Forum: Using your own domain name

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Using your own domain name

You can use your own domain name with your forum through one of the following options:

Using a subdomain
Purchasing a managed domain
Using an HTML frame
Using web forwarding
Using an iframe

Using a subdomain

You can access your forum using your own domain name by creating a subdomain which points to Website Toolbox.

Setup http://forums.your_domain.com/:

Link your subdomain with your forum.
In your domain name DNS settings, create a CNAME record for forums that points to websitetoolbox.com.
Wait 12-36 hours for your DNS change to be updated across all the other DNS servers on the Internet.

Need help? Contact Customer Support and we can setup your subdomain for you. Be sure to provide your username and password for your account with your domain name provider or a screenshot of their DNS Settings page.

You can fully integrate your forum with your website by customizing your forum to match your website layout and integrating your website login process.

Purchasing a managed domain

Using a subdomain is the best way to remove the websitetoolbox.com domain name from the URL, but it is also the most advanced and complicated way. Therefore, customers wanting a simpler solution can purchase a managed forum domain name from Website Toolbox for as little as $24.95 per year. You will not need any technical knowledge regarding domain names, DNS, web forwarding, or HTML. Your purchased domain name will be completely setup and managed by Website Toolbox.

Your domain name will point directly to your forum. For example, if you purchase mysiteforums.com, mysiteforums.com would directly load your forum.

More information regarding this option is available in your Website Toolbox account.

Using an HTML frame

It is also possible to use an HTML frame that covers 100% of the screen to hide the Website Toolbox URL.

Click here to view the HTML code for this method. <html> <head> <title>Document Title</title> </head> <frameset rows="1, *" frameborder=0 framespacing=0 border=0> <frame src="URL TO BLANK PAGE" frameborder=0 framespacing=0 scrolling="no" name="blank" marginwidth=0 marginheight=0 border=0> <frame src="FORUM URL" frameborder=0 framespacing=0 marginwidth=0 scrolling="auto" name="forum" border=0> </frameset> <noframes>Sorry, your browser does not support frames.</noframes> </html>

Note: The URL in the browser's address bar will not change when users click a link on your forum. Also, the Website Toolbox URL will still be used in emails sent out by the system.

Using web forwarding

You can purchase a separate domain name for your forum and then use web forwarding to point the domain name directly to your forum. Please click here for more information.

Note: The Website Toolbox URL will still be used in emails sent out by the system.

Using an iframe

You can use the iframe HTML tag to embed your forum into your website. The iframe tag creates an inline frame or basically a frame within the page.

Here is an example of a forum using this method:
http://www.skinactives.com/Skin-Actives-Discussion-Forum.html

Here is the HTML code:

<iframe src="FORUM URL" width="95%" height="600"></iframe>

Note: The URL in the browser's address bar will not change when users click a link on your forum. Also, the Website Toolbox URL will still be used in emails sent out by the system.

If you still need assistance, please contact customer support.