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Custom Domain Publishing, And The 404 Error

When you work with a custom domain, and endure / work around the frustration of DNS setup, and later the monolithic error "Another blog ...", you occasionally may see another error. After you finally manage to redirect your blog "myblog.blogspot.com" to "www.mycustomdomain.com", and possibly after you add Google Apps to your custom domain, you or your readers will try to load the blog, and see
Not Found

Error 404
or its equivalent in another browser
Live Search
Were you looking for: My Custom Domain?


When that happens, there's just one way to recover, and that involves repeating the previous setup.
  1. If you haven't done so already, and if you're able to do so, check and correct your DNS setup.
  2. If you just removed or edited a DNS entry, examine the TTL value of the entry that you removed or edited. To improve your chances of getting through this without seeing "Another blog ...", do nothing during the TTL period, while you wait, to know that your new settings are visible from Google!
  3. Publish the blog back to "myblog.blogspot.com". You can't repeat the previous setup, without first removing the (incomplete or incorrect) previous setup.
  4. Publish the blog, again, to "www.mycustomdomain.com", using the "Advanced Settings" wizard. This repeats the previous setup, hopefully correctly this time.
  5. If you get the well known "Another blog ..." / "naked domain" error, deal with that.
  6. If the "404" is not resolved, and you do not get the "Another blog ..." / "naked domain" error, repeat from Step 2.


In some cases, you may have to publish back, then forward, several times in succession before this workaround will take effect. You're still looking at maybe 15 minutes of work, much less time than it took me to write this article, and way faster than filling out the Custom Domain Reset Form, and waiting for it to be actioned. Though do not omit Step 2 - better to be safe than sorry. Always allow time for DNS latency.

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Comments

Ian said…
I'm having this problem with www.daddyslittletaxcredits.com

How long do I have to wait after re-publishing to blogspot before I can again publish to a custom domain? Can I do it right away?
Nitecruzr said…
Vanilla,

By my reasoning, any improvement should be seen immediately. Just do 1 - 2 - 3, in sequence.
Glen said…
thanks for the help.. my blog is working now ... www.pinoyexpatuae.com
Teo said…
Thanks for your tutorial on this!! Been trying to figure out how to solve this for quite some time. Thanks again =D
lwh said…
Thanks for this info it fixed mine which started doing a 404 out of the blue. I had to do it twice for it to work.

Excellent advice.
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
Hello!!

This REALLY work!!! Thank you very, very much!!!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!
Evan said…
Wow, great job. I've been looking for hours online for a way to fix this problem, and your quick fix got it done in a matter of seconds. Thanks a ton, man!
Playmedesign said…
Hi!
Thanks for great information, and yes it worked for us also! Both adresses work (www. and without) We just had to wait 15 min to see the result.

BUT... Now for the bad part; Our email account dosent work anymore, and we are a little desperate at this point because we sent a LOT of emails out the day before we changed things according to this site (1 week ago),and nothing has happened since (we havent recieved anything). So I tried to send a mail from my personal mail, and it never entered the inbox. I didnt get a mailerdemon mail either, so the mails are out there some where (lets hope that!!)
...So I sent a mail to godaddy support earlier today, and this is the answer they sent me:

You currently have a CNAME record (alias) that is refering to ghs.google.com for your domain playmedesign.com. You need to have the CNAME record removed in order to use our E-mail accounts.

But thats what I have to do to make the adresses work, right??!

Hmm, they are obviously made at me for doing it in another way, and they don't want to help me...

So, can anybody help me so I don't have to start all over?? I'm not THAT technical, and reaaaly don't want to spend a couple of days again searching the web for answers etc etc. Why is it so difficult to buy a domain!!! Arggh...
(I've probably spent a week all together on this shit.. Sorry, just a little frustrated here!)

thanx,
nat
Nitecruzr said…
PMD,

I wish I had better news, but we are just learning about DNS and "CNAME" referrals, and generally only for domains with very simple setups (ie nothing complex like "MX" records).

If your domain uses "MX" records (to what? maybe "mail.playmedesign.com"?), and if GoDaddy has setup their servers so adding a "CNAME" referral causes a conflict with the "MX" record, then you may have to make a choice.

My guess is, you'll have to forgo addressing the blog as "playmedesign.com", and only address it as "www.playmedesign.com". At least, you published to "www.playmedesign.com", so you just have to remove the "CNAME" for the primary domain, as GoDaddy suggests.
Apol said…
Hi! I've done the 3 steps, waited for 15 minutes. but without luck. Still receiving the error 404.

Ive reported the bx error but havent got any reply from blogger. grrr...

Any other tips to fix this? Thanks.

by the way, i've stumbled your blog:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/url/blogging.nitecruzr.net/
Nitecruzr said…
Apol,

I'm working on your problem, in your Blogger Help Group thread, but knowing the BlogSpot URL of the blog would be a big help.
Thank you - Thank you - Thank you! This has been such an aggravating and frustrating problem for me for months. I don't know how many times I've made forays out into the internet world and into the Blogger Help Forums trying to find an answer. You did it. It took all of 3 minutes to fix just exactly how you said to do it. I'm bookmarking you for sure. Thanks again.
P.Heron said…
Cheers dude :-)
Jorge said…
i'm having the same problem with bangthebox.net, the fix works temporarily then goes back to 404.

frustrating, watching readership just tank.
Nitecruzr said…
Jorge,

Have you posted already in GBH: Something Is Broken, and I missed the post? If so, my apologies. I've been predicting that this problem would surface. I'd like to point Blogger towards your problem, and I need an open forum thread to start the ball rolling.

