DNS

• What is Dynadot DNS?

  Dynadot DNS is a domain name server setting in which you use our name server software to resolve the IP address for your domain. In this case, however, you are the person setting the IP address for your domain and your mail servers for your domain. Therefore, the IP address you enter will need to be the IP address of a web server that will respond to web requests for your domain. We can map both "mydomain.com" and "www.mydomain.com" to an IP address that you specify. If you have a web server at this IP address, you can now host a website. If you have an email server at this IP address, you can now receive email. You can also specify up to 5 MX records if you want your email to go to a different location than web requests. Alternatively, you can set up to 10 email aliases (including catch-all email forwarding) to forward your domain's email to an existing email address. We also allow you to specify up to 50 subdomains using A records and CNAME records. For example, you can set the IP address or target host for "ftp.mydomain.com". Wildcards are allowed for A records. You can also specify 5 TXT records with our DNS setting. Learn how to set up DNS for your domain

• How do I forward my domain using Dynadot DNS?

  To forward your domain using Dynadot DNS, please follow these steps: Sign in to your Dynadot account. Select "My Domains" on the left-side menu bar and click "Manage Domains" in the drop-down. Check the box next to the domain name(s) you want to forward and click on the "Action" button. Choose "DNS Settings" from the "Action" list. In the "Domain Record (required)" section, select "Forward from the drop-down menu and then enter the URL you wish to forward to under the "IP Address or Target Host" box. In the "Subdomain Records (optional)" section, enter "www" as the subdomain, select "Forward" from the drop-down menu and enter the URL you wish to forward to under the "IP Address or Target Host" box. Press the "Save DNS" button to save your changes. Please be aware it may take some time for your changes to propagate.

• How do I set up email forwarding if I’m using DNS?

  Every domain registered at Dynadot comes with free email forwarding as well as free domain parking, DNS settings, domain forwarding, ownership changes, and our free website builder! Email forwarding allows you to receive email to an address on your domain name, for example, [email protected]. The email is forwarded to an existing email, such as your Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, or other email. To set up email forwarding for your domain whilst using our DNS, please follow these steps: Log into your Dynadot account. Check the box next to your domain name(s) and click on the "Action" button. Choose "DNS Settings" from the "Action" list. Under the "Domain Record" section, select “Email Forward“ from the “Record Type” drop-down. Enter in the email address you want for your domain email in the “Alias” box (you do not need to enter the full email address such as [email protected], only the "email" part should be entered from this example). Enter an existing email address that you want your email forwarded to in the "Email" box. Press the ”Save DNS” button save your changes . NOTE: You can specify up to 10 different email addresses to have forwarded. If you want to have catch all email forwarding, enter a * as the email username. There are also some additional limits to our email forwarding. Want to get email for your domain without any limits that doesn't have to be forwarded? Check out our Email Hosting or Website Builder Business Plan.

• How do I connect my domain with my Website Builder using DNS?

  To connect a domain to your Website Builder, the domain must be in the same Dynadot account as the Website Builder you want to connect to it. If this is the case, please follow these steps to connect your domain to the Website Builder using DNS: Sign in to your Dynadot account. Select "My Domains” from the left-side menu bar and click "Manage Domains" in the drop-down menu. Check the box next to your domain name(s) and click on the "Action" button. Choose "DNS Settings" from the "Action" list. In the "Domain Record (optional)" section, select "A" from the drop-down menu and then enter “54.177.117.207” in the "IP Address or Target Host" box. For the next line of the "Domain Record (optional)" section, select "A" from the drop-down menu and then enter “54.177.158.246” in the "IP Address or Target Host" box. In the "Subdomain Records (optional)" section, enter "www" as the subdomain, select "A" from the drop-down menu and then enter “50.18.238.17” in the "IP Address or Target Host" box. Press the "Save DNS" button to save your changes. NOTE: Your domain must be linked directly to your Website Builder before you can connect to the Website builder using DNS. Please be aware that it may take some time for your settings to propagate. Your settings should look similar to what is shown below: (click to enlarge) Website Builder DNS Example If you want to connect a domain that is in another Dynadot account to your website builder, you will need to initiate a Change Ownership request to move the domain to the Dynadot account which holds the Website Builder.

