User profile for user: tatesmom
tatesmom Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Forwarding domain name w/ Mecca Hosting

Has anyone used Mecca Hosting? I have my domain name with them, but I can't figure out how to forward my .Mac site to my domain name (or the other way around, I'm not sure). I'm very new to this, so any help is appreciated!

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Posted on Jul 24, 2006 4:22 PM

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19 replies
User profile for user: Mireille Green1
Mireille Green1
User level: Level 4
1,020 points

Jul 28, 2006 6:38 PM in response to tatesmom

This good information to have. My forward is working for now but I was planning to move to something other than .mac because I understand that we cannot have a site that accepts payments and when I am functional I will need that. For now .mac suit my purpose to practice. Please Tatesmom would you please let me know if you find a service that you like. I am like you not in a rush to mess up.
Cheers
Mireille
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User profile for user: James Tseng
James Tseng
User level: Level 6
12,120 points

Sep 20, 2006 5:39 PM in response to wphowell

Those clients who are not concerned about
performance, reliability, and search engines, happily
use our forwarding services. They know the
limitations and still choose to use the forwarding
service with us. I think that every client should be
able to make their own decision, but it should be
based on good information; you cannot make good
decisions without having all the facts.


Wow, very well put, William. I, for one, appreciate you taking the time to put things in perspective for us here. I have always heard fine things about Mecca Hosting being a Mac-oriented webhost...and in fact just the other day made a recommendation to another user in this post...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=651515&tstart=50

Then this thread resurrected and had me a little worried about my recommendation. The fact that you have chosen to participate in these forums really does elevate your company's stature in my mind. Thank you for jumping in and clearing the air.
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User profile for user: James Tseng
James Tseng
User level: Level 6
12,120 points

Jul 24, 2006 4:49 PM in response to tatesmom

Do you plan on hosting your iWeb pages AT Mecca Hosting or did you simply purchase/register your domain name from them? If all you have is a registered domain name and you still plan to host your web pages at .Mac, then you just have to setup "Domain Forwarding" so that everyone who types in your domain name is automatically forwarded to your .Mac iWeb URL.

You should be able to look through your account there at Mecca Hosting and find the option to set up. Maybe look in the Help section or even give the customer service people a call. Anyways, the specific feature to look for or request is called "Domain Forwarding". You need to give them your .Mac iWeb URL to set it up: http://web.mac.com/yourdotmacname
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User profile for user: tatesmom
tatesmom Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jul 24, 2006 5:57 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

I'm not finding anything about domain forwarding from them. I wrote them and they replied back with info about FTPs. Originally I wanted to host the site with them, but now I just want the domain name and to host at .Mac. I've already set up my .Mac site.

They claim to "specialize" in websites done via Macs, but so far, they don't seem to know anything about iWeb. Hmm.
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User profile for user: Tom Gewecke
Tom Gewecke
User level: Level 10
122,118 points

Jul 24, 2006 6:07 PM in response to tatesmom

I'm not finding anything about domain forwarding from
them. I wrote them and they replied back with info
about FTPs.


Perhaps they did not understand the question. You might also try calling them directly. They have at least this page you could refer to (and most hosting companies I know have more detailed instructions for subscribers available on their site):

http://sales.meccahosting.com/article.php?id=065&

Ask them how to set up what is in this article.

They claim to "specialize" in websites done via Macs,
but so far, they don't seem to know anything about
iWeb. Hmm.


They really don't need to know anything about iWeb for what you want to do, or even for hosting.
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User profile for user: Mireille Green1
Mireille Green1
User level: Level 4
1,020 points

Jul 25, 2006 6:48 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

I gave them the information this morning, I received an automated reply that they had upgraded my query and would get back to me. The forwarding is still not active but when I type my domain name I get a "coming soon" page.
I too went with them because they said they were mac friendly. I am holding my opinion and I have not yet bought server space from them.

Anyone else dealing with them? please let us know of your experience.

Thanks
Mireille
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User profile for user: tatesmom
tatesmom Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jul 26, 2006 7:49 AM in response to Mireille Green1

I e-mailed them my URL and asked them how they can forward it to my domain name, and here's what they said:

"This is something that is typically done as a temporary measure. A forward would mean that your site would have to rely on 2 hosting services in order to function correctly. In addition, the search engines do not follow these forwards and would not find your website. We can setup a forward for you, but it is not recommended if you wish to use your own domain. "

And then again, this:

"We're not saying that we cannot do it; what we're saying that what you wish to do is not advisable. Your visitors would first be directed to your web server with us and would request to download a web page; our server would them provide them with a web page that tells them to go to another site; the visitor's web browser would then connect to your website on your .Mac account.

