Domain Name Question

Hi, i was wondering, if i was to buy a domain name, would i be able to transfer my Blogger.com blog to it? What i mean is, would i be able to change the URL from what is now(a sub Domain), to the Domain name i bought?

You can only direct your new URL to the blogger URL on the web. Most URL hosts have a program that allows you to assign a re-direction to annother URL of your choosing.

oh ok, is it cheaper than buying a website plan?

Yeah, it usually is. Mind you, it was a couple of years ago since I had my own url, but Im sure its the same principle. The way it usually works is
1. you reserve (buy) server space and obtain the IP address for that server.
and then
2. You register a domain name that points to that particular IP.


You could choose to only register a domain name and make it point to any IP you want, last I checked.
I could be wrong though.....

[edit on 7-9-2006 by DjNothing]

Hmm, sounds easy enough, but how would I find out the ip of my blog?

I believe that in your domain settings, you MAY be able to simply put in the addy of your blog, but I could be wrong.
I think though, that it would be able to recognize both, since they are essentially both the same thing, really.
The domain name only points to an IP. It would be the same if you gave a domain name as a pionter. Does that make sense?
Maybe somebody could explain it better.........

While I don't know for sure how exactly you would go about getting a redirection URL for your site, one thing you'd want to watch for is what kind of redirection it is, whether it's a "total" redirect--i.e. every request for a page on yoursite.com still says yoursite.com/page.html in the address bar--or just a home page redirect, where someone types in yoursite.com and after everything loads the address bar says "yourblog.blogger.com". I hope that makes sense some how...

Although I'm sure you don't want to start from scratch with your blog, there are quite a few free blog setups out there that you could add to a website if you go for the "full package" deal (i.e. web hosting and domain name.) Most of them are really easy to setup too; maybe not just upload and poof! you're done, but generally just some really basic php editing and you're on your way. You can check out [ur]=http://opensourcecms.com/[/url]; they have a lot of free php & mySQL driven blogs (php & mySQL being technology you should be able to easily find on even a cheap hosting package) that you can demo there without having to download, setup, see if it works, go back to the drawing board.

If you want to go that route, feel free to post any questions; I'm sure there's plenty of members around here who'd be more than willing to throw some answers out about working with php or whatnot. I know I'd help where I could.

Buying a domain name and redirecting it to your blog isn't a big thing. First you'll need to purchase your domain name, I use Network Solutions but there are many discount registrars out there, then you'll need to arrange for hosting of your domain. Hosting packages and pricing are about as diverse as the Internet itself, ranging from a few dollars a month to 100's if not 1000's depending on your needs.

Most hosting packages come with some sort of "control panel" where you can enable/disable certain features available in your particular hosting plan. (i.e. add/remove email accounts, add/remove ftp accounts, monitor stats, install pre-configured features/software, and even setup redirects.)

The redirects can be for your entire domain or just a certain page/section. If for the entire domain then anytime someone types in or goes to www.yourdomain.com they will be immediately redirected to the pre-determined destination. If the redirect is only for a specific page/section (i.e. www.yourdomain.com/blog.html) then visitors will only be redirected when accessing that portion of your site/domain.

As for installing a blog software on your domain, most hosting packages offer a blogging software as part of the package/plan. Our's, for example, has four pre-configured blogging packages that can be installed/setup through the "control panel". They are b2evolution, Nucleus, pMachine free, and WordPress. Also included are about a dozen various content management systems and forum packages. All with point and click, no hassle, worry free installation and configuration.

In the end I guess it all comes down to What suits Your needs, wants and desires. If your sole desire is simply to have www.mydomain.com with an automatic redirect to your blog, then you're looking at a few dollars to register the name and a few dollars a month for a web hosting package/plan. Otherwise, the sky's the limit ... oh, and your wallet too of course.