Skip to main content

When You Publish Your Blog To A Custom Domain, Almost Always Publish To The "www" Alias

Of all of the known problems with Blogger, in general - and of the known problems with Blogger / Google Custom Domain Publishing, specifically - surely the most frustrating single problem starts with the well known monolithic error
Another blog or Google Site is already using this address.

The most frequently seen solution to this problem, contrary to the opinions expressed in some blogs and websites, starts with correction of the domain DNS addresses. But even after careful DNS address correction, some blog owners still report the well known "Another blog ..." error.

Maybe 99.99% of the custom domain published blogs use what I call an asymmetrical DNS address 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.
Note the restriction with the asymmetrical configuration, sometimes overlooked.
With an asymmetrical configuration, you may not publish to the domain root. Your only valid choice is to publish to "www.mydomain.com", and select "Redirect mydomain.com to www.mydomain.com". If you publish to "mydomain.com", you will eventually see
Blogs may not be hosted at naked domains.
or maybe a well known monolithic error
Another blog or Google Site is already using this address.

The conclusion is simple. Unless you intentionally created a symmetrical or non root virtual host address configuration, always publish to the "www" host. And, even though you do publish to the "www" host, understand that righteous addressing of the domain root is a necessity - not an option.

>> Top

Comments

JS said…
I have read a few posts of yours and others, and I am not certain the answer to this question:

If someone dileberately wants their blog to be accessed and views at the naked domain, can this be done? (It seems you allude that a symmetrical configuration may do this, but I'm not clear how to set that up.)

Thanks!
Nitecruzr said…
JS,

If you use an asymmetrical DNS setup (as all domains purchased using "Buy a domain"), you have to publish to the "www" alias.

You can still allow the blog to be accessed at the domain root ("naked domain"), if you redirect the domain root to the published URL.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2011/03/in-custom-domain-publishing-naked.html
Fashion Addict said…
Hi Chuck,
Could proper symmetrical DNS configuration allow use of naked domain in Blogger?

Cheers,
ATFF

Popular posts from this blog

Add A Custom Redirect, If You Change A Post URL

When you rename a blog, the most that you can do, to keep the old URL useful, is to setup a stub post , with a clickable link to the new URL. Yo! The blog is now at xxxxxxx.blogspot.com!! Blogger forbids gateway blogs, and similar blog to blog redirections . When you rename a post, you can setup a custom redirect - and automatically redirect your readers to the post, under its new URL. You should take advantage of this option, if you change a post URL.

What's The URL Of My Blog?

We see the plea for help, periodically I need the URL of my blog, so I can give it to my friends. Help! Who's buried in Grant's Tomb, after all? No Chuck, be polite. OK, OK. The title of this blog is "The Real Blogger Status", and the title of this post is "What's The URL Of My Blog?".

Blogger Magic - Adding Label Search URLs

One of the simplest ways to make a blog useful is to add label searches. Adding label searches, in page / post text, is not easy - unless you know how to build the URLs. Here's a label search from this blog. http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/search/label/Blogger%20Magic All that I want, when using that label search, is to add another reference to my "Blogger Magic" post series. " Blogger Magic " emphasises how easy it is, to use Blogger. How easy is it, to remember that syntax - to add a label link? Maybe, a " Blogger Magic " reference, in this post?