The Mysterious "Destination" / "Points To" Label

Some blog owners buy domains, for publishing a Blogger blog, and ask about how to address the domain.

What address do I use for "Points to"?

Other owners may ask a similar question, referencing "Destination" or maybe "Target".

There is no real difference, between all 3 labels. "Destination", "Target", and "Points to" all refer to the same DNS address value.

To compound the confusion, 4 different addresses are required, when addressing a Blogger custom domain root.

Defining the DNS servers used by the domain root ("naked domain") requires 4 address records - and the labels used, in the zone editor, will vary from registrar to registrar.

We know of 3 different labels, used by Blogger custom domain instructions.

The referential Blogger document How do I use a custom domain name for my blog? uses 3 labels to identify the 4 name servers, which are provided by Google. Blogger uses the triplet label "Destination, Target, or Points to" as their example.

Google provides 4 name servers, to give us multiple redundancy.

Google provides four mutually redundant individual servers, each responding to a specific IP address - for custom domain clients to address the domain root, in a round robin sequence.

There are 4 name servers provided by Blogger, to address a custom domain root.



Each domain root name server entry uses 2 important label values ("Name, Label, or Host" - and "Destination, Target, or Points to").

Each label may have 1 of 3 values, depending upon the zone editor provided by the registrar.

Here is the Dig Log, for the domain root. Look at the 2, 4, 6, and 8, in the 4 address entries.

mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.32.21
mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.34.21
mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.36.21
mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.38.21

In the GoDaddy zone editor, you'll see these entries depicted as

  Host   Points to           TTL
  @      216.239.32.21    1 Hour
  @      216.239.34.21    1 Hour
  @      216.239.36.21    1 Hour
  @      216.239.38.21    1 Hour

The GoDaddy zone editor uses the labels "Host" and "Points to".

Similar labels ("Name", "Label" and "Destination", "Target") are used by various other registrars, in their own zone editor.

A Zone Editor display, showing the base DNS addresses, for GoDaddy.

Here is the display, used by GoDaddy, for "nitecruzr.co.uk".


Here is the zone editor display, as provided by GoDaddy.

Do you see the 4 address records, beneath "Points to"?



The labels in the address records differ, from registrar to registrar. The "Name, Label, or Host" address values (here, shown as "@") will differ, from registrar to registrar - but the "Destination, Target, or Points to" address values will not differ. A properly addressed domain will have the same 4 "Destination, Target, or Points to" address values, as every other properly addressed domain.

mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.3n.21

Each address will have one of four values for n: 2, 4, 6, or 8.

Complementing "Destination, Target, or Points to", we have another label set.

Complementing the 3 "Destination, Target, or Points to" label address values, for addressing the 4 name servers provided by Google, we have a similar set of 3 "Name, Label, or Host" label address values.

Addressing "Name, Label, or Host" is somewhat simpler - as all 4 entries are identical to each other, for any domain root address entry.

The Blogger instructions, like the GoDaddy zone editor, use "@", when addressing the domain root. The zone editor value used, however, may differ from registrar to registrar.

Any blog owner, wishing to have a working custom domain, needs to understand how to setup a domain for the registrar involved.

The end result.

Both the "Name, Label, or Host" - and the "Destination, Target, or Points to" - label triplets are only examples. Other unidentified registrars may use other labels.

Considering the Blogger instructions, and the terminology required, Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue will not soon run out of blog owners, requesting assistance for making their custom domains work.

---

Some #Blogger blog owners, in the process of setting up their blogs using custom domain publishing, find that labels "Name", "Label", or "Host" - and "Destination", "Points to", or "Target" - are only examples, in the Blogger Help document.

There is no attempt at standardisation, used by the thousands of different Internet registrars, in their dashboards (aka "zone editors").




https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/blogger/kMDo0O1xtDM

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Custom Domain Migration, And Redirection Blocking

We see occasional frustration, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, involving broken or unreliable custom domains.

I setup the Custom Domain properly, following the Google directions.

For some of my readers, my custom domain is not opening. I can see it is going in an infinite loop in the browser - and after a long time, it's throwing errors. My domain is setup, properly. Why do I have to deal with this?

And we will investigate - and in many cases, we find the domain is setup properly.

Some custom domain published blogs have problems, which have nothing to do with the domain setup.

Some custom domain problems involve custom code, added to the template, long ago.

Not everybody is in favour of the ongoing Blogger efforts to convince blog owners to force their readers to use HTTPS / SSL, in blog access.

A number of hackers are making their websites popular, by providing code that lets blogs block forced HTTPS access - just as they provided code that blocked local country domain redirection. Some blog owners add this dodgy code, to their blogs.

This hacking lets blog owners publish their blogs, and use accessories and gadgets that only support HTTP access. Unfortunately, with third party code, you get what you get.

Some third party code, which blocks HTTPS blog access, works OK - for a while.

When a blog is published to a custom domain, redirection to "blogspot.com" causes a redirect loop - or a security check.

<script type='text/javascript'>
var blog = document.location.href.toLowerCase();
if (!blog.match(/\.blogspot\.com/)) {
  blog = blog.replace(/\.blogspot\..*?\//, ".blogspot.com/ncr/");
  window.location.replace(blog);
  }
</script>

This is clever code, seen some time ago when used to block country local domain redirection. Then, as now, some blogs might be deleted or locked as malware hosts - or the blogs would become intermittently inaccessible.

Is the unreliability appropriate? You can add what code you like, to your blog. Eventually, what you add may cause you problems.

---

Some #Blogger blog owners add clever code, to block HTTPS Redirection, to their blogs. This is the same hacker provided code, used long ago to block local country domain redirection.

Like country domain redirection, the code added may work fine, for a while. Eventually, the blog will be deleted / locked for malware hosting - or will start throwing 404 errors and similar confusion.

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/blogger/71k8xOXxByI

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Custom Domain Publishing And Private Blogs

We see an occasional report in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about custom domain publishing.

My readers can't view the blog - they get a redirection count error!

DNS analysis shows a properly setup domain. When we try to examine the blog, we see a private blog notice - or we are required to login.

But why a private blog, using a custom domain?

The purpose of publishing to a custom domain is to increase readership - by making a blog more visible, using a non BlogSpot URL.

A private blog has limited readership, based on permissions provided by the owner. The need to make a blog private conflicts with the need to increase reader population.

