Hi, I enjoy writing a blog and presently use MSN spaces for this
purpose. I own www.myownname.com and would like to move my blog over
there. My domain is hosted by Godaddy.com and I cannot see any blog
platform offered. Does anyone know what I can do to move from a blog
platform to my own .com and if there are providers who can help me.
(Obviously using Godaddy.com would be best)

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Request for Question Clarification by palitoy-ga on 05 Nov 2005 09:43 PST

Hello robotz-ga

Thank-you for your question.

GoDaddy provides the ability for you to redirect your domain name to
any page on the internet.  If you used this functionality you would
not need to change your MSN spaces account and anyone typing in your
domain name would go directly to your blog.  Would further
instructions on how to achieve this be acceptable for an answer?

Alternatively there are a number of solutions that would require you
to start your blog again (it is unlike you will be able to smoothly
transfer your existing blog entries over without a lot of cutting and
pasting into the new system) and would require knowledge of basic
website programming.  An example of one of these solutions would be
http://www.typepad.com/

Let me know if either of these solutions is the type of answer you are
requiring and I can expand on the one that is most favourable.

palitoy-ga

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Clarification of Question by robotz-ga on 07 Nov 2005 01:20 PST

Hi palitoy, 

The solution you mention with Godaddy could be interesting in the
short term, so tell me how to do this and I will consider this an
answer.

To clarify: Are you saying with respect to typepad.com that I can
create my blog using www.myownname.com. The main thing is that I want
no reference to the platform or provider in the URL in future. (With
temporary solution above, people will see that it is an MSN spaces
account)

Thx.

Hello robotz-ga

Thank-you for accepting my clarification as an answer for your problem.

To redirect your domain name to your MSN Spaces website with GoDaddy
please follow these instructions:

1) Go to http://www.godaddy.com and log in to your account
2) Click on Domains->My Domain Names from the green bar across the GoDaddy webpage
3) You should now see a list of your domain names.  Tick/Check the box
next to the domain name you wish to redirect to your MSN Spaces
account and then click Forward Domains
4) You should now be presented with the Forward Domains menu down the
right hand side of the screen.  It should say "Domain Name Forwarding
allows you to redirect or 'point' your domain name to another
location. Most often, this is used if you own multiple domain names
and want to 'point' them to the same web site. Enter the URL to
forward these domain name(s)to below and click 'Save Changes'."
5) Enter the existing URL of your MSN blog into the "Forward To" box
(not your domain name)
6) If you wish the user of your site to see your domain name in their
browser URL bar then you should tick the "Mask Domain" box.  If you do
not check this box, once they have used your URL to get to your MSN
Spaces blog the URL in their browser will change to what you entered
in 5) above.
7) In the "Masked Title" box you should type the name of your blog or website
8) The remaining "Meta-tag" boxes can be left empty or you can type in
words that relate to your website.  These will help search engines
such as Yahoo or Google index your site.
9) Finally click "Save Changes" and within a few minutes (depending on
how quickly GoDaddy implements the changes) you should be able to
access your blog using your domain name.  Give it a try!

GoDaddy has tutorials on this here:
https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/faq/howto_guide.asp?se=%2B&ci=1179#Forwarding
https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/faq/howto_guide.asp?se=%2B&ci=1179#Masking

With respect to Typepad you could create a new blog with them and it
would have no reference to the platform or provider if you picked the
correct package with them.  All Typepad accounts are given a URL such
as abcdefghij.typepad.com but you can also have the account set up to
use your own domain name.

If you were to use Typepad or any other provider it would not be a
simple and quick task to move your blog over to them as they are
likely to be incompatible.

Typepad have a Frequently Asked Question list here:
http://help.typepad.com/faq/

Their solution to using your own domain name is called "Domain
Mapping" and is detailed here:
http://help.typepad.com/faq/domain_mapping.html

If you are considering using Typepad or any other provider I would ask
them if you can try out their services first - most offer some sort of
free trial to ensure the service is exactly right for you.

I hope this answers your questions.  Should you require any further
help please ask for clarification and I will do my best to respond
swiftly.

Researcher palitoy-ga asked good questions in confirmation and gave me
temporary solution + longer term option, just what I wanted. Thanks.
S.