How to use your own domain name with Yola
This tutorial will guide you through the process of publishing your site with your own custom domain (such as www.mydomain.com) that has been purchased from a domain registrar (not purchased from Yola).
Contents (click on a link if you want to jump to that point):
Basic steps to configure your domain
Administering your domain
Publishing your Site on Yola
Troubleshooting your domain
Basic steps to configure your domain
These are general instructions on how to configure your domain to point to Yola. If you require specific help with the interface of your domain name registrar, you would need to contact them for support.
How to configure a domain name you already own:
- Log in to your chosen domain registrar.
- Go to the DNS Management page.
- Set up an A Record.
- The IP address of your record must point to: "208.75.208.172"
- Please note that it can take up to 48 hours (although usually less) for these changes to take effect.
If you would like your domain to work correctly with the "www" prefix you need to make sure that your DNS settings are configured correctly to support the "www" prefix. For this you need to set up two A-records; one with the hostname "@" and one with the hostname "www". Both should point to our IP address: 208.75.208.172.
GoDaddy
Pointing your domain to Yola
So you've successfully registered your domain with GoDaddy. Now you want to set it up so that when someone types your domain into their browser they get your website. To do this we need to set up your A Record to point to Yola.
1. If you're not logged in, login to your GoDaddy account.
2. Under 'My Products' on the menu on the left, click on "Show all my Products" and then click on "Domain Manager". This will take you to your GoDaddy domain manager in a new tab.
3. From the 'Domain Manager' interface, click on the domain you want to edit.
4. Click on 'Total DNS Control' on the right of the screen.
5. Now you need to edit your A record. Click on the "edit" icon in the section: A("host")
6. In the box where it says "Points To Ip Address:" put the Yola IP: 208.75.208.172 and click OK
Congratulations! Your domain now points to Yola. You can test if this has worked by typing your domain into your browser. If all has worked correctly you should end up on a placeholder page that displays your site name. Don't be too worried if this is not the case, bear in mind that DNS changes, like you have just made, can take up to 48 hours to propagate through the internet.
If after 48 hours your domain is still not working as you would like, see the section on domain diagnosis and troubleshooting
Otherwise, continue to the next section: publishing your site on Yola
Register.com
Pointing your domain to Yola
So you've successfully registered your domain with Register. Now you want to set it up so that when someone types your domain into their browser they get your website. To do this we need to set up your A Record to point to Yola.
1. After purchasing your domain, you are presented with the following screen:
2. Click on 'Log in' under "Let's get Started" so that you can edit your domain. This page can also be reached from the "Your Account" button on the menu toolbar.
3. Once you've logged in, The 'Manage account' page looks like this:
4. Click on your domain to configure it. On the next page, scroll right to the bottom. Under "Advanced Technical Settings", click on "Edit IP Address Records" next to the "A".
5. You can now edit your A records. You will want to set the A record for both * and @ (@ might be blank in the textbox). Update both values to: 208.75.208.172. Once you are satisfied that the records are correctly updated, click 'Continue' to apply the changes.
6. Register will now ask you to confirm your changes. Make sure that everything looks right. It should say something like:
7. If you are happy with these details, click "Continue"
Congratulations! Your domain now points to Yola. You can test if this has worked by typing your domain into your browser. If all has worked correctly you should end up at a placeholder page displaying your site name. Don't be too worried if this is not the case, bear in mind that DNS changes, like you have just made, can take up to 48 hours to propagate through the internet.
If after 48 hours your domain is still not working as you would like, see the section on domain diagnosis and troubleshooting
Otherwise, continue to the next section: Publishing your Site on Yola
ZoneEdit
What is ZoneEdit?
ZoneEdit is a free internet domain name management service. In particular, the service that they offer that we are interested in is this:
"Managed DNS Service - Did your registrar sell you a domain name, then leave you without any DNS? ZoneEdit.com provides DNS, with an easy front end. Just type in a domain name and an IP address on a web page, then browse to the domain you've created, instantly!" - www.zoneedit.com website
Note: ZoneEdit is not a domain registrar. You will not be able to buy a domain through ZoneEdit. Rather, you need them in the case that you have registered a domain, but have not been provided with suitable DNS management services enabling you to point your A record at Yola.
Important: You will need to request from whoever registered your domain that they change your nameservers to the ZoneEdit nameservers.
Pointing your domain at Yola - Creating a Zone
1. First thing you need to do is sign up with ZoneEdit. From the homepage click on 'Sign up'. Scroll to the bottom of the page and fill out the form. You can select the free trial option under "Select Service Option". After you have successfully signed up you should receive an email with you access details. Use these to login.
2. Once logged in, click 'Add Zones'
3. Enter your domain and click 'Add Zone'
4. If your nameservers are not correctly set up, ZoneEdit will be request that you update them.
5. You will need to get whoever you registered your domain through to correctly set your nameservers to those provided by ZoneEdit (ns3.zoneedit.com and ns17.zoneedit.com in this case).
6. Note: There can be a delay of up to 48 hours between your nameservers being changed, and ZoneEdit picking up the change. You may just need to be patient.
7. Once your nameservers are correctly configured to point to ZoneEdit you should get a screen like the one below, which will let you manage your 'Zone'.
8. To configure your domain to point to Yola. Click on 'IP Addresses'.
9. This takes you to an interface which lets you determine where your domain points. Leave the 'name' field blank, enter 208.75.208.172 as your 'Numeric IP' and click 'Add new IP address'.
10. ZoneEdit will now ask for confirmation. Make sure you have correctly entered in the IP: 208.75.208.172. We want to point both yourdomain.com and www.yourdomain.com to Yola so that if someone types in either youdomain.com or www.yourdomain.com, both will end up at your website. Click on the top 'Yes' button to select this option.
Congratulations! You have successfully set up your domain to point to Yola using ZoneEdit!
You can test if this has worked by typing your domain into your browser. If all has worked correctly you should end up at a placeholder page displaying your site name. Don't be too worried if this is not the case, bear in mind that DNS changes, like you have just made, can take up to 48 hours to propagate through the internet.
If after 48 hours your domain is still not working as you would like, see the section on domain diagnosis and troubleshooting
Otherwise, continue to the next section: Publishing your Site on Yola
Publishing your Site on Yola
1. In Yola, from your website, click on the "Publish My Site" button.
2. Click on "Use my Domain" under "I want to use an address (domain) I already own".
3. Enter your domain that you have just configured and click on "Test Setup". Yola will validate your domain, making sure that it is set up correctly.
4. Note: You will not be able to publish to this domain until you have successfully registered it and set it up to point to the Yola IP (208.75.208.172). Also, remember, it may take some time for your domain to propagate, so if you have successfully registered and configured your domain you may just need to be patient.
5. If all is well, click on "Use this domain name" to continue the publication process.
And that's it! Congratulations! You now have your very own website available at your very own domain!
Domains diagnosis and troubleshooting
After following this tutorial hopefully you have managed to successfully get your domain loading your website. But things are not always straight forward in the world of domains! Below are listed a few handy tips to help you find out more:
Get information about your domain
There are a number of websites out there that can help you get more information about your website which can help you troubleshoot what might be wrong.
For the purposes of this tutorial we will be using the webmastertoolkit dig utility. You can find this at: http://www.webmaster-toolkit.com/dig.shtml.
1. Simply type your domain name into the textbox and click 'dig':
2. The result page show's a good deal of debugging information. What we are most interested in is the A record. Make sure that it is correctly pointing to: 208.75.208.172
