Setting up CNAME to point to nanacast.com

Article Details
URL: http://support.nanacast.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=6
Article ID: 6
Created On: 18 Apr 2009 11:44 AM

Answer NOTE: As CNAME is a Viral Premium only feature, the following instructions apply at the Viral Premium level only.

Your visitors can access your membership on your own subdomain by creating a CNAME record for your subdomain name and pointing it to Nanacast.com

GoDaddy.com Instructions:

In this example we're setting up a subdomain called "members.example.com" and we want it to point to nanacast.com.

Login to your go daddy account. Click on "My Account". In the "Domains" section, click to expand your list of domains, and then click "Launch" for the desired domain. This will load the Domain Details page of the GoDaddy control panel.
You will find a "DNS Manager" section. Make sure your domain is set to use go daddy DNS.  If this is the case, DNS Manager will show as "Available" and you should see a "Launch" link. Click that link. This will load the Zone File Editor of the GoDaddy DNS Manager. 

In the CNAME section of the Zone File Editor, click the "Add Record" button and select "CNAME (Alias)" as the record type.

Enter alias name: members 

Points to host name: nanacast.com

We recommend pointing your TTL to the shortest time possible.

Click "OK", then click "Save Zone File". 

This will resolve members.example.com to nanacast.com


NOTE: Changes will not take effect for your domain until the time set for your TTL has passed.

Finally, in Nanacast, on the Edit Listing page of your membership, in the Membership & CNAME settings, provide your CNAME domain and description and click Commit. Alternately, if you are using CNAME for your Custom General Purpose Membership login, then you'd set it under My Account >> Profile & Preferences, in the 
CNAME For General-Purpose Memberships subsection under Customized General-Purpose Membership Settings.

See the following screen shots as examples:

Setting up as a sub-domain: 

Setting up as a top-level domain:

GoDaddy no longer supports this option. If you'd like to provide a top-level domain to customers, create a subdomain as in the example above, and then set up domain forwarding from your top-level domain to your subdomain, and use the subdomain CNAME in your nanacast.com configuration. This will make hits to your top-level domain forward to your subdomain name which is masking your nanacast-hosted membership login and content areas.

Namecheap.com Instructions:

Click on your domain

Chose 'All Host Records' from the menu on the left

Edit/create/delete CNAMEs.

Note: you must add a period "." at the end of the domain in order for it to work, like this: "nanacast.com."

Three Steps to determine if you should contact support about cName issues

1. Visit http://mxtoolbox.com/CNAMELookup.aspx

2. Enter the cName URL from your cName settings in Nanacast WITHOUT the http://

3. Make sure the Canonical Name is exactly nanacast.com

If the Canonical Name does not match exactly, it is a DNS issue and you should NOT contact Nanacast.com support.

Three things to check when having cName issues (details below)

1. Verify you are a Viral Premium member

2. Verify  Alias and cName Settings in Nanacast

3. Verify cName is setup correctly in DNS and have propagated

Detailed Directions:

1. Verify you are a Viral Premium member

a. Sign into Nanacast.com

b. Go to My Account >> Manage Account Type

c. Your Current Version: Viral Premium

d. Upgrade if needed

2. Verify  Alias and cName Settings in Nanacast

a. Sign into Nanacast.com

b. Go to the offer/membership/product overview page

i. Manage>> Memberships

ii. Select the offer from the dropdown list

c. Click Edit Listing

d. Verify Alias setting

i. Expand Optional Hosted Sales Page Settings

ii. Ensure Alias is filled in

iii. Fix as needed

e. Expand Membership & CNAME Settings

i. Ensure the CNAME Domain is filled in

ii. Ensure the CNAME Domain in Text format is filled in

iii. Fix as needed

3. Verify cName is setup correctly in DNS and have propagated

a. Visit http://mxtoolbox.com/CNAMELookup.aspx

b. Enter the cName URL from your cName settings in Nanacast WITHOUT the http://

c. Make sure the Canonical Name is exactly nanacast.com 

d. If the Canonical Name does not match exactly, it is a DNS issue and you should NOT contact Nanacast.com support.

Keywords: CNAME, GoDaddy, NameCheap