Besides the functional conflict, there's a second problem with combining a custom domain published blog, and access by invitation. Both the custom domain redirection, and the private blog redirection involve interstitial code.

This is a private blog. Combine this, and a custom domain redirection - and you get trouble.



A potential blog reader, when accessing the blog by the BlogSpot URL, will redirect to the domain URL - and then to the access checking interstitial. Some browsers will interpret this as a possible security issue, and cite

Too many redirections!

In other cases, the two redirections may lead to a redirect loop - and the reader will see a white screen of death.

What ever the result - "Too many redirections", or a redirect loop, the potential reader will never see the blog.

If you want to publish a blog, and limit reader access by invitation, you're better off publishing to BlogSpot. If you want to use a non BlogSpot URL, a public blog makes sense.

---

You are allowed to publish a #Blogger blog with a designated reader population - and you're allowed to publish a blog to a non BlogSPot URL.

You can publish a private blog to a custom domain, if you wish - but this is not recommended. Learn why combining limited access with a non BlogSpot URL is not a good idea.

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/blogger/5IUByvxKYeg

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Custom Domain Setup, And The Blogger Instructions

Custom domain setups continue to confuse blog owners - and lead sometimes to frustration, expressed in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

When I am trying to set up a custom domain for my new blog, I'm not getting the 2nd CNAME Record, but the settings get saved.

In some cases, the domain may be operational - and other times, the domain will be broken, and no corrective instruction is provided.

The details in the instructions, Blogger Help: How do I use a custom domain name for my blog?, are misleading - and have resulted in broken domains.

The Blogger instructions are confusing.

5. Go to your domain registrar's website and locate the DNS (Domain Name System) settings in the control panel.

Not a lot of details, there.

10. Before you move onto the final step, wait about an hour for your DNS settings to activate. If you attempt the final step before your settings are activated, we'll let you know with a warning message.

All registrars don't use "3600" second TTL.



That's 2 examples of possible problems.

Publishing a blog to a custom domain is so much easier - and produces more reliable results - if you follow basic principles.

• Learn to use your registrar's zone editor.
• Learn to read a Dig log.
• Setup the DNS addresses, for your domain.
• If necessary, add domain ownership verification.

Learn to use your registrar's zone editor.

The registrar dashboard / zone editor is the portion of the registrar's website, that is created to let you, the domain owner, setup your own domain.

The zone editor is unique, for every different registrar - just as every website is different. One of the signs of uniqueness is hinted, by Blogger.

Each CNAME is composed of two parts - Name, Label or Host and Destination, Target or Points to.

These two (only two) terms here refer to the most essential details, in the zone editor, that make your domain operational. The two details have no consistent names - so we use examples.

The first CNAME is the same for everyone, Name being "www" and Destination "ghs.google.com."

That one sentence is the most essential, for all domains. It looks so simple - but it's so easy to get it wrong. Not every blog owner will see "Name" and "Destination" in the zone editor display. This leads to many imaginative - and wrong - alternatives.

Each registrar labels their zone editor, as they see fit. I've seen other terms used, in addition to the 6 implied. Both "Name, Label or Host" and "Destination, Target or Points to" are merely three examples, for each of these two essential elements.

These details are only hinted, by the Blogger instructions.

5. Go to your domain registrar's website and locate the DNS (Domain Name System) settings in the control panel.
6. Now it's time to enter the CNAMEs. Where it says Name, Label or Host simply enter "www" and list ghs.google.com as the Destination, Target or Points to.

Learning how to look, in the zone editor, is much more reliable than being told what to look for.

Learn to read a Dig log.

Compared to the confusion behind the registrar's zone editor, a Dig log is simplicity.

There are three basic DNS configurations, which produce a reliable domain for publishing a Blogger blog. 99.99% of all blog owners will use only one of the three.

ourdomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.32.21
ourdomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.34.21
ourdomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.36.21
ourdomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.38.21
www.ourdomain.com. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

This is the asymmetrical DNS address configuration. Excepting one known variation, the asymmetrical configuration - with no options - is most reliable.

Setup the DNS addresses, for your domain.

As long as you have access to the zone editor, and understand the above issues - "Learn to use your registrar's zone editor" and "Learn to read a Dig log" - the rest will fall into place.

Unfortunately, not everybody has zone editor access. Similar to Blogger dashboard access, registrar dashboard access is not always a done deal.

Even having zone editor access, the Blogger instructions can mislead.

8. Optional: You can also enter A-records, which links your naked domain (example.com) to an actual site (www.example.com). If you skip this step, visitors who leave off the "www" will see an error page.
9. Optional continued: After completing Step 8, enter your domain name in the format example.com, and list the I.P. addresses shown below in the "A" section. You'll need to create four separate A-records which point to four different Google IPs.

Many problems, reported in the forums, indicate that using the domain root properly is (should be indicated as) a necessity.

• Always setup the domain root, to redirect to the published URL.
• Always specify all 4 Google servers, as redirection targets.
• Never include any non Google server, as a redirection target.
• Don't forget to enable the domain root redirect.

Once again, the domain root, configured properly, should not be suggested as an option.

10. Before you move onto the final step, wait about an hour for your DNS settings to activate. If you attempt the final step before your settings are activated, we'll let you know with a warning message.

All registrars don't use one hour TTL.

Be careful of the TTL setting. Unless you know better, stick with the registrar's TTL setting - and try to understand the effects of TTL latency.

If necessary, add domain ownership verification.

Returning to the Blogger instructions, we see

The second CNAME is particular to your blog and your Google Account, and is therefore different for each person.

Not every blog owner will see the second CNAME - whether or not the domain is properly setup.

The Blogger dashboard Publishing wizard only displays the "Error 12", and the second CNAME, under specific conditions. In some cases, the blog will be published to the domain - and the second CNAME will not be provided.

You may not see the instructions for the second "CNAME", until your base addresses are right. If you need the second "CNAME", the "Error 12" display will provide details - when the base addresses redirect properly. If the blog publishes, a second "CNAME" is not necessary.

That is my suggestion. Get the addresses right, before you start - then publish to the domain URL.

If the blog publishes to the domain, and the addresses are wrong, the domain will be broken - or unreliable.

The bottom line.

It's good to have instructions, they suggest the need for proper domain setup technique. Just don't be surprised if following them blindly gives you a broken domain - and an offline blog.

