Skip to main content

Domain Ownership Verification May Not Be Required

Not all blog owners, publishing a blog to a custom domain, will be required to verify domain ownership.

Originally, this was not the case. When ownership verification was added to custom domain publishing, in 2012, every use of the Publishing wizard - even for domains previously purchased using "Buy a domain" - would require a new "CNAME".

Since many registrars limit the number of address entries / domain, the new "CNAME" meant half the maximum number of hosts / domain. Of course, most blog owners patience ran out long before the magical maximum - but there was always that spectre hanging over every custom domain.

Recently, the domain ownership verification requirements changed.

Now, instead of requiring ownership verification for each host, only publishing to the domain root generates the apocryphal "Error 12" and variants. Some blog owners, publishing to non root hosts, or trying to publish with spurious addresses, find their domains published without even the hint of verification.

Successful domain publishing requires you to add righteous base DNS addresses, and get the domain working.

  • If you correct the base DNS addresses, and the domain works without the second "CNAME" added to the domain, the second "CNAME" is not required.
  • If you correct the base DNS addresses, and the second "CNAME" is required, instructions for adding the second "CNAME" will be provided - when you publish to the domain.
  • If you don't correct the base DNS addresses, the domain is not going to work - even with the second "CNAME" added to the domain.

Start by setting up a new domain with righteous base DNS addresses, then Publish to the proper address.

If you get the base addresses right, you may be given instructions for the second "CNAME". If so, you return to the zone editor, add the second "CNAME" using the instructions, and repeat the Publishing wizard. If the Publishing wizard indicates success

mycustomdomainblog.blogspot.com redirects to www.mydomain.com

you are almost done.

Use a text proxy and verify that the domain is now operational. If the text proxy shows a problem, check your base DNS addresses - and correct if necessary. Allow for proper DNS latency - and check domain operation again.

For best results, make sure that the domain root redirects properly, to the "www" alias.

If any doubt or confusion, start a new topic in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, and request assistance. Let us help you, before you try using a spuriously setup domain, and maybe avoid the old corrupt domain.

Key already exists for www.mydomain.com

Why subject yourself to needless pain and suffering? Don't worry, needlessly, if you don't get the well known "Error 12" when you hit "Save", and see

mycustomdomainblog.blogspot.com redirects to www.mydomain.com

Verify operation of the domain, maybe using an HTTP trace - and start getting the domain indexed by the search engines.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Adding A Link To Your Blog Post

Occasionally, you see a very odd, cryptic complaint I just added a link in my blog, but the link vanished! No, it wasn't your imagination.

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?".

Embedded Comments And Main Page View

The option to display comments, embedded below the post, was made a blog option relatively recently. This was a long requested feature - and many bloggers added it to their blogs, as soon as the option was presented to us. Some blog owners like this feature so much, that they request it to be visible when the blog is opened, in main page view. I would like all comments, and the comment form, to be shown underneath the relevant post, automatically, for everyone to read without clicking on the number of comments link. And this is not how embedded comments work.