• How can I point my domain to Squarespace?

  To point your domain to Squarespace, please follow these steps: Sign in to your Dynadot account. Select "My Domains" from the left-side menu bar and click "Manage Domains" in the drop-down. Check the box next to your domain name(s) and click on the "Action" button. Choose "DNS Settings" from the "Action" list. On the DNS Settings page, select the "Dynadot DNS" setting from the top drop-down menu. You will need to create two CNAME records. Scroll down to the "Subdomain Records (optional)" section and select “CNAME” from the drop-down menu. Enter your unique Squarespace code (the unique code that appears directly below the Host column in your Squarespace account) in the ‘Subdomain’ field. In the ‘IP Address or Target Host’ field, enter verify.squarespace.com. Remain in the "Subdomain Records (optional)" section and enter "www" as the next subdomain. Select "CNAME" from the drop-down and then enter ext-cust.squarespace.com in the "IP Address or Target Host" box. Do not enter your actual domain name. Next you will enter the ‘A’ records. Scroll up to the "Domain Record (required)" section and select “A’ as your record type. Enter 198.185.159.144 in the "IP Address or Target Host" box. Repeat this for the other three Squarespace IP addresses - 198.185.159.145, 198.49.23.144, and 198.49.23.145 Click on the "Save DNS" button to save your changes. Your settings should look similar to what is shown below: (click to enlarge) Squarespace Set-up Example See Squarespace's directions on domain mapping with Dynadot for reference.

• How do I set up my domain with Blogger or Blogspot?

  To set up your domain with Blogger or Blogspot, please follow these steps: Sign in to your Dynadot account. Select "My Domains" from the left-side menu bar and click "Manage Domains" in the drop-down. Check the box next to your domain name(s) and click on the "Action" button. Choose "DNS Settings" from the "Action" list. On the DNS page, select "Dynadot DNS" from the top drop-down menu. In the "Domain Record (required)" field, select "A" from the drop-down menu and enter Google's IP 216.239.32.21 in the "IP Address or Target Host" box. Repeat the same steps and create 3 additional A records pointing to IP addresses 216.239.34.21, 216.239.36.21, and 216.239.38.21. In the "Subdomain Records (optional) field", enter "www" as the subdomain record, select "CNAME" from the drop-down menu, and enter ghs.google.com under the "IP Address or Target Host" box. Please note Blogger may ask you to enter another CNAME record. You can verify their current settings here. Press the "Save DNS" button to save your changes. Please be aware that it might take some time for your name server changes to propagate. Next, you will need to configure your settings with Blogger: Sign in to your Blogger account. Navigate to Dashboard, Settings, Publishing, Add a custom domain, Switch to advanced settings. In the "Advanced Settings" box, type in www.yourdomain.ext (For example: www.dynadot.com). Press the Save button to save your changes. You can also create your blog right here on Dynadot! Upgrade to our basic website builder plan to create a beautiful website with blog functionality.

• What is DNS?

  DNS stands for Domain Name System (The "S" in DNS can also stand for Service or Server). It specifies how domain names are translated into IP addresses. Since the Internet is based on IP addresses, each time you use a domain name, a DNS server must translate the name into the correct IP address. A DNS server is a computer which takes in a domain name and returns the correct IP address for the domain. This IP address represents the domain's actual location on the Internet.

• When the first domain record is a CNAME, why are MX records not allowed?

  RFC 1034 published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) recommends the following: "If a CNAME resource record is present at a node, no other data should be present; this ensures that the data for a canonical name and its aliases cannot be different. This rule also insures that a cached CNAME can be used without checking with an authoritative server for other resource record types." We do have a workaround for this issue.

• How can I connect the mobile site I created on Wix.com to my domain?

  To connect your domain to your Wix.com mobile site, you will need to add an additional subdomain to your existing A records. Please follow these steps: In the "Subdomain Records (optional)" section, enter "m" as the subdomain, select "A" from the drop-down menu and then enter the IP address 216.139.213.144 in the "IP Address or Target Host" box. Click on the "Save DNS" button to save your changes.