It Was the Nameservers

If you're following my website building adventures, I had built a website, but was having trouble getting it uploaded to the internet.

I submitted a ticket to my host, HostGator. It only took a half hour to receive a reply explaining the problem. Not bad!

The problem: I hadn't pointed the nameservers to HostGator.

Okay, that's happened to me before. The first time I heard it, I felt like I was reading a foreign language. At this point, I should know better. But this is exactly the kind of thing that made me want to create Website Building 4 Newbies. If you've hired a web designer, he/she will probably do this for you. And I would guess that if your host is also your domain registrar this will be done for you (though I'm not sure). Otherwise, you need to know this.

How to Point Your nameservers to Your Host

When you create an account with your new host, the host will tell you what your nameservers are. Usually there are two. It's just a string of characters.

Go to your domain registrar, log in, and go to your domain name. Somewhere, you'll find a place where you will tell the domain registrar what your nameservers are.

Simply input the nameservers and save the info.

If you can't figure out where to input the nameserver information, do submit a ticket for help or telephone help.

I just did this about an hour ago, with my domain registrar, NameCheap, and frankly, I didn't find it easy to find the info. I just kept stubbornly clicking things until I found it. But it's definitely easier to just ask for help.

For NameCheap, here's what I did (I will need to click around again to figure it out, but I will do that for you!).

After logging in, I'm choosing "manage domains" from the top menu. A screen comes up with the two domain names I have registered there.

I click on www.heartbeat-childrens-music.com and another screen comes up.

On the left there is a menu. Okay, the second item down is an obvious giveaway: Domain Name Server Setup.

I don't remember that being there before, honest!

Okay, I click on that, and a screen comes up that has five different fields so that you can add up to five nameservers. I've never had more than two.

Click on "save changes" and logout. You're done!

If you want to see how my website looks now that I've finally uploaded it, visit www.heartbeat-childrens-music.com. Frankly, I do not like this template. But it's a start.

I'll be updating this blog as I make progress.

Janet