If you are lucky, the blog will appear offline immediately after using the Publishing wizard - and you will know that there is a problem to be fixed. Other times, you (or some readers) might not realise a problem until months or years later.

In the latter case, we'll see you, one day, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

I published my blog to my private domain, last month - and the blog pageviews have been in the crapper, ever since!

---

The instructions supplied by #Blogger, for setting up a custom domain published blog, can be misleading. Blindly observed, they can lead to an immediately offline blog - or to a blog that is online for some, and intermittently offline for others.

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/blogger/Jv0fT5cws3U

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Don't Always Blame Blogger, With Your Blog Down!

Some of my favourite problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, are about inconsistent blog online status.

It was fine yesterday. Why is it down, now?

and

I see the blog, just fine! Why are some of my readers complaining?

and

I can access it, using my phone! Why is Blogger down, on my home computer?

and

The registrar tells me everything is OK!

Whenever I see the latter report, I know exactly where to start.

Particularly when I see the latter symptom, I know exactly where to start.

The registrar tells me everything is OK!

The "registrar says" is a frequent indicator of the problem. I'm not naming names, but the initial "G" (and not "Google") is very frequently involved, in this case.

So, I start with a Dig log, for the domain. And 99% of the time, that's all that is needed.

Bogus DNS addresses are a very commonly seen diagnosis, in so many of these cases. For 99.99% of the blogs, published to a custom domain, there is simply no effective substitute for the "Asymmetrical DNS" setup, provided long ago.

• Maybe the blog will be up for you, and some would be readers - but others will be seeing the "404".
• Maybe it was fine, yesterday - and today it is suggesting spam and viruses.
• It will only work, for some people, some of the time. That is the only constant.

So you call the registrar - and they tell you that it has to be Blogger, because they have no problem accessing it. But the registrar is part of the problem.

The righteous address setup.

mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.32.21
mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.34.21
mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.36.21
mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.38.21
www.mydomain.com. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

The domain root uses 4 x "A" addresses, accessed in a round robin sequence. And the published URL uses a single "CNAME", resolved using a complex name server array. With both domain root and "www" alias properly addressed, your blog has much better chance of being consistently and reliably accessed.

One possibly righteous address setup.

One Blogger Engineer recommended a modified version of the asymmetrical DNS setup, to be used by 1&1 customers. Only time will tell if this setup is reliable. I have seen several 1&1 customers, this year, suggesting that this is not long term reliable.

mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.32.21
www.mydomain.com. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

Some spurious address setups.

Spurious address setups are unlimited, in variety. Here are a random 3 examples, from recent forum history.

Error when adding domain

https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/WvW2yZaS-FI/discussion

When i am trying to adding the domain it shows the error
Whoops, that's an error! (bX-6g9yx1)

socialsfriend.com. 600 IN A 184.168.221.33
www.socialsfriend.com. 3600 IN CNAME socialsfriend.com.

Blogger appears to be detecting this setup as a problem - and throws a bX code, to indicate a problem.

Mobile Redirection Failure

https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/rAJgN8pYdPw/discussion

When I am on mobile on google chrome (only browser I tested).

chartlearning.com does not redirect to www.chartlearning.com on mobile.

chartlearning.com. 600 IN A 50.63.202.10
www.chartlearning.com. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

This blog is online - and visible, using broadband - but no domain root redirection, for mobile browsing. "50.63.202.10" is not a Blogger / Google name server, and won't provide reliable redirection.

Can't publish my blog

https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/ibGqKLWXhO8/discussion

When I entered the "eac-leadership-consulting.com" domain in 3rd-party domain settings, I did not receive an error. I did not see the 2 CNAME records.

eac-leadership-consulting.com. 600 IN A 50.63.202.50
www.eac-leadership-consulting.com. 3600 IN CNAME eac-leadership-consulting.com.

This blog published - but ownership verification did not provide the required second "CNAME".

The bottom line.

There simply is no substitute for righteous DNS addressing, for custom domain publishing. Publishing to a custom domain is not a productive activity, if you cannot follow instructions.

---

The ability to publish a #Blogger blog to a non BlogSpot URL has been provided, for almost 10 years. Some blog owners still cannot setup the domains properly - and remain oblivious, when a problem arises.

Learn why there is one effective DNS address setup, for custom domain publishing.

If you want a reliable custom domain, this is the address choice.

Read More

The DNS TTL Setting Is Chosen By The Registrar

Some blog owners, publishing their blog to a custom domain, wonder about the mysterious TTL setting for the domain.

What is "3600"? Why do I see "7200" in my Dig log?

and

Why do I have to wait 8 hours, after changing my DNS addresses?

DNS latency (aka "TTL") is not understood, by many blog owners. A mistake in setting TTL can cause anger and frustration.

"Time To Live" aka "TTL" is a registrar individual setting, that is used for providing proper performance from the registrars name servers and network.

TTL controls caching of the DNS addresses, used to access your domain.

TTL indicates how long a DNS address will remain in cache, on a computer, before that computer requests an updated value. It's an essential (but obscure) component, in setting up a custom domain.

Since you're reading this blog, your computer has the address of this blog in cache - and won't be requesting an update, until "TTL" for "blogging.nitecruzr.net" expires. GoDaddy, the registrar for "nitecruzr.net", uses "3600" seconds, or 1 hour TTL.

Your computer probably uses the nameservers provided by your ISP - and your ISPs nameservers get updates from the nameservers provided by GoDaddy. Changes to "nitecruzr.net" go from Google, to GoDaddy, to your ISP, to your computer - and TTL applies to each DNS cache.

A typical Dig log, for a domain with a low TTL value.

Look at a Dig log extract, for "nitecruzr.net".

http://www.digwebinterface.com/?hostnames=nitecruzr.net%0D%0Ablogging.nitecruzr.net&type=A&useresolver=8.8.4.4&ns=auth&nameservers=

nitecruzr.net. 3600 IN A 216.239.32.21
nitecruzr.net. 3600 IN A 216.239.34.21
nitecruzr.net. 3600 IN A 216.239.36.21
nitecruzr.net. 3600 IN A 216.239.38.21
blogging.nitecruzr.net. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

You set the TTL, for each individual DNS address, when you setup your domain. The registrar provides a recommended TTL - but most registrars let you select a different setting, within a given range.

A lower TTL ("600" seconds or 10 minutes) provides faster refresh after a change is made - but puts more load on the registrars name servers, and requires a more responsive network.

