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The "Magical" Custom Domain Reset Form Has Its Limitations

I'm sure that you know bloggers like my Mom. Mom can blog, but she requires a lot of coaching.

Between the technical skill levels which my mom has, and that of you (or me), come a lot of people. Some bloggers will create beautiful blogs (way better than this one), but publish them to BlogSpot only. Other bloggers will want more, and some will setup a Google custom domain.

Some bloggers will setup their custom domain, and will see an old friend (not)
Another blog is already hosted at this address.

Many bloggers (by far, the majority reporting the message in the forums) see the message because they have just not setup their domains properly. Some bloggers, seeing the message, are able to resolve the problem, by fixing their domain setups and / or recycling the domain settings, using Google Apps.

But the Google Apps process is painfully complex, and offers many opportunities for causing worse problems. Not all bloggers will want - or be able - to use the Google Apps recycle process.

Really.

For the bloggers seeing
Another blog is already hosted at this address.
but not willing - or able - to use the Google Apps process, Blogger Support provides us an alternative, the "Magical" Custom Domain Reset Form.

By its name, and from examining the cases shown by the various bloggers using the form successfully, I would bet that the form was originally intended to resolve two classes of problems.

Now, we know that the MCD reset form will never work, for domains that are setup improperly. Blogger Support can only fix problems that originate in the Blogger database, and custom domain DNS settings are not part of Blogger or Google. Bloggers publishing their blogs to custom domains absolutely have to get the DNS addresses right, before publishing their blog. Righteous DNS addresses are a necessity, not a formality.

Today, though, we see yet a different limitation in the scope of the MCD form.
I just checked out your account, and it looks like you may need to change a few settings within your Apps account to enable your custom domain. Nitecruzr, who replied earlier in this thread, has made a nice guide for the steps needed to take...


Here we see the implication that the MCD form can't fix all corruption problems in the Blogger database, even if the domain in question has properly setup DNS (which, it does).
AntiPopBlog.com. 1800 IN A 216.239.32.21
AntiPopBlog.com. 1800 IN A 216.239.34.21
AntiPopBlog.com. 1800 IN A 216.239.36.21
AntiPopBlog.com. 1800 IN A 216.239.38.21
www.AntiPopBlog.com. 1800 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

The domain in question shows a Sites redirect, which can be fixed by disabling the Sites service, using Google Apps. And apparently, that reset is not provided, by using the MCD reset form. In the case of the Sites redirect corrupting "www.AntiPopBlog.com", the Google Apps based recycling process is apparently the only known way to reset the problem.

And there is another limitation here, to point out the obvious. The MCD form produces a task list for humans. Resetting broken pointers in the Blogger database starts with the people in Blogger Support. Besides MCD form processing, Blogger Support staff has a few other miscellaneous duties.
  • Spam blog review.
  • Spam blog re review.
  • Blogger development.
They may not be processing the form daily, or even weekly, some months. How long do you wish to get more complaints from your readers?
Your blog is showing
404 Server not found.
again!

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Comments

plainolebob said…
man i must be like your mom. i am totally lost in all this stuff, but thanks for trying
N/A said…
I am so your mom :(
@eloh said…
I am like your Moms' dumb friend. I can't even take direction unless I write it down step by step. As always, thank you so much for trying.
Seizhin said…
Thank you for posting this.. I've been struggling for the case of :
"Another blog is already hosted with this address"

I did nothing to it and I was already billed, so the problem had given me quite a headache.

Hopefully the Magical Custom Domain Reset works.

Thank you for the help.
Nitecruzr said…
Seizhin,

If the MCD form does not provide a solution, post in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, or in Nitecruzr Dot Net - Blogging, so we can diagnose and explore the problem further, using peer support.
Jen Crum said…
I've got to find a tutorial in English, I can't read geek too well... obviously, I'm a mom. Thanks for your help.

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