ASAP.
xeal said…
Thanks a lot Chuck! Your trick made my blog _foundable_ again!
Anonymous said…
Hi there,

I registered my custom domain(http://www.focuskeralam.com) but I am receiving the same error (404). As suggested by you, I republished to blogspot and tried again. but nothing happens. I am getting a message. "Another blog is already hosted at this address". Could you please guide me.
Nitecruzr said…
Hi Kusumban,

Now, what you must do is recycle your Google Apps settings.
Toto said…
Thank you, u help my life :P
I got your answer from Google Groups
Ownaville said…
I don't have a custom domain and my blogs displaying the "Not Found 404 Error" on a blank white screen on the top left.

What do I do?

URL= onlinegamestar.blogspot.com
Edu said…
I tried the 3 steps and they worked just fine, but just for a week. I´m having the same problem again. It´s been less than a month since i bought my own domain, so do you think that might be the problem?
Nitecruzr said…
Eduardo,

I'll pass this to Blogger Support, if you can provide the domain URL, and if you can wait for a day or so.

We'll see if they can diagnose the problem, with some authority.
Unknown said…
Hello nitecruzr,

thanks for replying for my post in bloger help group. you solved by giving me this link.

i tried above mentioned 1 to 3 steps, started to work immediately..

i just tried 4 to 5 times that sequence..

Thanks
Sree
Unknown said…
Hello, I'm getting the 404 error for my domain www.gausster.com

I can't even publish my blog back to the blogspot.com address because I get a bX-f42977 blogger error.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!
Nitecruzr said…
Gausster812,

We're in the same boat on this one. Whatever they broke last week, it's apparently outside the scope of this procedure to resolve.
Unknown said…
Thanks, Chuck, for such a quick response... I hope this gets fixed soon!
Anonymous said…
Thanks for this posting! You really saved me!
Filip Lundeholm said…
Thanks, solved my problems :)
Valente said…
Hi,just now I recovered 2 of my blogs following ur instructions.. Thanks a lot dude..Continue the good work.. Thanks again
Council of One said…
Chuck, you rock! I was getting the 404 message and managed to get my blog up and running with a custom domain simply by publishing it back to blogspot and then republishing it under my custom domain. It might be nice if Google/Blogger bothered to explain this handy little step...
RAV TUX said…
Thank you very much!!!! worked for me!

Finally got my custom domain working:

http://lagomorphs.org/

Woot!
Dave Wirsching said…
Excellent work around. Kudos.

http://clearingtitle.com
Janet said…
what is a dns setup?
Nitecruzr said…
Janet,

You can see the DNS setup for any domain, using Dig. Or read about DNS, in general.
Mohit said…
Thanks Bro, My domain voipcallsinfo.com had recovered from the same problem. I had followed your steps & my blog is now working properly.
Thanks for the trick.
Mohit
Anonymous said…
Hi Chuck--

The advanced settings, switch back to blogspot, then back to custom worked. Yay. You're awesome. Thanks. I'll remember you next time I have a problem. :-) Gracepete
Anonymous said…
Thanks for posting. This worked immediately for me.
KarmaKloth83 said…
Thanks Bro, it works after second attempt.
Hi there,

thanks for this documentation and your efforts to help us folks. After we have used your description to solve the problem, our blog is working fine on our webspace ;-) Have a look: www.blog.samui-mostwanted.com

Well done!
Marty Bird said…
Thank goodness I found you! This helped recover my blog - your site is very much appreciated.
bintang 1979 said…
Dear Nitecruzr,

Hello, I read your post but not really understand, as a new beginner.
would you help me and link me please?
I have error 404 not found after I submit my domain from godaddy, even I already write the dns ghs.google.com
and my blog is =
http://bintang1979.blogspot.com
I buy the domain name =
http://no-zero.net

for a few minute after I submit I can see the blog, but after that, it shows error 404 not found, and I cannot submit the sitemaps / the html at webmaster tool.

thanks.

Regards,
Bintang.
Nitecruzr said…
Bintang,

These are details that need to be presented in a new thread in GBH: Something Is Broken. Use Community Support!
The Swag Snag said…
This will definitely become a bookmark of mine. Certainly beats trying to read through hours of forums. THANKS!!!
Shreeonlinejobs said…
hello done this process but still 404 error for my blog

http://shreeonlinejobs.com not working
Nitecruzr said…
Bisaani,

You need to post this in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, so we can help you diagnose the problem.
Shreeonlinejobs said…
Thanks Thanks Thanks it is working ohh my god thanks you and thank you chuck for this wonderful blog.I will write about blog in my next post.Thanks

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