How To Use Your Own "Pre-Purchased" Domain Name on the ActiveRain Outside Blogs
This applies to members with Outside Blogs that want to use an existing domain name purchased elsewhere.
"Each new ActiveRain Outside Blog comes with a free custom domain name. But what if you've already purchased a domain name? Using your own domain with your new blog doesn't have to be a nightmare. Just follow your registrar's instructions for updating your domain's name servers. You'll need to point them at ActiveRain."
Here's a tutorial on how to setup your Outside Blog with your own Domain Name or URL in 5 easy steps. Keep in mind that when using your own previously purchased domain names, there can be nothing attached to it. No information currently residing on it. So for example, I just purchased my AR Outside Blog, I own a domain name BradAndersohn.com, (with nothing on it) and I want this to be the URL for my AR Outside Blog.
In this tutorial, I'll be using the GoDaddy Site since they are one of the Largest Domain Name providers in the world. The process in doing this with your registrar (if other than GoDaddy) should be the same or similar.
STEP 1:
Go to "GoDaddy.com" and Log-in to your GoDaddy Account:
STEP 2:
A list of your Domain names and sites will appear on the main page, click on the "Advanced Details" Link:
STEP 3:
In the GoDaddy Domain Manager, you will need to click on the "Manage" link located in the Nameservers section
(See Highlighted Area Below)
STEP 4:
Now you need to check the button "I host my domains with another provider" and also change the Nameserver settings to "NS1.AGENTSPACES.COM" & "NS2.AGENTSPACES.COM" then click on the "OK" button. (see below)
STEP 5:
Go to your AR Outside Blog and click on the "Domain" link located in the top toolbar. In the Domain Box, enter in the URL or Domain name and click on the "update domain" button. (TIP: Don't add http, or WWW, no spaces, no CAPS, no symbols etc. and include the .com)
You'll be able to access your blog at its new URL in as little as 5 minutes!
(on a bad day, it could take 24-48 hours)
ActiveRain provides you a "Custom Domain" name with ALL your New Outside Blogs if you don't already have one, and it IS included. There is no additional fee or charge for creating your own custom Domain names on AR Outside Blogs. To see what domain names might be available, just go to your Outside Blog, click on the "Domain" link located on the top toolbar, then enter your desired name in box #1. (IE: activebobstewart.com) Then click on the "Check Availability" link to see if your custom domain name is available. If it is, the "Claim Domain" button will become enabled, and you can claim your new Outside Blog domain name right then and there.
THE FINAL STEP:
If any of these steps cause or give you nausea, headaches, diarrhea, vomiting, or any other out of the ordinary daily blogging symptoms, then disconnect from your computer immediately, put your feet up on a lazy boy recliner, take two aspirin, and then call me in the morning. I'd be happy to help you through it if you need! To get your own personalized and customizable Outside Blogs, CLICK HERE. :-))
Hey Brad: This is awesome. Thank you. I have bookmarked this and will definitely use it. Thanks again!
Should you mask or not mask?
Again always providing usefull information, thanks.
I agree with Cheryl - good info, helpful too.
Thanks Brad - great iinfo as always. I already have an outside blog set up thru AR, but will bookmark this in case I need to do another one.
Thanks,
MIke
Missy - Domain masking lets you protect the address of a particular site, while still allowing customers to access the content. When you just use forwarding, the forwarding address will not appear in the browser's address field after the forwarding is completed. When you add masking, the forwarding address will always stay in the browser's address field and hide the real destination's address.
Mike - You can have as many OB's as you like. Some members do have multiple Outside Blogs depending on their specific niche markets.
Blog-N-Roll Brad...
I don't need no stinkin' domain site on AR :)
And just so you know, I am cracking myself up with this :)
TLW...ROAR!
By the way...
Could you give me directions to the nearest black hole? I have a Grand Daughter I'd like to toss into it :)
Folks...
