The
DNS Editor lets you alter your
Domain Name Server
zone file. The editor can be used to point a
subdomain to any IP address. Only those who have a thorough understanding of DNS should use this option.
For example, if you have a domain (let's call it youredomain.com) hosted through EarthLink, you probably also have a Web site hosted by EarthLink that you will see if you type www.youredomain.com into a Web browser.
Using the DNS Editor, you can create new subdomains and point them at IP addresses different than that of your Web site. www and ftp are subdomains. The principal domain is
youredomain.com
. We, by default, set up
www.youredomain.com
and
ftp.youredomain.com
.
Let's say that you have the domain joe.com. Let's also say that at work, you have a computer that is set up as an FTP server, and it's all yours--you own it and operate it. Furthermore let's assume that it's accessible on the Internet with the
IP address of 123.123.123.123.
If you wanted to, you could use the DNS Editor to point
ftp.joe.com
to that IP address. Keep in mind that this would not affect
joe.com
, or
www.joe.com
. Only ftp.joe.com would point to the new computer.
Now let's assume that instead of an FTP server, the computer at work is a little Webserver, and that you are a big Teletubbies fan with a Teletubbies web page on that server. You could create a new subdomain called "teletubbies" and point it to that IP address. That way if anyone in the world typed
http://teletubbies.joe.com
into a Web browser, it would bring up the pages on that work computer's web server.
That sounds very useful, but keep in mind that it will only work if you've obtained a static IP address other than the address you are given with your EarthLink Web Hosting Account.
Also keep in mind that if you alter your DNS zone file improperly, your Web site may cease to function correctly, and people won't be able to see your site on the Web. In the words of one of our Web Engineers:BE CAREFUL MODIFYING DNS ZONES. UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING HERE, YOU CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR SITE!
To access the
DNS Editor
Log in to the Control Panel using your domain name (without "www" in front) and your
Domain Administration Password.
After you've logged in, you'll see a page that looks something like this:
Click the DNS editor link, and the DNS editor page will appear looking something like this:
To
add a Zone File entry
From the DNS Editor Page, click the
Addbutton to add an entry to your DNS zone file. You will see several blank fields that look like this:
Type the name of the
subdomain you want to create into the left-hand field. The only valid characters for a domain name are letters, numbers, and a hyphen. Special characters like the underscore (_) or an exclamation mark (!) are not permitted.
Domain names cannot contain spaces or begin or end with a hyphen.
Into the right-hand field, type the IP address or domain that you want the subdomain to point to.
To delete a Zone File entry
From the DNS Editor Page click the
Delete button to delete an entry in your DNS zone file. You will see your zone file entries with checkboxes next to them.
Click the checkbox next to the entry you wish to delete, then click
Delete Entries:
Do not delete localhost -> 127.0.0.1 entry! Doing so will break your web site! Warning: Do not delete the
localhost -> 127.0.0.1 entry! Doing so will break your Web site!
To
edit a Zone File entry
From the DNS Editor Page click the Edit button to change an entry in your DNS zone file. You will see your zone file entries in editable fields.
Make any needed changes within these fields.
Warning: If you change the entry that points to your IP address, you will break your Web site!
Editable Fields for Zone File Entries
Can I point a zone file entry to a folder on my site?
No. It's all governed by the
rules of DNS. You can only point DNS at another domain name, or at an IP address. For example, you could create a subdomain called
microsoft.joe.com
and point it right at
www.microsoft.com
if you wanted to. This means that typing
http://microsoft.joe.com
into your browser would result in the Microsoft homepage loading.
However, you wouldn't be able to point
microsoft.joe.com
at something like
www.microsoft.com/support/test.html
because that violates the rules of DNS. If you wanted to, you could create subdomains for the names of all your favorite cartoon characters and point them all at the same thing. Like,
wacko.joe.com
and
bugs.joe.com
and many more could all point to
www.joe.com
. And after the DNS update, everyone in the world would be able to use the domain names that you created.
How long will it take for my changes to become active?
Changes to your DNS zone file usually become active in 24 hours.
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