What Is The Mysterious Custom Domain "Error 12"?

Both the historically infamous "Another blog ..", and the currently infamous "Error 12", are part of the custom domain publishing process.

Similar to the mysterious "bX" codes being an enhanced version of "We're sorry, but we were unable to complete your request.", "Error 12" (and variants) is an enhanced version of the monolithic "Another blog or Google Site is already using this address.".

"Another blog" (which was generally seen during use of the Blogger Publishing wizard) is complemented by the equally annoying "Not found" (which is generally seen after Publishing is used).

The "Another blog ..." / "Not Found" condition is not desirable - for a working domain.

The condition, in general, appears to be an unavoidable result of the flexible Blogger custom domain design. A Blogger custom domain published blog can be one host in a domain cluster, that can also include a Tumblr blog, a WordPress blog, any number of third party hosted websites - and even an odd feature like a forum.

Blogger custom domain publishing is a powerful feature.

Blogger custom domains can be purchased from (almost) any registrar - and can use DNS provided by (virtually) any DNS host. It's more powerful than competing Internet services. Use of "CNAME" referral, to connect the blog and domain, is innovative, and smart.

Custom domain publishing does some of the domain processing from your computer - instead of solely from Google. Use of your computer, unfortunately, involves computers and networks uncontrolled by Google - and may lead to occasional database corruption, and to "Another blog". Custom domain publishing depends upon DNS - and DNS is an Internet service controlled by neither Google or any blog owner.

"Another blog" and "Not found" are two displays, caused by one problem.

The mysterious "Server Not Found", seen occasionally, is similar to the classic "Another blog ..." error.

In many cases, righteous DNS addressing is present - but broken links, in the Google database, leave the blog displayed as “Not found”. "Another blog" is seen by the blog owner, when publishing - and "Not found" is typically seen by would be blog readers, and search engines, after publishing.

An experienced blog owner would generally prefer the former, to the latter. The owner, when seeing "Another blog", can fix the problems - so prospective readers and search engines can view the blog, without seeing "Not Found".

"Error 12" is the best known, but not the only, "Error".

"Error 12" is the best known "Error" - but not the only one. There appear to actually be several dozen different variants of "Error 12", which refer to problems with the Publishing dashboard wizard. We've seen "Error 32", at least.

32 "Error" codes is nowhere as complex as 36^6 "bX" codes - but it's a start.

An example of the infamous "Error 12", seen long ago.



Earlier, "Error 12" was seen when domain ownership verification was needed, when publishing to newly setup domains. We have, during the past year, seen reports of Publishing problems labeled "Error 13", "Error 14", and "Error 32".

"Error 12", in reality, is not an actual error condition - it is simply a domain, requiring normal ownership verification. Recently, the "Error 12" label was removed from the "domain ownership verification is needed" display - and now, we simply see the label "Third party domain settings".

"Error 13", "Error 14", and "Error 32" appear to also involve domain ownership verification - but with slightly different circumstances. There may also be some "Error" numbers which involve features other than domain ownership verification. And some "bX" codes are caused by bogus DNS addressing, encountered during custom domain publishing - like various "Error" codes.

The "Error 12" seen now, with verification instructions re written - and without the "Error 12" label.



Ownership verification has become both more flexible - and less necessary.

Domains purchased through Google Domains don't need ownership verification, when purchased under the Blogger / Google account as the blog owner. The Google Domains service, originally available only to USA residents, is now (as of August 2018) available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, UK, USA, and Vietnam..

Also, Blogger now accepts domain ownership verification using options available through Google Webmaster Tools - the latter now itself known as Search Console. These options offer verification ability to blog owners who can't use simple "CNAME" referral.

Originally, addition of a new "CNAME" was necessary, for each use of Publishing - with a new BlogSpot URL involved. After Blogger tuned the verification process, we noted that the second "CNAME" is only required for a new, unverified domain - and not always that, either.

With the "Error 12" designation retired, the other Publishing "Error" labels reference actual error conditions - and may offer more diagnostic ability than the monolithic "Another blog".

For people fortunate to be able to use Google Domains, purchase and setup of a non BlogSpot address is slowly becoming a project more doable by blog owners, instead of by tech experts. And the "Error 12" variants will make diagnosis of common publishing errors more possible.

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When Blogger added domain ownership verification to the custom domain publishing process in 2012, blog owners started seeing the mysterious "Error 12", suggesting that ownership verification was required. We've seen various other "Error" codes in the past 5 years, - some also referencing ownership verification, and others referencing other publishing problems.

It appears that the various "Error" codes are used to identify problems encountered in the Publishing wizard, similar to how the bX codes are used to identify problems in Blogger, in general.

https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/3Rb3E08zHKk/discussion

https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/EBhTkj_gdnY/discussion

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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.

Custom Domains Do Not Always Need Ownership Verification

We're seeing a new source of confusion, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, with blog owners trying to publish to a custom domain URL.

