Mapping a Domain to a TypePad Blog

February 28, 2005 4:33 PM

Domain mapping to a TypePad blog. For the past 10 days, I have desperately been trying to map a domain name to my TypePad blog. Every solution offered to me by either TypePad or my registrar seems to undo something else. I am trying to: have the domain mapped seamlessly (masked, I believe it's called), but also for the Permalinks (unique urls) to work. I am in over my head!

Right now, if you type in http://www.mydomain.net *everything* works as it should. You don't see the TypePad domain name come up in the address, the permalinks work, and all is golden. HOWEVER, if you type in http://mydomain.net (notice the lack of WWW), it visibly forwards to my TypePad domain - as in, it then becomes http://www.myblog.typepad.com. This is NOT what I want to happen! One solution was to check "Masking" on the Registrar's side, but of course that removes the Permalinks, as far as I know. Someone else said that I had to do the forwarding first, then do any DNS changes. Now someone else there said that what I want to do is impossible. Is it really? Is it too much to ask so that http://www and http:// work the same? Obviously, this is the first time I've ever tried this, have little-to-no understanding of it all, and am at the mercy of their suggestions. Please hope me!

posted by fionab to computers & internet (10 comments total)

Wow. I'm already below the crease on the front page. That was quick! I had a question that indicated the person was trying to access the above domains -- those are fake addresses, and it's not the site on my user page. I'm not looking for hits as the site is not even designed yet, and I really do need help. At this point, I'd even be willing to pony up a few bucks to someone who can fix it for me.
posted by fionab at 5:14 PM on February 28, 2005

Have you opened a TypePad help ticket? Those guys are great with support, and would know a whole lot more than us.
posted by rhapsodie at 6:06 PM on February 28, 2005

Yeah, I've submitted to both TypePad and GoDaddy. No luck with any resolutions so far. They've usually been superb, and they do offer some potential solutions, but none have worked thus far.
posted by fionab at 6:13 PM on February 28, 2005

You want GoDaddy's DNS servers to resolve example.com to www.example.com. Someplace on the GoDaddy admin interface, you should see something for domain forwarding or DNS settings. You might see something like *.example.com. These keywords might help you get the support folks to answer your question. I don't have an domains with either service, so I can't be more specific.

If you can't get it fixed from that, you can email me (in profile) and I'll help more.
posted by McGuillicuddy at 8:39 PM on February 28, 2005

Thanks McGuillicuddy -- an email was sent. If my domain is being forwarded to the TypePad account, does it matter if it is sent to http://www.myblog.typepad.com - with or without the www?
posted by fionab at 10:07 PM on February 28, 2005

Yes, it does. It should be without the www.

It is not too much to ask that http://www and http:// work the same, but they both have to be set up manually and individually. For what it's worth, I've been having issues with getting Godaddy and Typepad to work together as well. Please write back here when you hear from Typepad!
posted by adrianhon at 1:32 AM on March 1, 2005

I would do this by using a DNS service like www.dyndns.org. You would set up the domain name (mydomain.net) so that its primary and secondary DNS servers are at DynDNS, and then configure the DNS servers so that *.mydomain.net is a CNAME for the server myblog.typepad.com.
posted by chrismear at 2:18 AM on March 1, 2005

Sorry, just had a look at GoDaddy, and it seems that they support this kind of DNS stuff directly, so you don't need to involve a third party like DynDNS.

You should just be able to follow these instructions from TypePad. Is this what you've tried already?
posted by chrismear at 2:24 AM on March 1, 2005

Ok, I've switched the forwarding so that it doesn't include the www. We'll see if that works. Masking hasn't worked as it then makes the Permalinks not work properly. I've contacted TypePad, and they say the same thing as you do: I need example.com to resolve to www.example.com. Thank you everyone - I may contact you through email if this doesn't work! And yes chrismear, thanks for the suggestion of DynDNS but you're right that GoDaddy should be able to do this. Those were the instructions from TypePad that I followed, but it seems as though others have had problems too. adrianhon, have you figured it out yet?
posted by fionab at 10:24 AM on March 1, 2005

After many calls and trial and error, this is the best I could come up with. It seems to have worked, for now:

Instructions for GoDaddy (after you have set up the TypePad blog account)

1. Make sure the domain is "parked."
2. Go to the DNS settings. Under "Manage Domains", then click on the Domain Name that you want to have mapped to your TypePad blog. On the right, you will see a series of options with a little "+" sign in front of them. Click on the "+" sign next to "Total DNS control". Two options will come up under that. Then Click on Total DNS Control and MX Records. Then click on "Launch Total DNS Control Manager." Make sure you allow GoDaddy to allow Pop Ups - a new window will open. Change the following:
www alias points to "@" -- Click on "Edit" next to this Line. Change the @ to your TypePad addess (example.typepad.com)
3. Close the DNS Manager window.
4. Under "Domain Names", on the pulldown menu, select Domain Forwarding. Click on the domain name that you are mapping onto your TypePad account. In the "Forward To:" line, enter your domain name -- NOT your TypePad account. This should be in the form: http://www.sampledomain.com -- this makes sure that both your http://sampledomain.com and your http://www.sampledomain.com go to the same place. DO NOT CHECK MASKING. This will make your Permalinks inactive on your blog. Click on SAVE CHANGES.
5. Wait at least 24 hours. By this time, you should be able to type in your domain name, and see your blog as you've designed it. At this time, you can go back into your TypePad account and check the "set to active" box. It should work! Good luck!
posted by fionab at 3:01 PM on March 8, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]