Easy now. That's what they call humor :)
TLW...ROAR!
Thanks Brad. As usual, I am bookmarking to review later. I have the outside blog AND a separate domain name just sitting unused. Oh, the indigestion of it all!
FOFL @ TLW. Thanks for the post brad, I was just thinking about this yesterday. You must have read my mind.
Can you comment on how/if the domain name will help with Google juice? I'm curious.
Thanks Brad! Now that I know we can use our own domain-- I will get active and set up my blog. This should encourage me to start bloging more.
Thanks for all the tips Brad , I will be bookmarking for later!
Thanks Brad. I was wondering if there was a way to set this up. I really appreciate all your great advice!
Great step by step instructions. Thanks for posting this
Excellent, clear, helpful post, thank you.
Brad: Are you inside my brain? Hearing my thoughts? I was just wondering about domain names for my outside blog and how to that whole thing. Cool!
Brad,
Useful! That's the highest compliment I can offer a blogger. Thanks.
Mike in Tucson
Hi Brad...Great Info for us all to bookmark...I think I'll register ActiveBobStewart..:O))
This is great - I did this with my SeattleAfloat.com :) It has worked out well.
You are a master at step by step instructions! Great post! ~Nyssa
Can you do this with more than one existing URL?
My domain name provider wanted the nameservers *and* IP addresses. I provided the nameserver names and left the IP addresses blank... will it work? I'll find out soon I guess... if not, can you let me know how to resolve it (what IP addresses do I enter?)
AND.... again, can I do this for more than one URL?
Thank you so much!
What a great post. Thank you!
Great step by step post I need to bookmark this for later.
Google is faster than ever today! WOW! 30 min? Must be cause I mentioned ActiveBobStewart! :-))
Great news! I've got a better Domain Name I'm waiting to purchase, if it comes available next year. (the current owner died earlier this year, so I expect it to not be renewed) I'll come back to these instruction if/when I get it. Thanks!
"Brad: Are you inside my brain? Hearing my thoughts? I was just wondering about domain names for my outside blog and how to that whole thing. Cool!"
Chris Ann - This seems to be the hot topic as of late, I have spent numerous hours on the phone explaining this to folks, seemed like a good idea to just post it for future inquiries. So, would you have been my next call? lol~ Thanks. BTW - I do hear your thoughts.. lol~
"Can you do this with more than one existing URL?"
Bruce - yes you can. You don't need to do anything with the IP address, just change the nameservers. If you have other domain names you want to forward and mask to your outside Blog, you can do that as well, or just save them for future sites and additional outside blogs.
Just what I needed to know - wow you've got awesome timing!! Thanks - bookmarked to come back to in the next couple days so I can finally do this!!
Bookmarked - thanks.
These are great step by step instructions. I really aprreciate how you are able to communicate clearly to those of us who are less "technically" gifted! Thank you!
Brad, It's good to have the set of directions bookmarked - just in case! I like your remedy for the side effects that could be felt with technology! Thanks.
Bookmarked for all our newbies - thanks! Brad I'd like to use the promo link like you've got with the promo stuff we're doing - ok?
Brad - I started and very quickly ended here:
THE FINAL STEP:
If any of these steps cause or give you nausea, headaches, diarrhea, vomiting, or any other out of the ordinary daily blogging symptoms, then disconnect from your computer immediately, put your feet up on a lazy boy recliner, take two aspirin, and then call me in the morning. I'd be happy to help you through it if you need!
I'll bookmark and try again when I'm feeling better. : )
Anna - that's great, help yourself.
Yolanda - Hope you're felling better soon. :-)
Thanks for the tip. (Knew there had to be a way)
Thank you Brad - much appreciated!
Here's a great example of what Kevin and Monica Ray did with one of their outside Blogs: kevinandmonicaray.com
Thanks for the great information Brad.
I have a domain name that is associated with my website, but it is going nowhere. After reading this helpful blog, I'm going to disassociate it with my website and attach to my ActiveRain outside blog.
