I understand how to forward. I'm confused on your suggestion of parking with two different hosts - I only have one.

It looks like I can add a new domain to my website host (transfer from register.com), then redirect it. This should be okay, right?

Then, what about keywords and descriptions? Should I built a blank page for the new site even though it will be forwarding?

dragon300zx · June 29, 2006

Andy wrote:

Forwarding and Framing WILL NOT work. We do NOT support it.

Ok this isn't a question of forwarding his domain to his smugmug site. He has his site setup the same as I do and simply links people to his smug mug site to view the gallery. That is all. So he is not framing or forwarding to his smugmug site. What he is wanting to do doesn't actually involve his smugmug site or smug at all.

THE TOUCH · June 29, 2006

Andy wrote:

Forwarding and Framing WILL NOT work. We do NOT support it.

Okay. But, MY setup will work right? Since I'm not forwarding directly to SmugMug, rather linking from my website.

dragon300zx · June 29, 2006

THE TOUCH wrote:

It looks like I can add a new domain to my website host (transfer from register.com), then redirect it. This should be okay, right?

Then, what about keywords and descriptions? Should I built a blank page for the new site even though it will be forwarding?

Ok here is the deal (I hate your host by the way :P) it's not using two different hosts or anything like that.

Right now with your first domain name you have it pointed to the dns servers with your webhost.

NS21.WEBSITESOURCE.NET
and
NS20.WEBSITESOURCE.NET

What you need to do is go to your account on register.com and setup your DNS information the same as your original domain. The two DNS servers I listed above.

Wait two days for the internet to assimilate the new DNS info for your new domain.

So your new domain name will be setup with your register exactly the same as your old domain is.

Then login to your control panel for your website. Listed there will be an option for domain parking. You want to follow the steps for parking your new domain there. Your hosting company can help you with this and should have instructions.

Then once the internet has assimilated that information in 24-48 hours your new domain name will automatically take visitors to your website.

visit www.computerhelpmi.com and www.computerhelpmichigan.com

computerhelpmi.com is the main domain and computerhelpmichigan.com is the parked domain.

No one will see any differences at all. And once the parking is taken care of your work is done. Now you have two domains instead of one which I preffer personally.

dragon300zx · June 29, 2006

THE TOUCH wrote:

Okay. But, MY setup will work right? Since I'm not forwarding directly to SmugMug, rather linking from my website.

Andy's confused please let his posts pass through your brain and exit as if it was a wife asking you to take the trash out.

Andy · June 29, 2006

dragon300zx wrote:

Andy's confused please let his posts pass through your brain and exit as if it was a wife asking you to take the trash out.

No worries

THE TOUCH · June 29, 2006

dragon300zx wrote:

Andy's confused please let his posts pass through your brain and exit as if it was a wife asking you to take the trash out.

HAHA! We posted at the same time to his comment so I missed your reply. Thanks for clarifying!

As for WSS - I hate them too! I did a church website through them years ago and when it came time to do this one, I jumped right on board. I am so sick of them! They're costumer service used to be great - now it stinks. Okay, I'm done.

So, the processed you described with parking - I'll give it a shot. If all it's doing is forwarding to the old website, wouldn't it be easier just to transfer the domain to WSS?

THE TOUCH · June 29, 2006

dragon300zx wrote:

Wait two days for the internet to assimilate the new DNS info for your new domain.

Sorry for all the questions! When you say assimilate, does that mean that instead of forwarding, it will display thetouchphoto.com/pages/... when the actual address is the-touch.biz/pages/...?

THANK YOU!!!

dragon300zx · June 29, 2006

THE TOUCH wrote:

HAHA! We posted at the same time to his comment so I missed your reply. Thanks for clarifying!

As for WSS - I hate them too! I did a church website through them years ago and when it came time to do this one, I jumped right on board. I am so sick of them! They're costumer service used to be great - now it stinks. Okay, I'm done.

So, the processed you described with parking - I'll give it a shot. If all it's doing is forwarding to the old website, wouldn't it be easier just to transfer the domain to WSS?

Honestly if you want to do that you can but I never do. I do all of my domain registrations (but two) at godaddy.com and then just setup the dns servers to point to my host. That way if I have a problem with a hosting company (which happens alot) I can automatically get a new hosting company, upload my website (which I always have a complete backup of on my hard drives), change my dns, and switch hosting providers in less than 24 hours without loosing anything, and without my website going down.