A higher TTL ("7200" or 2 hours) provides slower refresh - and puts less load on the registrars name servers. And when a change is made, by Google, a higher TTL can cause problems.

If you don't understand DNS, you will be better off not changing from the registrar recommended setting. Some registrars won't even have a TTL setting, in their zone editor - and others may hide it, behind an "Advanced" menu or similar.

If you generate a Dig log for your domain, you'll see the TTL settings for your addresses.

A typical Dig log, for a domain with a high TTL value.

Look at a Dig log, for "rockchickenz.com".

Here, the current DNS addresses (correction pending).

Here, we see a TTL of "14400" (displayed as "14399") - or 4 hours.

rockchickenz.com. 14399 IN A 78.137.164.51
www.rockchickenz.com. 14399 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

For best results, we suggest that you wait 2 x TTL, after making DNS changes.

I recommend waiting 2 x "TTL", after making any DNS changes, before acting from those changes. Having diagnosed the painful "Another blog ..." domain database corruption, too many times, I suggest this whenever possible.

After you correct the addresses, please wait 8 full hours (2 x "14400" seconds) before continuing. This will let all DNS servers on the Internet receive the corrected addresses.

In many cases, TTL will be "3600" or "1 hour" - and with a typical forum diagnostic session taking several hours between posts, a one or two hour TTL is transparent to the forum discussion.

With domains using 4 hour TTL, suggesting that the blog owner wait 8 full hours after making the change, before re publishing the blog to the domain, makes sense. And a 2 full days, for "86400" seconds, makes even more sense.

And getting a righteous DNS address complement verified - before re publishing - makes the most sense.

---

DNS TTL latency, which affects accessibility of every #Blogger custom domain published blog, is not understood by many blog owners. To provide a stable domain - and a more visible blog after it's published to a custom domain - every blog owner should understand this obscure detail.

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Blogger Magic - The Custom Domain Root Redirect

When you setup a custom domain, for a Blogger blog, the DNS addresses are the most important issue.

A close second in importance, to righteous DNS addressing, is redirecting the domain root to the published URL. We see frequent problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

Why does my domain only work, with the "www" in the address?

The domain root provides a backup to the published URL, in many domain setups. If the domain root is not redirected, and DNS for the "www" or other published alias is down, the domain is down.

With the proper DNS addresses in place, redirecting the domain root is a very simple process.

Start from Settings - Basic.

Start from the dashboard Settings - Basic page.

Click on "Edit" in the Publishing "Blog Address" wizard.

With this blog, I have the option to select "Redirect nitecruzr.net to blogging.nitecruzr.net."



You can only redirect the domain root - no virtual hosts.

Generally, you would publish to "www.mydomain.com" - then you would have the option to "Redirect mydomain.com to www.mydomain.com".

Note that you can only redirect the domain root - even if you publish to a virtual host, such as "www.blog.mydomain.com". "blog.mydomain.com" and www.blog.mydomain.com" are separate hosts - and cannot be aliased.

Whatever you have, the option will work best, when you start with righteous DNS addresses.

---

Given righteous DNS addresses, publishing a #Blogger blog to a custom domain will produce a more stable blog, with the domain root redirected to the published URL. As the blog owner, you need to be sure to select the redirect option.

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Blogger Magic - Reading A Dig Log

Whether you're setting up or troubleshooting a custom domain, knowing how to read a Dig log is a useful skill.

There are hundreds of registrars, serving the Internet community, each with their own dashboard. Blog owners, setting up their domains for their Blogger blogs, must deal with the syntax and terminology used by each different dashboard.

A Dig log lets the blog owner identify the DNS addresses for the domain, using a consistent display.

By identifying the DNS addresses used in a given domain, a blog owner or an experienced forum helper can diagnose many custom domain DNS related problems.

Here is an example of Dig log use, showing an excerpted Dig log, in a typical forum topic. For more detail, see my earlier post, Diagnosing Problems With Custom Domains: Dig.

I have a domain (www.rockchickenz.com) - and want to link my blog (rockchickenz.blogspot.com).

• Start by verifying URLs involved.
• Continue with Dig Web Interface.
• A full screen print of the Dig log.
• The relevant portion of the Dig log, from the screen print.
• The relevant portion of the Dig log, as text.
• The advice provided, to the blog owner.
• Alternate / complementary tools used.

Start by verifying URLs involved.

Whenever possible, make a screen print, and a text copy, of the Blogger dashboard Publishing wizard, at Settings - Basic. Knowing the status of the blog and domain - and the exact URLs involved - can go a long way to diagnosing many custom domain publishing problems.

Continue with a Dig Web Interface log.

The best tool for generating a Dig log is Dig Web Interface. Alternate / complementary tools are listed below.

I use DWI, for this purpose, by preference. DWI lets you:

• Package the URLs in the Dig target, in the reference URL.
• Include multiple target URLs, in one reference URL.
• Both capabilities are very useful, in diagnosing Blogger custom domain publishing problems.

Start from the Dig Web Interface page.

Add the domain root and "www" alias, under "Hostnames or IP addresses:".

I select Type: "A", and Nameservers: "Authoritative", for my actual diagnoses.

Click "Dig".



The Dig Log reference URL, for "rockchickenz.com", generated from DWI. Target URLs are "rockchickenz.com" and "www.rockchickenz.com".

http://www.digwebinterface.com/?hostnames=rockchickenz.com%0D%0Awww.rockchickenz.com&type=A&ns=resolver&useresolver=8.8.4.4&nameservers=

A full screen print of the Dig log.

This is the complete Dig log, resulting from the Dig Log URL (above), and containing the relevant portion (below).

This is the Dig log, for "rockchickenz.com".



The relevant portion of the Dig log, from the screen print.

This is the important portion of the screen print (above), and showing the text (below).

This is the relevant portion of the Dig log, for "rockchickenz.com".



Note the TTL value of "14399" - which is a typical Dig log display for TTL set as "14400" (14400 seconds or 4 hours), in the registrar's zone editor. TTL is a setting which is used to adjust name server performance.

Unless you are experienced with DNS setup (and probably don't need to read this advice), you should use the default TTL provided by the registrar, for your domain. Your registrar wants to provide a stable domain for you - and the TTL value affects domain stability.

The relevant portion of the Dig log, as text.

