Assuming you will also HOST your domain at godaddy, just go into your Domains and set the name servers to the default name servers.
If you are using a WordPress.com (the .COM is important) then you need to point your name servers to WordPress.com’s name servers. See:
http://faq.wordpress.com/2006/11/10/domain-mapping/
Ok, I followed the instructions and now the domain is pointing there in this format (http://domainname.com/), but won’t let me get there by typing http://www.domainname.com. Any idea why? Thanks
WordPress.com doesn’t allow www urls (because www is deprecated). It should forward you to the non-www version when you try it though, if the non-www version is actually working.
However, it can take up to 72 hours for domain propagation changes to fully take effect. If you just changed it over, and the non-www is working but the www forwarding is not working, then you probably have the DNS query cached. Wait for a day or two for the propagation to work.
Cool, I think I’ve got it. Thanks for the help!
I also have my domains setup at GoDaddy. It was my understanding that if I did anything other than a 301 direct that the search engines would not like me. So would “go into your Domains and set the name servers to the default name servers” cause a search engine problem?
If the answer to that question is “no problem” then would I initiate the name server change at WordPress or GoDaddy?
Just read the FAQ MichaelH linked to above – you will get all the answers.
And anything related to wordpress.COM should be asked in their forums.
Are there other “offical” sites saying that www is deprecated? I’ve tried to find others, but can’t. While the site that Otto42 has pointed to makes sense, I’d rather have others to back it up before I pass it on to students.
Moshu, thank you for the quick response. I’m sorry that I wasn’t clear. I didn’t click thru to the FAQ that Michael pointed to because my blog and website are hosted at GoDaddy not at WordPress.com. So am I to understand that I could use GoDaddy’s “manage domains” to point visitors that type http://www.irishattic.com to http://www.kco1.net/blogs? If that is so I’m wondering why GoDaddy didn’t steer me to that solution when I called them about this. They told me I would have to set up an .htaccess page which so far I haven’t been able to get to work but that’s a subject for another post.
And then my 2nd question – if I use manage domains to steer visitors to a different URL than what they typed will this hurt me with the search engines?
If you don’t have wp.com account… you should NOT post in a thread that is exactly about this issue.
WP never works well with redirected/pointed/tricky domain things.
Install WP where you want visitors to see it. It is that simple.
I don’t use htaccess redirects and don’t know much about it – but yes, anything else than 301 (permanent redirect) will hurt in SE.
Are there other “offical” sites saying that www is deprecated?
No, because the ‘www’ prefix was never “official” in the first place. It was a de-facto convention, not an actual standard of any kind.
As that site points out, use of www makes no general sense anymore now that the web is ubiquitous. In marketing, it’s actively discouraged because it detracts from the brand name in question. The fact that it’s an internet address is obvious to anybody reading it, you don’t have to point out the fact that it’s on the World Wide Web as well.
Now, support for the www prefix is often needed to handle those users who always type it even when it’s unneeded, however having your content on both www and non-www detracts from your search engine rankings, as it’s considered to be duplicated content. The best solution is just to use the redirect method, as pointed out on that site I gave above. This lets your users see your brand identity clearly by eliminating the www even when they typed it in, and also lets search engines redirect and know not to use the www address when they find it.
True … though many people I know put in the www as soon as you start to say an internet address, I find that I have to tell them not to put it in, they just do …