Site meaning sites as I have over 15 at this time.

It seems like more work and more things to keep track of but it helps make sure that a nasty hosting company can't hold me hostage.

dragon300zx · June 29, 2006

THE TOUCH wrote:

Sorry for all the questions! When you say assimilate, does that mean that instead of forwarding, it will display thetouchphoto.com/pages/... when the actual address is the-touch.biz/pages/...?

THANK YOU!!!

That is how it will display the pages cause the site will just have two domain's. One site now is two sites.

By assimilate I mean to acquire, learn, absorb, understand..... The new settings for your domain.

It typically takes 12-48 hours for all of the main servers that direct internet traffic to become propagated with new domain information (dns, mx, etc).

THE TOUCH · June 29, 2006

15! Are you crazy!?

I see you logic. Basically, when I get fed up with WSS, I mean, now that I'm fed up with WSS, I won't have to worry about transferring domains to the new host. Unfortunately, the-touch.biz is parked at WSS!

Thank you for all your help!

dragon300zx wrote:

Honestly if you want to do that you can but I never do. I do all of my domain registrations (but two) at godaddy.com and then just setup the dns servers to point to my host. That way if I have a problem with a hosting company (which happens alot) I can automatically get a new hosting company, upload my website (which I always have a complete backup of on my hard drives), change my dns, and switch hosting providers in less than 24 hours without loosing anything, and without my website going down.

Site meaning sites as I have over 15 at this time.

It seems like more work and more things to keep track of but it helps make sure that a nasty hosting company can't hold me hostage.

dragon300zx · June 29, 2006

THE TOUCH wrote:

15! Are you crazy!?

Crazy no (well yes but for different reasons). I do this kinda geek crap for a living.

THE TOUCH · June 29, 2006

dragon300zx wrote:

Crazy no (well yes but for different reasons). I do this kinda geek crap for a living.

So I took care of the register.com side and switched over the DNS Servers to the two that you listed(NS20 & NS21). Then, I went to WSS to see what I'll have to do to park it and saw this -

Register a domain for your site that is hosted elsewhere. This will create a DNS zone that will map this domain to the IP of the server where your site is hosted.

Domain name:
Domain IP address:

Could you explain this? Do I put the new domain, then the IP of my existing site?

You probably charge people for this kind of stuff! Thank you sincerely for your help!

dragon300zx · June 29, 2006

THE TOUCH wrote:

So I took care of the register.com side and switched over the DNS Servers to the two that you listed(NS20 & NS21). Then, I went to WSS to see what I'll have to do to park it and saw this -

Register a domain for your site that is hosted elsewhere. This will create a DNS zone that will map this domain to the IP of the server where your site is hosted.

Domain name:
Domain IP address:

Could you explain this? Do I put the new domain, then the IP of my existing site?

Ignore this. This is to register your domain with them and have your site hosted with a different company (like registering with godaddy.com and hosting with hostgator.com Dragons Currently Preffered Hosting Provider

). Login to your admin page and look for domain parking. But wait for 48 hours to make sure the new dns settings on the domain name have propagated or it won't work.

You probably charge people for this kind of stuff! Thank you sincerely for your help!

No worries I already have your home address to send the bill.

It's amazing what I can find on the internet these days.

THE TOUCH · June 29, 2006

dragon300zx wrote:

Ignore this. This is to register your domain with them and have your site hosted with a different company.

No worries I already have your home address to send the bill. It's amazing what I can find on the internet these days.

That was the only place that mentioned "parking". I looked around some more and found "Domain Alias" which sounds like what I need - here's the description:

the domain name can have aliases - secondary names that refer to the primary i. e. original domain. For instance if your web site is called company.com, you can have an alias company.net point to company.com.

Otherwise, under Add New Domain, it gives me the option to register a second-level domain, transfer an existing domain, and domain parking (previously mentioned).

Feel free to send me a bill!

It's well deserved with all of the time & stress you've saved me!!!:D

dragon300zx · June 29, 2006

THE TOUCH wrote:

That was the only place that mentioned "parking". I looked around some more and found "Domain Alias" which sounds like what I need - here's the description:

the domain name can have aliases - secondary names that refer to the primary i. e. original domain. For instance if your web site is called company.com, you can have an alias company.net point to company.com.

