A large number of people who use the same online archive as me (photoshelter.com) have had problems in setting up a CNAME “vanity” domain with 1and1.

In fact it is incredably simple, its just the documentation that creates the illusion of a dark art.

Firstly, i spent over a week trying things out and wasted my time, as it turns out my first attempt chewed up my DNS record or something.  So if you are setting this up for the first time ignore this first bit.

If however, like me, you have tried a number of times it might be worth deleting the subdomains that you have setup and recreating them.  note, this may not be neccessary and may not have had any affect on my success but i was advised to do this by an IT friend and in the past by 1and1 themselves, so it’s up to you.  Also be prepared for a 4 hour wait for deletion and another 4 hours to create your new sub domain.

Right, on with it.

1. Log in to admin.1and1.co.uk and head to administration. Once there it should look something like this…

Click on the "Manage Domains" link

This will take you to a page with a list of your domains and subdomains.

Click on the "New" drop down and select "create Subdomain"

This will take you to a page where you enter what you would like to have as a subdomain. The majority of Photoshelter users, like my self, choose archive, but photos, photography or even a single letter or two can be used (pa.photoshelter.com is an example).

Enter your new subdomain and make sure to select the correct domain from the dropdown list.

hit create and wait for a while (anything upto 6 hours in my experience).

2.  Once you can see you subdomain in your list of domains and it says “ready” rather than “applying” you can get on with setting up the CNAME.

Select your subdomain tickbox and dropdown the DNS and click "Edit DNS Settings"

This will take you to a deceptivley simple page like this.

Click the CNAME radial button and enter "custom.photoshelter.com" in the Alias* box

you will also have to accept 1and1’s disclaimer.

A long wait is in store for you again, but eventually your subdomain will be ready.  To test it, enter it in a browser and see if it goes to the pa.photoshelter.com home page.

3. Now to log into Photoshelter. Once in your account and go to My Website>Customization (shown below)

this will take you to a page where you enter your CNAME as in the image below.

So, click save and if you try your new subdomain in a webbrowser, it should (fingers crossed) go to you customised personal website, Woo hoo!

4. Finally, you might like to set up something else. I set up a simple http forward on my domain brunovincent.co.uk so that lazy clients or people who insist on putting www. infront of all URL’s can still find my site.

To do this, go back to the domains page in admin.1and1.co.uk .

Click the domain you would like to forward and then Destination>Edit Destination.

Enter you new subdomain as the forwarding destination and hit save.

Now if you try your domain in a browser, it should open up as your subdomain (this wont affect email, just http).

I really hope you have success with this. I’m a photographer not an IT expert so i am offering my experience to you and not advice.

Follow these instructions at your own risk, I cannot accept resposnsibility for any problems that may occur.

Good luck…