New Business Domain Issues

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Ebbi

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#193683 20-Mar-2016 13:35

Hi guys

Bear with me here - I'm an accountant first, tech geek second (!)

My sister is starting up a business and I have agreed to help her set up a website etc. I thought it would work pretty flawlessly using Squarespace Business account as it includes Google Apps for Work in the price.

However, they don't have .co.nz or .nz domain registration capability, which made me go to Domainz to set up the .nz (the .co.nz is taken unfortunately).

I'm trying to point the .nz domain to Google Apps for Work using their step-by-step procedure which is telling me to insert 5 MX records in order of priority. It then takes about an hour to verify, however it fails each time.

Am I missing something? On one screen it did say to wait 48 hours - is it standard procedure to enter those MX files and wait 48 hours before telling Google Apps to search and verify?

Through the Domainz page I need to point my .nz domain to Google Apps for email, and to my Squarespace page for the website.

I hope I haven't done anything wrong so far. Your help would really be appreciated.

Thanks

Ebbi

94 posts

Master Geek

#1516412 20-Mar-2016 13:42

Also, I've noticed that when Google asks me to add in the MX records value destination, such as ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM, Domainz adds .[mydomain].nz to the end of it. Is this ok?

MackinNZ

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#1516415 20-Mar-2016 13:49

When you enter ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM into the MX record field, make sure you have a period (.) at the end. E.g. ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.

richms

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#1516416 20-Mar-2016 13:51

Ebbi:

Also, I've noticed that when Google asks me to add in the MX records value destination, such as ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM, Domainz adds .[mydomain].nz to the end of it. Is this ok?

No.

Put a . at the end and see how you get on.

Richard rich.ms

Ebbi

94 posts

Master Geek

#1516417 20-Mar-2016 13:52

Tried entering a period at the end - it came up with an error

"MX exchange must be a valid domain or subdomain."

timmmay

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#1516419 20-Mar-2016 13:53

If you can't get it working with the advice you get here, send me a message. I do small business tech support as a side business. It'll be simple, but trying to fix a problem using guess and check isn't very efficient.

richms

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#1516420 20-Mar-2016 13:54

I would also seriously not use a .nz domain that you do not have the .co.nz for, as people will go to the other site, and if that confuses them then you lose business.

Richard rich.ms

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mattwnz

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#1516421 20-Mar-2016 13:55

Also you can contact the domain registrar to make the changes for you, you just email the required changes through to them, as that is what you pay them for. Most providers provide 7 days support, if yours doesn't I suggest changing to one that does.

chewster

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#1516730 21-Mar-2016 09:49

Looks like Squarespace has some useful instructions for pointing your domain from a 3d party registrar at your Squarespace website IP address.

This process is similar to MX mail DNS record settings your setting up.

As has been mentioned, contact your domain registrar for help. If your domain registrar is unwilling to help with this basic request then look at changing to a good one (Metaname has good ratings on these forums) -

I'd agree that you really need the .co.nz as well if you're intending on using .nz as the primary for usability reasons as above - so maybe seriously consider getting a different domain or one where you have both .nz and .co.nz available?

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jonathan18

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#1516741 21-Mar-2016 10:31

chewster:

Looks like Squarespace has some useful instructions for pointing your domain from a 3d party registrar at your Squarespace website IP address.

This process is similar to MX mail DNS record settings your setting up.

As has been mentioned, contact your domain registrar for help. If your domain registrar is unwilling to help with this basic request then look at changing to a good one (Metaname has good ratings on these forums) -

I'd agree that you really need the .co.nz as well if you're intending on using .nz as the primary for usability reasons as above - so maybe seriously consider getting a different domain or one where you have both .nz and .co.nz available?

I'll be dealing with similar issues in the next few weeks as I set up my wife's new company's website using Squarespace, so could well be referring back to here for help later! I'm going with Metaname to register the domains, based on feedback here.

Regarding with others' comments re .nz versus .co.nz - I posted a question on this exact matter a couple of weeks back - http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumId=86&topicId=193634

When selecting the name of my wife's business we ensured the company name as well as the .co.nz and .nz domains were all available - if the web presence is going to be even somewhat important to the business I'd have thought it would be important to ensure both a direct connection between company name and domain (ie, domain is identical to the company's name), and that the domain used is not going to be confused with another - hence why I'd never risk using a .nz if the .co.nz was already taken.

I'm now planning on using the .nz as the primary site, but will certainly be purchasing the .co.nz domain and having it redirected to the .nz. .nz is still relatively unknown here, and the default in people's minds remains .co.nz.

1101

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#1516822 21-Mar-2016 11:59

Ebbi:

to set up the .nz (the .co.nz is taken unfortunately).

Future customers/clients will , by habit, type in the co.nz, taking them somewhere else. Or they will send email to .co.nz & it will bounce
Perhaps consider another domain , that you can get both the .nz & .co.nz domain names

michaelmurfy

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#1516852 21-Mar-2016 12:42

Instead of fighting with domainz and their crappy panel I'd suggest spending a moment to bring the domain to Cloudflare (free) and using their DNS management so you don't have to fight with it. Also, in the process if you've got a site hosted speeding that up :). I just set up Google Mail in Cloudflare yesterday and it literally took me around 2 minutes, and no, I've not done it in ages.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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jonathan18

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#1516870 21-Mar-2016 12:57

michaelmurfy:

Instead of fighting with domainz and their crappy panel I'd suggest spending a moment to bring the domain to Cloudflare (free) and using their DNS management so you don't have to fight with it. Also, in the process if you've got a site hosted speeding that up :). I just set up Google Mail in Cloudflare yesterday and it literally took me around 2 minutes, and no, I've not done it in ages.

Are there quantifiable advantages to using the free Cloudflare service? Their site make some bold claims about load times etc, but how realistic are these?

Would this help speed up sites hosted in the US (eg like on Squarespace) but accessed solely within NZ?

Thanks for any advice...

michaelmurfy

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#1516876 21-Mar-2016 13:03

jonathan18:

michaelmurfy:

Instead of fighting with domainz and their crappy panel I'd suggest spending a moment to bring the domain to Cloudflare (free) and using their DNS management so you don't have to fight with it. Also, in the process if you've got a site hosted speeding that up :). I just set up Google Mail in Cloudflare yesterday and it literally took me around 2 minutes, and no, I've not done it in ages.

Are there quantifiable advantages to using the free Cloudflare service? Their site make some bold claims about load times etc, but how realistic are these?

Would this help speed up sites hosted in the US (eg like on Squarespace) but accessed solely within NZ?

Thanks for any advice...

My site (https://murfy.nz) is hosted on a crappy US virtual host that I pay $12NZ per year for. How quickly does that load for you?

With correct caching etc even their free product can work wonders. Another site I manage (https://charliprangley.com/) is on Squarespace and loading times have improved since moving it to Cloudflare + HTTPS + HTTP2 even though Squarespace doesn't support these.

BTR

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#1516907 21-Mar-2016 13:40

Setting up MX records even for a novice should be pretty easy, most domain registrars error messages are usually pretty good at telling you exactly what the problem is.

I recommend you give them a call and spend 5 mins on the phone rather than a day trying to work it out here.