custom domain name with a Blogger account

Currently I'm using a custom domain (hcfoo.com) but my blog is still hosted by Blogger. After purchased the domain name at GoDaddy, I tried to configure the settings but failed many times because both Blogger help site and GoDaddy support team gave me different information.

How do I use a custom domain name on my blog?
How do I create a CNAME record for my custom domain?

In the end Blogger help site is correct but what I did wrong was I typed hcfoo.com instead of www.hcfoo.com in my Blogger setting (under Publishing).

By the way, GoDaddy provides FREE host and email (I set mine as blogger@hcfoo.com) but I decided to just keep the free host since I'm using Blogger as my host.

Updates: After a couple of hours my blog failed again. I reported the matter and received an instruction from GoDaddy support teamto rectify the problem.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for contacting Online Support. You can forward your domain directly to an IP address by modifying the A record for your domain. Please follow the directions below to accomplish this:

First, log into your customer account:

. Go to the Go Daddy Account Login Page
. Log in using your account username (which may be the same as your customer number) and password

If you have trouble logging in, our password reset form may help you. You can find this form through the following link:
Account Retrieval Page

Once logged in, follow these steps:

. Select 'Manage Domains' from the 'Domain Names' menu at the top of the page
. Click on the domain you wish to Forward (Setup an A-Record) for
. Click the '+' next to "Total DNS Control" from the menu. (This option will only be available for domains Parked or Hosted on our servers)
. Click the 'Total DNS Control And MX Records' link
. Enter the IP address for the '@' Zone Record Value and click 'Save'

Please allow 1 hour for the Zone File to be updated with this new information. Your domain will then physically point to the IP address entered.

Sincerely,
Online Support
Technician

It worked. Hence it shows that the instruction in Blogger is incomplete and user needs to enter and divert to Google's IP address which is 72.14.207.121 in the A(Host) in Total DNS Control.

what should I consider before shifting to new custom domain

I'm actually planning to get a custom domain for my blog. However there are a few things I must consider before I do that.

Instead of paying extra money for a hosting plan, I'll continue to use Blogger's service to host all my contents but displaying my own custom domain. However, I'm not sure if this will affect my current Page Rank (PR). My PR is already very low and I don't want to start from 0 again.

I'm also not sure if the changes will affect my links especially in Technorati. I've just started using Technorati recently, so I think I'll be okay to rebuild my links again.

It's about time for me to use my own domain. My current blogspot url disallowed me from writing certain sponsored post. Besides I don't think there's a better way to spend my PayPerPost earning than a custom domain.

switching to blogger beta

I've just switched to blogger beta and I'm not sure what's going on because my blog is down at the moment. The dashboard is pretty cool and user friendly and not to mention that the posting is fast. Now I can even label/tag my post. I've read that there's more template in this beta version, but I still can't view them.

Perhaps my blog is still in the middle of transferring to the beta version. Hopefully things will be back to normal when I login tomorrow.

my first blogging experience

Finally a new blogger is born. Someone said that blogs will replace emails one day. I believe this will be a good way to share my thoughts with family, friends and strangers. Besides, I think this is a very good platform for me to sharpen my writing skill.

I've just finished my first semester in Master in Educational Management. I'm really looking forward for the coming semester in December. I'm not sure what's gonna be my choice of project but I'm really looking forward to learn more about the possibility of TQM (Total Quality Management) implementation in schools in Malaysia. Right now, I'm doing a lot of reading particularly on the current state of education system in Malaysia and of course the every single detail about the works by the Father of TQM, Edwards Deming.

There's a lot to share about my passion in education and publishing. Until next time ...