The Real Blogger Status

Occasionally, we see a perplexed blog owner asking a popular question about custom domain setup. Does my domain really need four servers? Some even seem to think that newer domains, with less readers, can get by with less - even one - servers. Won't one server do - at least, for newer blogs? Theoretically, yes. But not one server is going to be 100% reliable, or last forever. Every computer ever made, like every human born, will die, one day. Your blog (and your domain) depends upon DNS, to resolve its address . Address resolution is an essential part of helping your computer (your readers computers) connect with the computer where your blog is stored.

Some people can't see the forest, for the trees. Occasionally, we see a query from a perplexed blog owner, seeking to publish to a custom domain. Google wants us to repeat the same IP address 4 times? 216.239.32.21 216.239.34.21 216.239.36.21 216.239.38.21 Uh, aren't they're the same? Why the needless duplication?

When you setup a Blog*Spot blog, and publish to "myblog.blogspot.com", Blogger automatically defines "www.myblog.blogspot.com" and redirects it for you, to "myblog.blogspot.com". This is a traditional convenience for your readers, and lets them address the blog as either "myblog.blogspot.com" or "www.myblog.blogspot.com". It's not a built in privilege for all web sites, and neither is the ability to address a non BlogSpot blog as either "www.mydomain.com" or "mydomain.com". A few bloggers don't understand the necessity for the schizophrenic URLs . My readers only need to use "www.mydomain.com". or I don't care about "www.blog.mydomain.com", I only need "blog.mydomain.com" to work. It's possible that, in a differently designed database, "www.mydomain.com" and "mydomain.com" would be two separate, and distinctly unique addresses, capable of working on ...

A Blogger / Google Custom Domain is reasonably simple to setup . You get simplicity, when you understand that custom domain design uses three rigidly defined models , in the DNS addressing. A lot of the trouble, that many blog owners experience, comes from doing it their own way. Sometimes, we make our own mistakes , in setting up our domain. It should work this way, so this is how I'm going to do it. In other times, advice from your DNS host / registrar may contribute to the problem. The tech support wizard at my registrar's help desk told me to configure it this way! Sometimes, we make our own mistakes and take advice from a third party . The tech support wizard at my registrar's help desk told me this is all that I need!! Some people overlook the possibility that recommended custom domain configuration could change . My blog was working fine this way, last year!

We've been getting a lot of reports of some well known problems recently, from blogs published to Google Custom Domains. Another blog is already hosted at this address. and Server Not Found Error 404 No, Chuck, tell us something that we didn't know. When I analyse a custom domain problem, I always start with a DNS analysis, expressed using an excerpted Dig log . Typically, I'll see Symmetrical Main Domain mydomain.com. 900 IN CNAME ghs.google.com. www.mydomain.com. 900 IN CNAME ghs.google.com. or Asymmetrical Main Domain (aka " Google Apps " configuration) mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 64.233.179.121 mydomain.com. 3600 IN A 72.14.207.121 www.mydomain.com. 900 IN CNAME ghs.google.com. This weekend, though, we're seeing a variant on the latter configuration, reported as usual in anxious queries For 3 days I received a message that the blog was redirecting. Then I got error 404 for a day and decided to switch to blogspot and back to my custom domain. Got an error t...

When you setup a Blog*Spot blog, and publish to "myblog.blogspot.com", Blogger automatically defines "www.myblog.blogspot.com" and redirects it for you, to "myblog.blogspot.com". This is a traditional convenience for your readers. When custom domains were first developed, they didn't provide the same thoughtfulness - the ability to (optionally) redirect "www.mydomain.com" to "mydomain.com" (or vice versa) wasn't added, as an option, until much later, and after a lot of pleading by the blogger community. The great majority of all bloggers consistently select the "Redirect mydomain.com to www.mydomain.com." option, when setting up their custom domain publishing. It's also possible that Blogger has, maybe not intentionally, enabled that option by default, in some (though maybe not all) custom domain scripts. I am trying to use the custom domains option to publish my blog but I keep getting the 'Another blog...

The DNS setup shown in my first custom domain case study , "martinezumc.org", isn't typical for all custom domains. That domain, as I showed in my previous post in this series, Diagnosing Problems With Custom Domains - Case Study #1 , was symmetrical - both "martinezumc.org" and "www.martinezumc.org" were defined with "CNAME" referrals, and I could have published the blog to either of the two URLs. When you setup a custom domain while using the "Buy A Domain For Your Blog" wizard , this isn't going to be the case. In this case, the "www" alias will be defined with a "CNAME", but the primary domain won't be. Let's take a look at " nitecruzr.net ". There are 4 URLs to study here. The primary domain "nitecruzr.net". The "www" alias for the domain "www.nitecruzr.net". The primary BlogSpot URL "nitecruzr-dot-net.blogspot.com". The "www" alias fo...

Google Custom Domains, that give us the possibility of having a blog with a non-Blog*Spot address, are a major improvement over plain old Blog*Spot to many bloggers. Occasionally though, problems arise, and diagnosing the symptoms , to allow us to focus on the problems, will require some technical ability, and the right tools . And, note the possible effects of cache and DNS latency , any time that you diagnose or examine a custom domain problem. Here's a baseline study, which will show what you should see as the best possible case. My first custom domain, "martinezumc.org", I was able to setup with 2 "CNAME" referrals. I call this "symmetrically configured". There are 4 URLs to study here. The primary domain " martinezumc.org ". The "www" alias for the domain " www.martinezumc.org ". The primary BlogSpot URL " martinezumc.blogspot.com ". The "www" alias for the BlogSpot URL " www.martinezumc.bl...