How do I get my second "CNAME"?

The Publishing wizard does not, always, provide instructions for ownership verification - and some owners don't understand that ownership verification is only necessary when it's demanded.

When ownership verification was first introduced, whenever a blog owner would use the Publishing wizard, to publish or re publish to any non BlogSpot URL, every use of the wizard would involve creating a new ownership verification "CNAME".

The ownership verification "certificate" is unique to both the URL being published, and the time the publishing takes place. If the owner waited too long between publishing attempts, a new "CNAME" would be again demanded. If multiple hosts were published in a domain, multiple "CNAME"s were required.

In some cases, each domain address being added would require at least 2 "CNAME"s - the DNS address for the published host ("ghs.google.com"), and the ownership verification (the long, random text). Domains with multiple hosts would end up with multiple, redundant, and useless ownership verification "CNAME"s.

Later, Blogger changed the requirement, so only one verification was required, for the domain.

Each domain now has an ownership verification indicator, invisible to us. If ownership is verified once, that is generally enough. When you publish to a domain URL, either a verification "CNAME" Is required, or it is not required.

In some cases, trying to Publish to a domain URL, with bogus base DNS addresses, will generate another infamous "bX" code - or the blog will seem to publish, but may be offline when accessed. Upon correction of the problem, with righteous DNS addresses setup, the Publishing wizard will simply publish, and the domain will be operational.

In either case, no second "CNAME" will be required. When the domain is operational, you wait for domain propagation (formerly called "Transition") to complete. While waiting, you continue the migration.

When the migration process is complete, you get on with publishing the blog.

If it should be necessary to re publish to the same host, or publish to a different host, in the domain - and ownership verification is required, instructions for adding a new "CNAME" will be provided. When the new "CNAME" Is needed, the new verification address (again, sensitive to domain address and to time of request) will be displayed in the Publishing wizard.

If ownership verification is not required, and the domain becomes operational when the Publishing wizard is used, you are done.

Some owners will use Google Webmaster Tools, and manually generate an ownership verification. This will give you specifications for a "CNAME" / "TXT" that is unnecessary now - and later, will be out of date. And, if your domain zone edit file is limited in size, this will unnecessarily limit the number of hosts you can add.

Helpful instructions by Blogger not withstanding, you need to add righteous DNS addresses, and get the domain working.

If ownership verification is required, add the required "CNAME". If ownership verification is not required, finish the domain migration, then get on with publishing the blog.

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Copy And Paste The Ownership Verification Details

The Custom Domain Ownership Verification requirement has been with us for over a year - and we still see confusion, and easily corrected mistakes.

One of the most frustrating mistakes involves mistyping of the details.

I keep getting an "Error 12". My registrar insists that the DNS addresses are right.

But, the registrar must be wrong, since the blog just can't be published!

When you type the base domain DNS addresses, into the registrar's zone editor, eyeballing what you type is somewhat obvious. Either you get it right - or you don't. Typing the domain ownership verification details, on the other hand, is not so simple.

When you setup your domain, you know the domain name. Who's buried, in Grant's Tomb, anyway?

You probably spent hours, choosing just the right domain name. Choosing an available, yet memorable, domain name is not a simple task. Some consultants make the domain name an essential, initial choice, in setting up a company.

Since you know the domain, when you setup the base DNS addresses, it's reasonably easy to get that right. Having gotten the base DNS addresses setup just right, you try to publish the blog to the domain - and now you get the infamous "Error 12".

An example of the "Error 12" display.
See the short, and long, tokens?


The problem with the "Error 12" is not just having to setup one more DNS address. You already setup 2 - or maybe 5 - to get the base DNS addresses. The big problem here is the content of this second "CNAME".

You know every character of the base DNS addresses. You've typed all of that, over and over. Then, you look at the second "CNAME" - which contains pure random garbage.

Pure random garbage that is essential, on a character by character basis. Get just one character wrong - or omitted - or reverse any characters, in sequence - and the "Error 12" never goes away.

• The “Name / Label / Host” value ("short token") is exactly 12 characters.
• The Destination / Target / Points To” random value ("long token") is exactly 14 characters.
• Do not confuse a “O” / “o” (alphabetic characters) with a “0” (numeric character).
• Do not confuse an “l” or "t" (alphabetic characters) or a “1” (numeric character).
• Do not confuse a "w" (single, alphabetic character) with a "vv" (two alphabetic characters).

Do you have a good quality magnifying glass handy? Use it - and look at the differences and similarities, in the above 5 cases used above, as examples.

When you get an "Error 12" or similar, and the message includes a section

Name, Label or Host field Destination, Target or Points To field

The only proper procedure here involves use of the clipboard. Copy / paste the short token, then copy / paste the long token.

Don't type by hand. Please. And when you copy then paste, keep in mind the zone editor entry syntax, which is essential to a working domain - and differs from registrar to registrar.