Adding Ownership Verification For Your Custom Domain? Examine The Error Display

Sometimes, you have to step outside the box, to complete a Blogger blog task.

The task of adding domain ownership verification, to a custom domain purchased using "Buy a domain", is one example of stepping outside the box. I advise people that tweaking DNS settings, in general, is a task best undertaken by someone with "Advanced" experience with Blogger custom domain publishing.

Unfortunately, domains purchased using "Buy a domain" are occasionally subject to incomplete setup - and correction of an incomplete setup involves republishing the domain. And republishing the domain requires verification of domain ownership.

To a first time domain owner, the task of verifying domain ownership is surely a bit scary.

We have not been able to verify your authority to this domain.

This initial accusation is followed by the instructions

On your domain registrar's website, locate your Domain Name System (DNS) settings and enter the following two CNAMEs:

The challenge, for many, is getting to the Domain Name System (DNS) settings, aka the Zone Editor.

1. Login to Google Apps.
2. Find the instructions for logging in to the registrar's website.
3. Login to the registrar's website.
4. Find the registrar's Zone Editor wizard.

Having completed Steps #1 - #4, adding the "CNAME" is almost an anticlimax. See the instructions?

On your domain registrar's website, locate your Domain Name System (DNS) settings and enter the following two CNAMEs:

  Name, Label, or Host field    Destination, Target, or Points To field

  www                           ghs.google.com

  i7vgls457wxc                  gv-fbz2zptam3ucji.dv.googlehosted.com

Once you have access to the Zone Editor, look for "www", added by "Buy a domain". See how it's formatted, in the display?

• Add the second "CNAME", mirroring the format and syntax of the first.
• Note the example of the second, shown here as "i7vgls457wxc" - though when you setup your domain, you will surely see different values for both "i7vgls457wxc" and "gv-fbz2zptam3ucji.dv.googlehosted.com")
• Refresh the Zone Editor list, and compare the "www" and "i7vgls457wxc" entries.
• If you added the new entry properly, the format and syntax, of the two entries, will be identical.

Having successfully added your new "CNAME", go back to the Blogger Publishing wizard, and publish the blog to the domain. Finally, wait a few days for Transition to expire - and while you wait, plan what to do, next.

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