Thanks for the information Brad I had wanted to use this feature but didnt know what to set the DNS servers to. Thanks for sharing.
Great stuff, I can use all the technical help that I can get. Keep it coming.
Brad-- okay, I already knew how to do this... But I just had to comment on how well written it was. Very easy to understand. I don't think anybody should experience nausea or vomiting.
Okay, maybe a little vomiting.
But very easy to read and the screen shots are certainly helpful.
Hey Brad 2 things 1 thanks for the great info. 2 you know I will screw this up and we will be talking. But I did get MP# to work so maybe this time I will get it right first time
Perfect timing Brad! I was just looking at how to do this this today and voila - you did the research for me!
Brad, I can't keep up with all the info you give us. Somedays I feel like I need to hire an IT person.
Tammie - this is one of the true benefits of AR, you don't have to hire an IT person, you have me here!! (Big Smile) :-))
Thank you so much! I'll will be working on getting that set up right now!
Thank you.
I don't know man...
I'm thinking about hiring an It. He's kinda cute :)
Go ahead. Delete me. It wouldn't be a first for me :)
TLW...ROAR!
Brad - You have great timing for this post since I having been planning for quite some time to become a paying member in late 2009. It appears very easy to setup.
1) Do you offer a discount if I use a domain I already own? (I know domains are very inexpensive but if I don't ask, you don't get the chance to say yes, do you?)
2) In some of your comments above, you indicated that you could use multiple domains, say one for each niche area. I haven't seen any posts about this issue. Do you mean that I could have some posts (e.g. market statistics and neighbourhood localism type posts) posted to outside blog MyFarmArea1.com while other posts are only posted to MyFarmArea2.com? How would this work? Would I be paying for two outside blogs?
Good stuff Brad. I have several outside blogs and was just thinkiong I wanted to change out one of the domain names that I have. Now I know how. Cool.
TLW - Love cousin IT! That and the Munsters were two of my favorite shows growing up. Also the three stooges and abbot and costello, anyway, I digress. Thanks for the movie and the walk down memory lane. :-)
Marc - you would need two seperate outside Blogs with two seperate domain names. Each outside blog is 19 a month, and since the custom domain names are included with that, there's not really a discount as much as there is the choice. Alot of members use existing domain names, but many also want to use those they previously purchased. The benefit of multiple outside blogs is that you can create multiple niches and selectively post to each of them right from the AR platform. I have 5 right now. Let me know if you need any help. REnetBlog.com,
ActiveRainGuide.com, ActiveRainTeam.com, ActiveBradsBlog.com, REBrokersofAmerica.com.
BB - BloggingBertha.com? Oh please say yes, please? I miss her/him/it!! lol~ I think that domain is available too???? :-))
Brad - Isn't the $19/month for those who were grandfathered prior to February 2009? I thought the new rate is $29/month for those who join after mid-February 2009, although it seems that ActiveRain recently raised the rate to $39 (unless you buy 12 months at once to get the rate back to $29). I haven't investigated the pricing fully so I might be wrong.
Once you're a Rainmaker Marc, grandfathered or not, Outside Blogs are 19.00ea for everyone. For new members joining after 2/16/09, one customizable Outside Blog is included with that price. Each additional OB is still 19. It is 29 for the Rainmaker upgrade, unless you choose to go month to month, then I believe it is 39. I also can offer a new member discount promo for 5 dollars the first month if you know some folks (including yourself) who want to test out the "rain-water" before jumping in for the Full swim. :-))
Brad- I think I understand but set me straight. I currently have a domain name that is associated with my website which I created a few years ago. However it is more static than anything I do on ActiveRain. Not yet ready, though to drop the website. I can purchase a very similar domain name but it is ".net" However at least this would be associated with my company name. This is what I would use for my outside blog. Or do you think it better to have a domain/outside blog associated with my name?