These are the important details from the screen print (above), with colour highlights corresponding to domain specific details (below).

rockchickenz.com@8.8.4.4 (Default):
rockchickenz.com. 14399 IN A 78.137.164.51

www.rockchickenz.com@8.8.4.4 (Default):
www.rockchickenz.com. 14399 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.
ghs.google.com. 21392 IN CNAME ghs.l.google.com.
ghs.l.google.com. 92 IN A 64.233.183.121

The latter is typically seen, with a blog owner having received bogus advice - and reporting an inconsistently accessible blog.

The advice provided, to the blog owner.

The typical advice, provided to the blog owner, would include domain specific details - accompanied by a link to Setting Up DNS Addresses For Custom Domains.

First, generic advice:

Remove the addresses highlighted in red - and add the addresses highlighted in green - and keep the addresses highlighted in yellow.

Then, specific advice:

This is what you have:

rockchickenz.com. 14400 IN A 78.137.164.51
www.rockchickenz.com. 14400 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

This is what you need:

rockchickenz.com. 14400 IN A 216.239.32.21
rockchickenz.com. 14400 IN A 216.239.34.21
rockchickenz.com. 14400 IN A 216.239.36.21
rockchickenz.com. 14400 IN A 216.239.38.21
www.rockchickenz.com. 14400 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

The advice references a typical ASymmetrical DNS custom domain setup - the address set used in 99% of all custom domain setups. Note here, the specified TTL of "14400" (4 hours).

Using the above advice, the blog owner can then, if necessary, research the syntax used by the registrar's dashboard (aka "zone editor") - and make the necessary changes.

Alternate / complementary tools used.

Alternate tools, which can be used to generate a Dig log, are the Kloth.Net Dig DNS Lookup, and the Who.Is DNS display. Neither alternate is as compact and complete - but they can be used to verify results.

Complementary tools include the Global DNS Propagation Checker, the intoDNS domain DNS health checker, the Rex Swain HTTP Viewer, and the Whois Lookup.

In some cases, my 12 link affinity / differential connectivity test may be useful.

For more information.

See WikiPedia: dig (command).

---

One of the most useful tools, for diagnosing #Blogger custom domain problems, is a Dig Log. Learning how to read a Dig Log is a useful skill, for any blog owner wishing to publish a blog to a custom domain.

Read More

A Domain Root, With Blogger And Non Blogger Hosts

Some blog owners publish a domain, and try to combine a Blogger blog, and a non Blogger website, in the domain root.

They publish one host to the domain root - and the other to the "www" alias.

This combination may be supported by the non Blogger host - but Blogger blog reliability will suffer. And the readers may become confused, when they click to view the blog, and get the website - or vice versa.

There is a special relationship between the domain root and "www" alias. Blogger takes advantage of this relationship, to provide improved reliability for a blog, when published to a custom domain.

Ignoring the special relationship, and splitting the domain root and "www" alias, leads to confusion - and decreased blog reliability.

Please don't publish two different hosts into the domain root / "www" pair.

Please, don't combine a Blogger blog and a non Blogger website, in the domain root / "www" alias duality.

There are 3 mutually exclusive configurations, for combining a Blogger blog and a non Blogger website in a domain, which will produce a reliable blog. Your readers will be happier - and the search engines will index the blog better - if you stick to one of the 3 supported configurations.

Taking the 3 supported Blogger configurations, we can add a properly published non Blogger website - and produce 3 more possible variants.

1. Non Blogger website published to the "site" alias.
2. Non Blogger website published to the domain root.
3. Non Blogger website published to the "www" alias.

Non Blogger website published to the "site" alias.

Here, the blog is published to the "www" alias, with the domain root redirected to the "www" alias - and the website is published to an additional virtual host, such as "site". This is a variant of the Blogger asymmetrical DNS configuration.

mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.32.21
mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.34.21
mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.36.21
mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.38.21
www.mydomain.com. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.
site.mydomain.com 3600 IN A 162.210.101.54

Non Blogger website published to the domain root.

Here, the blog is published to the "blog" alias - and the website is published to the domain root. The website may or may not support redirection of the "www" alias to the domain root. This is a variant of the Blogger additional virtual host DNS configuration.

mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 162.210.101.54
www.mydomain.com 3600 IN A 162.210.101.54
blog.mydomain.com 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

Non Blogger website published to the "www" alias.

Here, the blog is published to the "blog" alias - and the website is published to the "www" alias. The website may or may not support redirection of the domain root to the "www" alias. This is a variant of the Blogger additional virtual host DNS configuration.

mydomain.com 3600 IN A 162.210.101.54
www.mydomain.com 3600 IN A 162.210.101.54
blog.mydomain.com 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

Your blog will be more reliably online - and your readers will be happier. And happier readers leads to better search engine indexing - and to more readers.

---

#Blogger blogs published to custom domains use both the domain root / "www" alias, for reliable connectivity. Trying to publish a blog, and a non Blogger website, to the domain root / "www" alias, leads to confusion - and decreased reliability for the blog.

Read More

Custom Domain Publishing, And World Culture

People who speak (read / write) languages, that do not use Roman character sets, need to publish in their native language - and the Internet now supports that need.

Some registrars will register domains which use non Roman character sets, in the URL. Not all Internet services will accept non Roman characters, however.

My favourite online DNS diagnostic services, DigWebInterface, and intoDNS, and Rex Swain's HTTP Viewer, only use ASCII. One cannot use non ASCII ("non Roman") characters, with either service.

"بحث-سناب.com", as converted, shows an example of an Internationalized domain name.

To use DigWebInterface to retrieve DNS addresses, and intoDNS to check the domain setup, we have to convert the native URL to Ascii.

I use three reliable online services, which will convert URLs to ASCII.

• DomainTools
• WhoIs - Identity for everyone
• Who.is - Powered by Name.com

Converting "بحث-سناب.com" to ASCII involves use of one of the latter services.

DomainTools

WhoIs - Identity for everyone

Who.is - Powered by Name.com



Using the 3 tools, we see that "بحث-سناب.com" == "xn----zmcbcml8b0j.com", "XN----ZMCBCML8B0J.COM", and "xn----zmcbcml8b0j.com", respectively. Look carefully, in the body of the display for each service, for the IDN equivalent.

We can then use "xn----zmcbcml8b0j.com", with DigWebInterface, and intoDNS - and get the necessary diagnostics.

And using the latter tools, we see a properly setup domain - which is now being used for a properly published Blogger blog, verified in Rex Swain.

