Anyone here able to walk me though setting up a CNAME - specifically for Zenfolio?

[aphex]

I have my domain registered at GoDaddy, and am hosted on a DirectAdmin box at HostPC....

The directions note;

Custom Domain

If you have your own domain name registered, you can configure it to become the address to your Home page and all your photographs.

Configuring your own custom domain is a two step process:

1.

You need to setup the CNAME record at the place where you registered and host your domain. Examples of such registrars are Network Solutions, Go Daddy, Register.com, Yahoo, etc. Check with your registrar for the exact procedure but it usually involves editing DNS configuration and pointing or aliasing a subdomain to zenfolio.com.

For example:

photos.yourdomain.com will have a CNAME record pointing to zenfolio.com
NOTE: there should be no www in zenfolio.com.

2.

Once you have the CNAME configured with your registrar, you need to give us your domain name below and save it as a preference.

The entire process may take up to 48 hours to propagate everywhere, so please be patient.

TIP: If you would like for both the www.yourdomain.com and yourdomain.com to work with your Zenfolio account, you need to setup CNAME records for both items. But only www.yourdomain.com needs to be added to your Zenfolio account. Once you do that, Zenfolio will automatically recognize yourdomain.com as a legitimate address as well.

Problem is, i see nothing on my GoDaddy account for where to add/edit a CNAME for my domain, so I assume this needs to be done in my DirectAdmin panel?

 

[aphex]

anybody?

 

[mugs]

You need a DNS hosting service like Zoneedit.com to do that (it's free).

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: mugs
You need a DNS hosting service like Zoneedit.com to do that (it's free).

Ahhh, ok... So the custom domain i have with HostPC isnt capable of doing this? Its just a simple DNS rerouted to the server's DNS?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: mugs
You need a DNS hosting service like Zoneedit.com to do that (it's free).

Ahhh, ok... So the custom domain i have with HostPC isnt capable of doing this? Its just a simple DNS rerouted to the server's DNS?

I'm guessing that HostPC does not let you edit DNS entries. I've had a DirectAdmin reseller account before, and it didn't have that capability. It's not something most users need to be mucking around with, and it's not something you want someone mucking around with if they don't know what they're doing.

One option is to ask HostPC if they'll create the CNAME record. They may be willing to do that. If not, you'll have to use Zoneedit.com or some other similar service like I said.

What you'd do is set up a Zoneedit account, create a "zone" for your domain, then create your records. You'll A records that point domain.com and www.domain.com to the IP address of the server. You'll need to make sure you transfer your MX records if you use the domain for e-mail. To see what your MX records look like currently, run this at a Windows command prompt:
nslookup -querytype=MX domain.com

And of course you'll have to create your CNAME record.

Once you get it all set up, you'll have to change the nameservers (in GoDaddy's control panel) to the addresses Zoneedit gives you.

 

[aphex]

thanks for the info.....!

Actually i was just digging around in my DirectAdmin menu and found DNS management.... Here is a pic of what it shows...

http://www.iiki.org/pics/cname.png

Think that will allow me to do it?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: aphex
thanks for the info.....!

Actually i was just digging around in my DirectAdmin menu and found DNS management.... Here is a pic of what it shows...

http://www.iiki.org/pics/cname.png

Think that will allow me to do it?

Yes. Put photos.jmhorowitz.com. in the left box and zenfolio.com. in the right box (where it says CNAME).
(with the periods at the end)

 

[aphex]

Ahh cool, would it need time to propagate? Cause i just tried and zenfolio shows "The domain name cannot be resolved. If you changed domain configuration recently, you might need to wait for up to 48 hours for changes to propagate over the Internet."

I thought that was only for the TLD, not for subdomains....

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: aphex
Ahh cool, would it need time to propagate? Cause i just tried and zenfolio shows "The domain name cannot be resolved. If you changed domain configuration recently, you might need to wait for up to 48 hours for changes to propagate over the Internet."

I thought that was only for the TLD, not for subdomains....

Nameserver changes take that long, but changes to DNS entries should be immediate unless they are cached somewhere.

Take another screenshot?