BTW- Thanks once again for helping us poor IT- challenged Rainers out.
Al & Peggy - I have fixed your little do dad. It should start appearing shortly. :-)
Kathy - I wouldn't recommend a .net domain name. We have had a few issues with those in the past. As far as the name goes, I would think more along the lines of Hyper-local than a company or personal name. That's just my opinion.
Josh - will check it out! :-)
Yay! You gave us the name server info! I don't have to just "point" my domains here anymore =D I don't suppose you'd like to give us the same info for AR?
I still have to do this. I've purchase many domain names, but most point to my actual website. I'd like to tie a few into the outside blog. Thanks for the reminder. I think I'll go do this now.
Very good to know! Thanks for sharing, going to save this for future reference.
Sincerely,
Kathleen
Brad,
Thanks for this. I have been using a redirect domain for a couple of years now - good to know I can just rename the whole blog - gonna take care of it over the weekend...not a good idea to be tweaking after midnight...blogging yes, tweaking definitely not.
Thanks again,
John
Oh my goodness, I think I just did it! Now...what if I want to change which godaddy domain name I use?
Thanks for the fix Brad, wish we could get our Sellers to adjust their prices as quick.
Brad thanks for the concise and easy to understand directions. I really got a kick out of the final paragraph also.
Michelle - if you want to change the name, we have to wipe out the old one. It's something that the AR staff would have to help you with. Once you have a good domain name hooked up, I don't suggest changing it as many of your links will be broken until it gets reindexed.
I can't tell you enough how helpful this information is. I've had a domain name parked for years and really didn't like the choices that Yahoo business had for creating pages. I linked my domain name to a blog I have on blogspot and it worked within 5 minutes!! Thank-you so much. I will favorite this info and keep it for next time.
Thanks Brad, you always make things easy to understand for those of us who aren't techies.
Always appreciated Brad - Thanks for the info
One more thing to do this year, and time's running out. Thanks, Brad!
I actually don't need to do this, but stopped by as part of the Scavenger Hunt. Hope you have a great weekend! -Melissa
Thanks Brad. I've repointed domains before and most of the time it goes smoothly. The fun part is waiting the 24-48 hours for the change to propagate through the either.
Thanks for this - I always know where to find the right info. Getting this all together is my goal
Hi Brad, I got an outside blog in August and in November after reading one of your other posts chose my domain name. My question is, when I reference my link, do I put the one that looks like: http://35a674.activerain.com or Lizflint.com? I put the first, but just wanted to check.
Brad - Your Blog IS the ActiveRain Manual, thanks.
Liz - always reference your domain name, the subdomain name you pointed out is only the link you use to make edits and modifications to your outside blog. Lizflint.com is the link and where you want to drive all your traffic. Sorry for the delay, but sometimes the email notifications that a comment was left on my Blog don't work. Seems this was the case with your comment. Sorry. Have a great and safe New Year. :-)
Just what I was looking for! Thanks!
Brad,
I have a domain through Netfirms that I want to use.....do I just go into my domain management and change the server names to the ones you've listed? What about the IPs they ask for (it says optional, so I assume I just leave them blank?)
thx
Jo
Hi Jo - you are correct. Use the "Domain" link on your outside blog and use the bottom portion to enter the domain name, then go over to your hosting site and change the DNS nameservers as instructed on your outside Blog. There is a link that will show you how to do this next to the box where you enter your domain's URL. :-)
What if you chose to find a domain through the AR option and it's been active for a while, but later purchased another domain name you like better and want to change it? When I click on domain on my outside blog, it does not give me an option to update or anything. I'd love to change it to my new domain. Thanks :)
Jason and Amber - the staff at AR can blow out your old domain name you got from them and the new name can be applied. Just send in a ticket with this request to support@activerain.com or contact Kerrie Greenhalgh on the AR "about" page and she'll hook you up. Tell her I sent you. :-)