DigWebInterface

intoDNS

Rex Swain's HTTP Viewer



And when assistance is requested, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, we can use these tools with non Roman character URLs.

---

The Internet now supports use of non ASCII characters, in URLs. In order to publish #Blogger blogs to Internationalised Domain Names, we need to convert native URLs to ASCII - using any one of three identified online DNS services.


https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/blogger/qKWZ0807m60

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/blogger/L1pv6CPUK18

Read More

Hosted AdSense Accounts, And Custom Domains

We periodically see the query, from confused blog owners, in AdSense Help Forum: Blogger / Host Partners, or maybe in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

Why does my blog not show ads, any more? It worked fine, until I changed my blog to my private domain!

The blog owner does not know about the rules of Hosted AdSense accounts, vs AdSense for Content.

If you start a Blogger blog, you will probably get an AdSense account by using the Blogger dashboard Earnings page, and qualifying the blog.

An AdSense account setup under Blogger can only be used with "blogspot.com".

An AdSense account setup under Blogger (or other content services) is called a Hosted account. A Hosted AdSense account can only be used with the service under which it was setup.

A Blogger Hosted account can be used only with Blogger blogs published to "blogspot.com". If you want to use a custom domain published Blogger blog with AdSense, you need AdSense For Content - a full AdSense account.

You can have only one AdSense account. You have to upgrade your Blogger Hosted account, to AdSense for Content, to show ads anywhere other than "blogspot.com".

You can only use blogs published to "blogspot.com", with a Blogger Hosted account.



To use AdSense outside "blogspot.com", you need Full AdSense For Content.

To upgrade to Full AdSense, you need a full domain - ie, a blog published to a custom domain - or a non Google hosted top level domain website. Blogs published to sub domains of a third party service, such as "blogspot.com", do not qualify for AdSense For Content.

If you already have your own top level domain website, hosting AdSense for Content ads, then you never setup a Blogger blog using a Hosted account - and you are probably not reading here.

Remember:

1. You can have only one AdSense account.
2. You can only use blogs published to "blogspot.com", with a Blogger Hosted account.
3. You need a top level domain website, or a Blogger custom domain published blog, to qualify for AdSense For Content.

If you are upgrading your Blogger blog to a custom domain, you need to go through the Hosted to Full upgrade process. This will cause your AdSense ads to stop, for 2 to 4 weeks.

1. Learn the rules - and examine blog content, before you start.
2. Upgrade your Blogger blog, to a properly setup custom domain.
3. Get the custom domain working.
4. Apply for the AdSense account upgrade.
5. Get preliminary approval.
6. Install AdSense for Content ads.
7. Wait for full approval.

Learn the rules - and examine blog content, before you start.

You'll want to start the AdSense Upgrade with some expectation of success. AdSense for Content standards are significantly more selective, than Hosted AdSense.

Do not start this project, until the blog has an established Hosted Account.

Become intimately familiar with eligibility to participate, with program policies, and with prohibited content - before you start.

Then, go over the blog - and improve or remove what does not belong.

Upgrade your Blogger blog, to a properly setup custom domain.

If AdSense is to qualify your blog, under your new domain URL, the domain URL has to work. This requires righteous DNS addresses.

Get the custom domain working.

Given a properly setup domain, publish the blog to the proper domain URL. Then, redirect the domain root to the published URL.

Finally wait, as Blogger completes the domain migration.

Apply for the AdSense account upgrade.

Once you have a working Blogger blog, successfully using your new non "blogspot.com" URL, start the AdSense upgrade.

Get preliminary approval.

You will get email from AdSense, instructing you to upgrade your ad content.

Install AdSense for Content ads.

From the AdSense dashboard, generate the AdSense For Content ads, and install them on the blog.

You won't be using the Blogger "AdSense" gadget - that is for Hosted AdSense. You have to get the code for the ads from the AdSense dashboard wizard.

When you install the ads, load the code into new "HTML" gadgets - don't edit into the template.

Wait for full approval.

Inform AdSense that your new ads are in place. Then wait, as your blog is thoroughly examined. Again, allow 2 to 4 weeks for review.

---

Some #Blogger blog owners publish blogs, with AdSense providing ads in the blogs. Then, they decide to upgrade a blog, to use a custom domain URL.

Not everybody knows, before the ads stop appearing, that AdSense for custom domain published blogs is not the same as AdSense for native Blogger blogs.

Read More

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.

>> Top

Read More

Forwarding A Domain Requires Experience

I constantly advise Blogger blog owners to avoid forwarding, when setting up custom domain publishing.

In the rare cases where forwarding is actually required, not every blog owner reports success.

My blog now displays a non Google search page!

or worse

My blog now displays

404 Not Found

What did I do wrong??

Depending upon what setup work was done by the blog / domain owner, and what effort is required by the registrar, one may expect to see, quite predictably, either of the above errors.

When you just publish your blog to the primary domain, you're using the Blogger Publishing wizard.

Many domains will require two settings, to forward a domain.

When you forward a secondary domain to the primary domain, you're using the DNS Manager wizard provided by the registrar, for that secondary domain. Frequently, this is a 2 step process.

1. You use the DNS Manager for the secondary domain, and designate the primary domain as the forwarding target for this domain.
2. You setup a DNS address for the secondary domain URL, and target the redirection server - as provided by the DNS host.

Some domains may make one setting, for you, automatically.

Some wizards will handle one step for you automatically, while others will require that you do both steps separately. I have had both experiences, when forwarding different domains using the GoDaddy DNS manager. You may need to experiment, here - or ask an experienced technician at the registrar, for advice.

If both settings are not made, the domain will not forward properly.

If your zone editor requires that you perform both steps separately, and you only do the first, your domain gets redirected to the redirection server. If you don't define a redirection target, you have a parked domain, similar to an expired domain - and your domain will serve the ads display page provided by the registrar.

If your zone editor requires that you perform both steps separately, and you only do the second, your domain will be properly redirected from the redirection server - but the redirection server will not be defined, for your domain. If the redirection server isn't defined, the domain will be "404".

You may need to contact your registrar, for detailed instructions.

If your registrar does not provide explicit instructions - or if you use the domain manager wizard and get either of the above results, it may be time to contact a registrar customer service representative - and possibly, insist on support from a senior technician. Using a third party registrar, or a third party DNS hosting service, you may have to improvise.