As you can imagine, not only is this very slow, but it is also not as reliable. If one of the 2 providers has a problem, your site will not be displayed; so, you're always dependent on both providers to have a functional website.

Finally, the search engines ignore these types of forwards, so the website would never be found by search engines.

In any case, if you really wish to do this, we can go ahead and do it for you. You would not need the web hosting services that you have purchased, as they would not be used to do a URL forward. "

Any thoughts, those of you who understand all this? Thanks in advance for your time.
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User profile for user: wphowell
wphowell
User level: Level 1
10 points

Sep 19, 2006 9:59 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

The fact that forwarding is done all the time does not mean it is the right thing to do. Mecca Hosting has been around for five and a half years and we have some of the best people in the industry working here.

The problem with forwarding is that you are in fact dependent on 2 service providers. The DNS nameservers will direct queries to the hosting company providing the forwarding service; the hosting company will direct the visitor to an assigned web server. The web server will then either provide a redirect or through masking will load the destination page in a frame; this does in fact require both services to be functioning or no page will be displayed.

William Howell
Mecca Hosting - Fast. Reliable. Secure.

Further, if you're using masking, which relies on frames, the search engines will never find and list your website. If you use a redirect service, you have to be sure that the web server is configured to present a proper redirect or the search engines will again now follow it and will not find your website.

If you want to host your website on your .Mac account using a domain and avoid the problems associated with redirection, then .Mac would have to provide DNS services and give you nameservers assigned to direct visitors directly to your website.

I hope this better clarifies the issues associated with forwarding. If anyone requires more technical details, please feel free to ask.

William Howell
Mecca Hosting - Fast. Reliable. Secure.

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User profile for user: Tom Gewecke
Tom Gewecke
User level: Level 10
122,118 points

Sep 20, 2006 4:32 AM in response to wphowell

Thanks for the additional info!

.Mac would have to provide DNS
services and give you nameservers assigned to direct
visitors directly to your website.


Since this is not an option, people who host with Apple have to use Domain Forwarding. If a company wishes to make this difficult and time-consuming to arrange, whether out of concern for their users well-being or simply to encourage hosting with them instead of .Mac, that's their business. But there also seems to be an unlimited supply of hosting organizations which provide Domain Forwarding easily and quickly and leave it to their customers to decide whether this kind of setup causes them any significant problems or not. I think companies which follow this approach are the best for iWeb users to consider using.
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User profile for user: wphowell
wphowell
User level: Level 1
10 points

Sep 20, 2006 5:12 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Tom,

We had never told this customer that we would not setup forwarding and do not make the process that difficult. The client in this case confused our disclaimer statements as stating that we would not do it and then later cancelled. We do have hundreds of Mac clients that use our forwarding services.

There certainly is an unlimited supply of hosting companies providing forwarding, but not many of them explain the problems associated with it. Once our clients are told about these limitations, most realize that forwarding would not be best for them. We believe that it's important for everyone to understand the limitations of forwarding and not just blindly use a forwarding service without fully understanding how it works.

Those clients who are not concerned about performance, reliability, and search engines, happily use our forwarding services. They know the limitations and still choose to use the forwarding service with us. I think that every client should be able to make their own decision, but it should be based on good information; you cannot make good decisions without having all the facts.

William Howell
Mecca Hosting - Fast. Reliable. Secure.

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User profile for user: Tom Gewecke
Tom Gewecke
User level: Level 10
122,118 points

Sep 21, 2006 3:55 AM in response to wphowell

We had never told this customer that we would not
setup forwarding and do not make the process that
difficult. The client in this case confused our
disclaimer statements as stating that we would not do
it and then later cancelled. We do have hundreds of
Mac clients that use our forwarding services.


Thanks again for providing your side of the story there. Still I think it might make sense to reconsider your approach so that there is less risk of less experienced clients finding it difficult or confusing to request Domain Forwarding. None of us providing advice to such people want to have to tell them that the easiest thing might be to find another host, especially when it's not a technical issue like unwillingness to serve xml or utf-8.

My apologies for the unkind and inappropriate language I used at one point earlier in this thread.
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Forwarding domain name w/ Mecca Hosting

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