Defining Domain Name Servers

DNS stands for Domain Name Server

In technical jargon, the DNS resolves your registered domain names to your hosted account/IP address. For instance, the DNS tells my domain name, www.omsh.com, to look for my website on my server at the IP address, 50.28.68.14.

The DNS can be local or remote. If you register your domain with GoDaddy.com and select to use their web hosting for your blog, your DNS will be local (on the GoDaddy server). If however, you register your domain at GoDaddy, but select to host your blog elsewhere (like I suggest you do), your DNS will be remote (pointed to a different server).

BOTTOM LINE: You must point your DNS if you want your web visitors to be able to find your website using your domain name.

Pointing Your DNS

These directions assume that you have registered your domain name at GoDaddy.com. However, you can register your domain with any domain registrar, loosely applying the same directives.

If you are hosting your blog at GoDaddy you will not need to point your DNS – this is done automatically for you. If you are hosting your blog with Liquid Web, my recommended web host, the following directions apply.

1. If you have already logged out of your GoDaddy account, log back into your account using the Customer # or Login Name assigned when you registered your domain name.

2. Once logged-in, look at the top, green, horizontal navigation and click on the text-link “Domains”. A large drop down tab menu will give you several options – look at the far right column titled “GO TO” and click on the text link “Domain Management.” This will take you to the domains registered at your GoDaddy account.

3. Once you are in your Domain Manager, select the domain you need to define domain name servers for by clicking on the checkbox to the left of the domain name. If this is your first domain registered with GoDaddy there will obviously only be only one domain name in this area. If you have multiple domains, they will all display here. If you are pointing several domains to the same Nameserver, you can select multiple domains.

Below you will see that I have selected my domain www.omsh.com. You may note I have also registered ohmystinkinheck.com, ohmystinkinheck.net. And because it is a common misspelling of my domain name, I also have www.ohmystinkingheck.com and www.ohmystinkingheck.net registered.

4. After you check to select a domain or domains, the buttons in the menu bar above the domain names go from shaded to unshaded, making them available to click on.

5. Click on the icon that says “Nameservers” and select “Set Nameservers” from the drop-down menu that appears.

6. The “Set Nameservers window will appear. You have four radio button choices available – click on “I have specific nameservers for my domains.”

This is where you will enter the remote DNS assigned by your web hosting company – not your domain registrar. Look for this nameserver information in the Welcome Letter sent by your web hosting company when you signed up. Normally you will be sent two different nameservers. In this case, the nameservers are NS1.OMSH.COM and NS2.OMSH.COM. Once you key in the nameservers, click the black button, “Okay” to save the information.”

7. The “Set Nameservers” window will indicate the domain name(s) are being processed for change.

8. Now your domain name is resolving or propagating (Two very big words that basically mean the domain name is looking for your web hosting account.) across the world wide web. DNS changes typically resolve within 24 hours, but can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. During this time your domain may be inaccessible via the domain name to some or all web visitors.

While Your DNS Resolves

Though it has been my experience that domains resolve within minutes when using GoDaddy.com as the registrar and Liquid Web as the web host, there will be situations when this is not the case. If you enter www.your-domain-name.com and are still viewing a GoDaddy parked page, then your domain has not yet resolved. Be patient…y’know, since you don’t hardly have any other choice.

Most web hosts, like Liquid Web, will allow you to access your server files using the IP address and your username. In other words, you could key in http://ip-address/~username and be able to view your home page even before the DNS resolves. This is fine when setting up a static website, but believe us when we say that it is significantly easier for you if you will allow your DNS to fully resolve before installing a self-hosted dynamic blogging platform like WordPress on your server.

Written by Heather (OMSH) as part of the Ditch Your Blogging Training Wheels lab segment from the Blogher ’07 Transitioning to a self-hosted blog.