Forwarding a domain - when you must serve two domains (or more) from one blog - is simply not a task for the inexperienced.

Read More

The Task Of Forwarding A Domain Requires Experience, Persistence, And Research

I constantly advise Blogger blog owners to avoid forwarding, when setting up custom domain publishing.

In the rare cases where forwarding is actually required, not every blog owner reports success.

My blog now displays a non Google search page!

or worse

My blog now displays

404 Not Found

What did I do wrong??

Depending upon what setup work was done by the blog / domain owner, and what effort is required by the registrar, one may expect to see, quite predictably, either of the above errors.

When you just publish your blog to the primary domain, you're using the Blogger Publishing wizard.

Domain forwarding frequently requires two steps.

When you forward a secondary domain to the primary domain, you're using the DNS Manager wizard provided by the registrar, for that secondary domain. Frequently, this is a 2 step process.

1. You use the DNS Manager for the secondary domain, and designate the primary domain as the forwarding target for this domain.
2. You setup a DNS address for the secondary domain URL, and target the redirection server - as provided by the DNS host.

Some wizards will handle both steps for you automatically, while others will require that you do both steps separately. I have had both experiences, when forwarding different domains using the GoDaddy DNS manager. You may need to experiment, here - or ask an experienced technician at the registrar, for advice.

The registrar may require both steps, done by you separately.

If your registrar requires that you perform both steps separately, and you only do the first, your domain gets redirected to the redirection server. If you don't define a redirection target, you have a parked domain, similar to an expired domain - and your domain will serve the ads display page provided by the registrar.

If your registrar requires that you perform both steps separately, and you only do the second, your domain will be properly redirected from the redirection server - but the redirection server will not be defined, for your domain. If the redirection server isn't defined, the domain will be "404".

With no instructions provided, contact the registrar customer care group.

If your registrar does not provide explicit instructions - or if you use the domain manager wizard and get either of the above results, it may be time to contact a customer service representative. Using a third party registrar, or a third party DNS hosting service, you may have to improvise.

Forwarding a domain - when you must serve two domains (or more) from one blog - is simply not a task for the inexperienced.

Read More

Confusion About Advice "If you bought your domain name from Blogger, you won't need to create a CNAME record."

To Blogger blog owners who want their new non BlogSpot URLs to display their blogs, this conflicting bit of advice provides only confusion and doubt.

If you bought your domain name from Blogger, you won't need to create a CNAME record.

That advice was written to advise the use of the Blogger "Buy a domain" wizard, which provides non BlogSpot URLs for Blogger blogs, through a simple 15 minute purchase process. In September 2012, that simple process changed, slightly.

If you are trying to re publish your blog to a non BlogSpot URL - and you are seeing an "Error 12" / "Error 32", or similar message in the Publishing wizard display - you need to add a second "CNAME" address to your domain.

The new "CNAME", added in September 2012, allows you to verify ownership of the domain to the Publishing wizard. Any time you re publish your blog to a non BlogSpot URL, you have to verify ownership. This prevents people who are not you from deviously publishing their Blogger blog to your domain.

If you are reading this, and you are the owner of any website which provides advice on how easy it is to purchase a non BlogSpot URL for a Blogger blog - and part of your advice mentions

If you bought your domain name from Blogger, you won't need to create a CNAME record.

Please, edit your instructions to reflect the reality of domain ownership verification.

If you are reading this, and you know of a blog or website which provides the confusing advice

If you bought your domain name from Blogger, you won't need to create a CNAME record.

let us know, below.

Try and reduce the confusion, when people have to re publish their blog, after using the Blogger Publishing wizard - or possibly after buying directly from a registrar. Help us, to help you.

>> Top

Read More

eNom Hosted Custom Domains Again Showing Intermittent Connectivity Issues

This week, we have a few reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about active and mature domains, suddenly stopped working.

I have used my domain with no problems, since last year. Today, it suddenly stopped working, and the browser reports

Oops! Google Chrome could not find www.mydomain.com.

I asked my friends about my domain - and they tell me that my blog is inaccessible to them, also. I didn't change any settings - and it was fine, until last night.

As we reported last year, the Google partner registrar eNom occasionally has a problem with their DNS server complement. Right now, one of their DNS servers appears consistently bad.

Using a comprehensive Dig tool, we can observe a given domain, and compare the DNS addresses being served by all authoritative name servers for a given domain, in a single transaction.

Here's a hypothetical example, of what we're seeing right now, for several eNom hosted domains.

mycustomdomain.com@dns1.name-services.com.:

mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.36.21
mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.34.21
mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.38.21
mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.32.21

mycustomdomain.com@dns2.name-services.com.:

mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.36.21
mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.34.21
mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.32.21
mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.38.21

mycustomdomain.com@dns3.name-services.com.:

mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.36.21
mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.32.21
mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.34.21
mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.38.21

mycustomdomain.com@dns4.name-services.com.:

mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.36.21
mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.34.21
mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.32.21
mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN A 216.239.38.21

mycustomdomain.com@dns5.name-services.com.:

org.   3601 IN
 SOA dns1.name-services.com. info.name-services.com. 2010 10800 3600 604800 3600


www.mycustomdomain.com@dns1.name-services.com.:

www.mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

www.mycustomdomain.com@dns2.name-services.com.:

www.mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

www.mycustomdomain.com@dns3.name-services.com.:

www.mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

www.mycustomdomain.com@dns4.name-services.com.:

www.mycustomdomain.com.  1800 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

www.mycustomdomain.com@dns5.name-services.com.:

org.   3601 IN
 SOA dns1.name-services.com. info.name-services.com. 2010 10800 3600 604800 3600

Right now, it appears that server "dns5" is consistently broken.

It's possible that this problem will affect more eNom customers, as the day progresses, cached DNS addresses expire, and readers of various eNom hosted domains request DNS addresses. I hope that eNom Customer Service can react to this problem more promptly than they have reacted to the immediately previous problem.

Watch for eNom acknowledged changes and problems.

• eNom: Maintenance Alerts

Read More

How To Unmap Google Sites To Solve "Another blog or Google Site is already using this address."

The literal cause of the error "Another blog or Google Site is already using this address." is that the Google Sites service is mapped to the address in question, in the Google domain services mapping database.

Some help articles published on the Internet imply that Sites mappings are the only cause of this error. This misconception creates some of the confusion associated with the error. Sites is not the only service in the services mapping database - but it is the only service with web address mappings.