Otherwise, under Add New Domain, it gives me the option to register a second-level domain, transfer an existing domain, and domain parking (previously mentioned).

Feel free to send me a bill! It's well deserved with all of the time & stress you've saved me!!!:D

Yup Domain Alias is the option you want. Different hosts call it different things so I'm used to parking.

Oh and I did check their site. They do call it domain parking on their marketing pages.

THE TOUCH · June 29, 2006

dragon300zx wrote:

Yup Domain Alias is the option you want. Different hosts call it different things so I'm used to parking.

Sweet! That's pretty easy (with your great help of coarse!)!

Thank you so much for your help! I'll setup the Alias once the waiting period is finished.

Now I gotta figure out how I want to setup my mail!

I have several email accounts with the-touch.biz that all forward to one main account, then I pull from the main account to my email. I guess I'll setup thetouchphoto.com accounts and forward those to main the-touch.biz account.

Such a mess but I'm so excited! I was getting so frustrated with having to spell out our current website!

dragon300zx · June 29, 2006

THE TOUCH wrote:

Such a mess but I'm so excited! I was getting so frustrated with having to spell out our current website!

leaving work now I'll post more when I get home.

dragon300zx · June 29, 2006

Ok I had to think about this and I was on the phone before I left work sooo thinking was hard.

I think you have the right Idea with the email setup. One main address for you to have to deal with and should only take you 5 minutes to set it up. Will make life very easy for ya.

flyingdutchie · June 30, 2006

This is how i did it
I use GoDaddy as my registrar.

I bought streetsofboston.com and streets-of-boston.com.
Then decide which your preferred name is. For me it is streetsofboston.com.
Follow Smugmug's process to make your preferred name your host-name for smugmug. In my case: www.streetsofboston.com.
Then, using GoDaddy's config pages, i forwarded streets-of-boston.com to streetsofboston.com. This will cause anyone's browser to go to www.streetsofboston.com instead when they typed in www.streets-of-boston.com (HTTP-redirect).

That was it

. Works like a breeze.

E-mail setup:

GoDaddy allows for a free e-mail account that comes with your domain.
Using GoDaddy's config pages, you can setup the account.
GoDaddy provides the POP and SMTP server-addresses as well, so you can use your own e-mail client to receive e-mail.
Or you can use GoDaddy's web-based e-mail client.

THE TOUCH · June 30, 2006

Thanks for the info!

flyingdutchie wrote:

I use GoDaddy as my registrar.
I bought streetsofboston.com and streets-of-boston.com.

Then decide which your preferred name is. For me it is streetsofboston.com.

Follow Smugmug's process to make your preferred name your host-name for smugmug. In my case: www.streetsofboston.com.

Then, using GoDaddy's config pages, i forwarded streets-of-boston.com to streetsofboston.com. This will cause anyone's browser to go to www.streetsofboston.com instead when they typed in www.streets-of-boston.com (HTTP-redirect).

That was it . Works like a breeze.

E-mail setup:
GoDaddy allows for a free e-mail account that comes with your domain.

Using GoDaddy's config pages, you can setup the account.

GoDaddy provides the POP and SMTP server-addresses as well, so you can use your own e-mail client to receive e-mail.

Or you can use GoDaddy's web-based e-mail client.

THE TOUCH · July 6, 2006

dragon300zx wrote:

Yup Domain Alias is the option you want. Different hosts call it different things so I'm used to parking.

Oh and I did check their site. They do call it domain parking on their marketing pages.

Hi dragon300zx - I setup the domain alias a couple days ago (I think!) and still no worky. Did I miss something? How long does it take once I add the domain?

Thanks!

THE TOUCH · July 6, 2006

THE TOUCH wrote:

Hi dragon300zx - I setup the domain alias a couple days ago (I think!) and still no worky. Did I miss something? How long does it take once I add the domain?

Thanks!

Cancel that!:D

I did the instant chat through WSS and it actually went very well! Here's what he found -

Our nameserver seems to be having some trouble so it's not able to get an IP address for that domain. I will have to wait for my Admin to come in (about 2 hours) before I can correct the problem but it should be up within a few hours from now.

We'll see what happens.

2nd Domain Name Questions

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