What is a Domain or URL?

A domain or URL is basically a site's "address" on the World Wide Web. This is sometimes referred to as a web address.

Have you already set up a custom URL for your site? Help others by sharing what you know!

Save someone from reinventing the wheel: Write up an overview of the process -- others who use the same registrar can learn from your experience. Add a thread to this page below, or create a new page in this section about the registrar you used. (Click "Addpage" in the left column.)

Master your own domain

You can now assign a domain (URL) that you own to your Wetpaint site. In order to use a custom URL, your domain registrar must support the ability for you to update your DNS settings, i.e. you must have the ability to create and modify A, MX, and CNAME records. If you are not sure if you have access to your DNS settings, please contact your registrar for more information.

Check out our specific instructions for these common providers:

• Step-by-step instructions for GoDaddy
• Step-by-step instructions for Dotster
  

If you use a different registrar, here are some general instructions:

Create a CNAME alias for [www] and [*]

The primary method for modifying your DNS settings to map your Wetpaint site is to create a CNAME alias for [www]. This will allow access to your Wetpaint site from your domain name (www.yourdomain.com).

A secondary CNAME that you may choose to set up is the catch-all, or * record. Setting up this record will allow access to your site if a user types in anything other than "www" in front of your domain name (anything.yourdomain.com). This is not required but will correct any mistyping of "www" by users.

Your DNS CNAME settings should look similar to this:

Host Name	Address	Record Type
www	yoursite.Wetpaint.com	CNAME
*	yoursite.Wetpaint.com	CNAME

The steps necessary to add a new CNAME record should be detailed in your registrar's help documentation. After you have added your CNAME record, it will take 12 to 48 hours for this information to propagate across the web.

NOTE: It is highly recommended that you affect CNAME records only. Changes to A records or MX records can affect your ability to utilize email or other internet protocols.

Redirecting your base URL

Setting up your CNAME alias as directed above will not affect traffic directed to your base domain (yourdomain.com, without the www). You will need to set a redirect from example.com to www.example.com or set up forwarding from your domain to your Wetpaint URL (yoursite.wetpaint.com). This process varies from one registrar to another, so contact your registrar for instructions on redirecting your base URL.

Auto-redirect to your custom URL

After you have set up your DNS records and the information has propogated across the web, the URL that appears in your browser will always display as www.yourdomain.com. Your Wetpaint URL, which will still operate, will automatically redirect to your custom URL.

Removing a custom URL

You can remove a custom URL at any time by returning to your site and navigating to Settings > Custom URL. From this page you will see the status of your custom URL (Pending or Active), and you will have the ability to remove your custom URL.

Note that if you remove your custom URL, the ability to use your custom URL will be immediately removed and you will need to access your site via the Wetpaint subdomain URL (yoursite.wetpaint.com) that you originally defined when you created your site.

Also note that if you intend to move your domain elsewhere, you should remove the custom domain from your wiki before changing the DNS settings at your chosen domain registrar. If you fail to do this, you may not be able to reach your wiki.