The Sites service contains both service address, and web address, mappings - and both mappings can cause this problem. This oddity creates complexity, and makes a linear check list impossible, when using Google Apps to clear the error - as well as diagnosing the error, in a typical dialogue in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

When the Sites service is suspected as the cause of "Another blog or Google Site is already using this address.", one must check both the Service Address Mapping, and the Web Address Mappings, in the Sites service.

Note that the presence of the mappings is not directly affected by the presence of the service wizards, on the desktop of the Google Apps account which you are using. Neither deleting the Apps account, nor uninstalling a given service wizard from the desktop, will immediately reset the mappings for that service, from the database.

If not present on the desktop, the Sites service must be first installed and activated, using the dashboard "Get more apps and services" link.

The Sites service address mapping, like all other services, can be examined and reset using the CustomURL form in Google Apps, as well as "Change URL" in the "General" tab, in the Sites Settings menu. The web address mappings can only be examined and reset using the "Web Address Mapping" tab, in the Sites Settings menu.

1. Select the "Web Address Mapping" tab, in the Sites Settings menu.
2. Select all addresses mapped, and click on "Delete Mapping(s)".
3. Click on "Yes" in the "Are you sure" popup.

If a Sites mapping is not the cause of your problem, Sites won't have a mapped address, in "Web Address Mapping". You will then need to check other settings, in Control Panel / Google Apps.

A Sites service address mapping, like other service address mappings, can sometimes be diagnosed in a simple "302 Moved Temporarily" redirect, in a typical HTTP trace.

Sending request:

GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: www.letthykingdomcome.com
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:18.0)
 Gecko/20100101 Firefox/18.0
Referer: http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html
Connection: close

• Finding host IP address...
• Host IP address = 74.125.129.121
• Finding TCP protocol...
• Binding to local socket...
• Connecting to host...
• Sending request...
• Waiting for response...
Receiving Header:
HTTP/1.1·302·Moved·Temporarily(CR)(LF)
Content-Type:·text/html;·charset=UTF-8(CR)(LF)
Location:·http://sites.google.com/a/letthykingdomcome.com/
 sites/system/app/pages/meta/domainWelcome(CR)(LF)

A Sites web address mapping is not always so easy to diagnose - and may be the reason behind the fact that some HTTP traces end with the blog owner reporting "Another blog or Google Site is already using this address.", and an HTTP trace simply showing the generic 404 Not Found.

Sending request:

GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: www.markhamdesign.co.uk
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0
 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:19.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/19.0
Referer: http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html
Connection: close

• Finding host IP address...
• Host IP address = 216.239.32.21
• Finding TCP protocol...
• Binding to local socket...
• Connecting to host...
• Sending request...
• Waiting for response...
Receiving Header:
HTTP/1.1·404·Not·Found(CR)(LF)

A Sites "Web Address Mapping" can include an address which is mapped outside Google Apps. This creates a mapping which can't be managed using Google Apps.

If you own a domain and have access to change the CNAME record, you can map any site created in Google Sites outside of Google Apps (for example, sites.google.com/site) to a custom URL

Sending request:

GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: www.medtechpedia.com
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:19.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/19.0
Referer: http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html
Connection: close

• Finding host IP address...
• Host IP address = 74.125.129.121
• Finding TCP protocol...
• Binding to local socket...
• Connecting to host...
• Sending request...
• Waiting for response...
Receiving Header:
HTTP/1.1·200·OK(CR)(LF)

<body·xmlns="http://www.google.com/ns/jotspot"·id="body"·class="·en············">(LF)
<script·src="//www.gstatic.com/caja/5246m/caja.js">·</script>(LF)
<script·src="http://www.gstatic.com/sites/p/926884/system/js/jot_caja.js">·</script>(LF)
<div·id="sites-page-toolbar"·class="sites-header-divider">(LF)
<div·xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"·id="sites-status"·class="sites-status"·style="display:none;"><div·id="sites-notice"·class="sites-notice"·role="status"·aria-live="assertive">·</div></div>(LF)
</div>(LF)
<div·id="sites-chrome-everything-scrollbar">(LF)
<div·id="sites-chrome-everything">(LF)
<div·id="sites-chrome-page-wrapper"·style="direction:·ltr">(LF)
<div·id="sites-chrome-page-wrapper-inside">(LF)
<div·xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"·id="sites-chrome-header-wrapper"·style="">(LF)
<table·id="sites-chrome-header"·class="sites-layout-hbox"·cellspacing="0"·style="">(LF)
<tr·class="sites-header-primary-row"·id="sites-chrome-userheader">(LF)
<td·id="sites-header-title"·class=""><div·class="sites-header-cell-buffer-wrapper"><h2>
  <a·href="http://sites.google.com/site/medtechpedia/"·dir="ltr"·id="sites-chrome-userheader-title">MedTechPedia</a></h2></div></td><td·class="sites-layout-searchbox·"><div·class="sites-header-cell-buffer-wrapper"><form·id="sites-searchbox-form"·action="/system/app/pages/search"><input·type="hidden"·id="sites-searchbox-scope"·name="scope"·value="search-site"·/><input·type="text"·id="jot-ui-searchInput"·name="q"·size="20"·value=""·aria-label="Search·this·site"·autocomplete="off"·/><div·id="sites-searchbox-button-set"·class="goog-inline-block"><div·role="button"·id="sites-searchbox-search-button"·class="goog-inline-block·jfk-button·jfk-button-standard"·tabindex="0">Search·this·site</div></div></form></div></td>(LF)
</tr>(LF)
<tr·class="sites-header-secondary-row"·id="sites-chrome-horizontal-nav">(LF)
<td·colspan="2"·id="sites-chrome-header-horizontal-nav-container">(LF)
<div·class="sites-header-nav"><ul·class="sites-header-nav-container-tabs"><li·class="current"><a·class="sites-navigation-link·current"·href="/home">Home</a></li><li·class="unselected"><a·class="sites-navigation-link·unselected"·href="/introduction-to-medical-technology">Introduction·to·Medical·Technology</a></li></ul><div·style="clear:·both;"></div></div>(LF)
</td>(LF)
</tr>(LF)
</table>·(LF)
</div>·

A Sites mapping won't always be present - but when it is, it's not difficult to solve - as long as you can access Google Apps aka "Control Panel".

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