How to set up URL Forwarding

For more information on how, why and when to use URL Forwarding, please view our
URL Forwarding Tutorial. Otherwise please follow the steps below.
  1. Login to your Domain Name Control Panel.

    Please refer to "I'm having problems logging in to my Domain Name Control Panel" should you ever encounter any problems.


  2. Enter your domain name and password. Remember, your domain name does not include "www." and must include the domain extension (.com, net, etc..). In the event your password is forgotten or misplaced, please visit our Password Retrieval Form to have your password emailed to you.


  3. Scroll down to the section entitled "Host Records".

  4. Click the "Edit".

  5. Under the section entitled "Host Name", you should see 3 host names. One with an asterisks character "*" (shift-8 on your keyboard), another with an "@" symbol another and lastly "www". In the address fields to the right of these host names, type in the existing web address of where you would like your domain name redirected or forwarded to. For this example, we'll redirect evereyone to http://www.yahoo.com as illustrated above.


  6. Choose a "Record Type" of URL Redirect or URL Frame The next section below will descirbe their differences.


  7. Click on the "Save" button to save your changes.


For a more complete and detailed understading of how URL Forwarding works, please watch our URL Forwarding Tutorial.

*** If you have already signup up for a regiSTAR Web Hosting Account, our web services department has already pointed your domain name to the IP address of your web and email servers for you. Therefore no modifications to your domain name control panel are necessary.



Differences between a "URL Redirect" and "URL Frame"

Both of these "Record Types" allow you to forward or redirect your domain name to an existing web URL or web address. The biggest difference is the URL listed in the address bar of your browser. For example, selecting "URL Redirect" will whisk anyone who goes to your new domain, off to the URL you entered in the "Address" field. When they get there however, the URL or web address in the location bar in their browser will change to the web address you provided in the "Address" field. Selecting a "URL Frame" as a "Record Type" will still forward or redirect those going to your new domain, but when they get to their destination, the URL on the location bar of their browser will show the domain name you just registered.

Using a "Record Type" of "URL Frame" is useful when you want to hide or mask the location of the web address you are forwarding to.



Common Problems Using URL Forwarding

Q) The word "mail" has appeared in one of the host name rows. What does this mean?
A) Once you decide to use Email Forwarding, our servers automatically adds a new row with the word "mail" under the "Host Name" section when you leave the control panel. This is normal as this row allows us to properly forward your email using your domain name. Leave this "mail" row alone and do not change any of the settings. If for some reason you changed something on this row, simply remove the word "mail" from the "Host Name" section and any address under the "Address" section for that row and click the "Save" button to save your changes. If you are using email forwarding, our control panel will detect it and add a "mail" row with the correct settings. Should you have any questions, please contact technical support.

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