Sometimes, you have to tell people something twice, before they will listen to you. This month, the "Buy A Domain" wizard has that problem.
As always, start from Settings - Publishing, and select "Switch to: • Custom Domain". If you were buying "mydomain.net", for "What address would you like your blog to have?" you should simply enter "mydomain", select ".net", then hit "Check Availability". This month, if you do that, you will seeThere was an error processing this form. Please try again.
URL should end in a valid domain extension, such as .com or .net.
In this case, you must enter "mydomain.net", then select ".net". The ".net" bit is validated, too. If you enter "mydomain.com", then select ".net", you'll get the same error.
Strange, but true.
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Having written my referential guide Troubleshooting Your Custom Domain Problems, I have seen more than a few questions in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken that are solved by use of the guide. Maybe you can avoid use of that guide, if you plan ahead of time.
The vast majority of all bloggers, when seeking to publish their blog to a custom domain, will do quite well to use the "Buy A Domain For Your Blog" wizard.- Have a major bank issued credit card, for an account that's in good standing, in hand.
- Pick an available domain.
- Provide the credit card information.
- Get the email from Google Apps.
- Setup your new Google Apps account.
- Get to work planning and managing the transition to the new URL.
- If you just completed step #6, please skip to the end of the article, now. What's below is not your concern.
As of 2013/06/23, "Buy a domain" is no longer offered, as part of "Add a custom domain".
Maybe you can't use "Buy A Domain", for your purchase.If you're in this group, I suggest that you plan the setup process, and similarly, the domain renewal options. Save yourself (and us) a lot of headache, by considering the details, before you purchase.- Choose a registrar that will provide the proper DNS services, and the required support. Even if you cannot use "Buy A Domain", you may do well to use eNom or GoDaddy as your registrar, if possible.
- We are more familiar with their procedures and wizards. We can provide corrections, for well known problems.
- Their CSRs are becoming increasingly familiar with needs of Google Custom Domains.
- We are reasonably certain that they are able to provide the necessary services.
- As a GoDaddy customer, you can use the Blogger / GoDaddy "Update your DNS records" wizard, to setup your DNS, after your domain is registered by GoDaddy.
It's your choice, but you can make it easier for yourself, and for us. - Setup the DNS addresses properly, using one of three models. For details, please see:
- Re publish the blog to the new domain. Select the "Redirect" option (if desired). Note that even if you do not (or cannot) redirect one URL to another, using one of the three models is seriously recommended.
- Setup a new Google Apps account (if necessary).
- Get to work planning and managing the transition to the new URL.
This is simple advice, but it will be worth your while to understand the requirements, and to execute the details, religiously. Custom domains are very simple, in concept - but if you set one up wrong, you can have all sorts of problems.
Get it right, from the start. Make it easier, for everybody.
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With the current state of Custom Domain Publishing, and the bX codes that have become so common as of late, we're seeing some unhappy bloggers.People are getting ripped off it seems like.
BLOGGER WHAT IS GOING ON!
andI bought my domain from GoDaddy and it doesn't work! I want my money back!!
But, as has been mentioned before, once you buy the domain registration, it's yours, and you don't get your money back.
If you buy the domain using the "Buy A Domain" wizard, the domain is registered to you, and you get email from Google Apps, it's your domain. If the Blogger script doesn't succeed in connecting the domain URL to your Blogger blog (BlogSpot URL), the domain is still yours. Ditto if you buy the domain from GoDaddy and the DNS isn't setup for you.
You take your Google Apps email, sign into eNom or GoDaddy, and correct the DNS. Once the DNS is setup, you can publish any web site that pleases you to your domain. Maybe you can't publish a Blogger blog to your domain, until Blogger fixes their problems, but you didn't pay anything for that.
You paid $10 USD (probably) for domain registration and DNS hosting. There's no fraudulent acceptance of funds for a non working service. You got what you paid for.
Here, I paid $10 USD to GoDaddy. You may pay GoDaddy, or maybe eNom, or possibly a third party ISP, independently. Nobody pays anything to Google.
And when I purchased my latest domain, I "signed" a Go Daddy Domain Name Registration and Services Agreement.
But, do let Blogger know about the bX code that affected you, or any other problem. Just don't expect overnight resolution.
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The Blogger "Google Custom Domain" product, which gives bloggers a much requested ability to use a non-BlogSpot URL with a Layouts template, was first offered over a year ago, in January, 2007. I've been writing about Custom Domains ever since - the basic procedure of setting one up, and about the problems involved, and even about the many improvements that it's received.
One of the many improvements noted was the "Buy A Domain For Your Blog" Wizard, which replaces (and greatly simplifies) the painfully tedious, and needlessly technical, setup process for many bloggers. Yet all of my writing about the wizard was purely from observation, and from analysis of the problem reports in the forums. Until today, I didn't actually setup a domain, using the wizard.
So, let's cut to the chase, Chuck. What's it like?
It started with a bit of apprehension. I decided to do this, as I do many things, based upon a practical goal. A goal of having my own personal domain - "nitecruzr.net". And the apprehension was two fold.- Maybe the wizard will hose my domain, as it has so many others.
- Maybe I won't even be able to setup my domain. What if "nitecruzr.net" is already taken? Oh no, my own personal episode of "That URL is already taken.".
Ever mindful of the "Domibot" issue, I decided to not even check for availability, until I was ready to actually buy the domain, if available.
So this morning, I gathered myself together, and tackled the wizard. With credit card in hand, and disappointment in mind, I approached Settings - Publishing - "Switch to: • Custom Domain".
Select "Switch to: • Custom Domain".
Enter the domain name, and select the Top Level Domain. For TLD, we have the choice of "com", "net", "info", "org", or "biz".
Go for it. Check Availability.
Hooray! It's available. So, take it!
Of course, it's not free, like the rest of Blogger is.
Place The Order, Chuck. Note here, you need a working, major credit card, before starting the purchase process.
Yay! We have "nitecruzr.net".
Oh no! Not that!!
Fortunately, all is not lost. Simply recycle the domain settings, using Google Apps.
Maybe the latter test result is what motivated Blogger to now put newly setup custom domains into a three day "In Transition" period. Anyway, having setup the base custom domain, I am now able to add virtual hosts, and construct my domain cluster, Nitecruzr Dot Net, and include all of my blogs into one web site.
Note that use of the "Buy a domain" wizard is simply one alternative of three, in proper custom domain setup. And note the complementary activities, which you need to perform, during the three day Transition period, that starts when you successfully purchase the domain.
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When you buy a new automobile in the USA, there's a consumer protection clause in most finance plans.
This protection is called "right of recession". When invoked properly, it gives you, the consumer, the choice of terminating the purchase up to 3 days following your signing on the bottom line.
Many retail stores give you the choice of returning some (not all) items purchased in their store, when accompanied by the right contents and documentation, for full or partial refund of purchase price.
When you purchase a Custom Domain, whether using a Google Partner purchase or a separate contract, that may not be the case.
Generally, once you hit the "Purchase This Domain" button, you're stuck with the purchase.
When you purchase a domain, you generally pay just over $10 USD for a one year term. If you decide later that you needed a different name, just buy a second name.
When the one year runs out on the first name, just let it go. Buy 2 less coffees at Starsmucks this year, and move on.
