The Official ActiveRain Guide

How To Use Your Own "Pre-Purchased" Domain Name on the ActiveRain Outside Blogs
This applies to members with Outside Blogs that want to use an existing domain name purchased elsewhere.

"Each new ActiveRain Outside Blog comes with a free custom domain name.  But what if you've already purchased a domain name?  Using your own domain with your new blog doesn't have to be a nightmare. Just follow your registrar's instructions for updating your domain's name servers. You'll need to point them at ActiveRain."

Here's a tutorial on how to setup your Outside Blog with your own Domain Name or URL in 5 easy steps.  Keep in mind that when using your own previously purchased domain names, there can be nothing attached to it.  No information currently residing on it.  So for example, I just purchased my AR Outside Blog, I own a domain name BradAndersohn.com, (with nothing on it) and I want this to be the URL for my AR Outside Blog.

In this tutorial, I'll be using the GoDaddy Site since they are one of the Largest Domain Name providers in the world. The process in doing this with your registrar (if other than GoDaddy) should be the same or similar.

STEP 1:

Go to "GoDaddy.com" and Log-in to your GoDaddy Account:

STEP 2:

A list of your Domain names and sites will appear on the main page, click on the "Advanced Details" Link:

STEP 3:

In the GoDaddy Domain Manager, you will need to click on the "Manage" link located in the Nameservers section
(See Highlighted Area Below)

STEP 4:

Now you need to check the button "I host my domains with another provider" and also change the Nameserver settings to "NS1.AGENTSPACES.COM" & "NS2.AGENTSPACES.COM" then click on the "OK" button. (see below)

STEP 5:

Go to your AR Outside Blog and click on the "Domain" link located in the top toolbar. In the Domain Box, enter in the URL or Domain name and click on the "update domain" button. (TIP: Don't add http, or WWW, no spaces, no CAPS, no symbols etc. and include the .com)

You'll be able to access your blog at its new URL in as little as 5 minutes! 
(on a bad day, it could take 24-48 hours) 

ActiveRain provides you a "Custom Domain" name with ALL your New Outside Blogs if you don't already have one, and it IS included. There is no additional fee or charge for creating your own custom Domain names on AR Outside Blogs.  To see what domain names might be available, just go to your Outside Blog, click on the "Domain" link located on the top toolbar, then enter your desired name in box #1. (IE: activebobstewart.com)  Then click on the "Check Availability" link to see if your custom domain name is available. If it is, the "Claim Domain" button will become enabled, and you can claim your new Outside Blog domain name right then and there. 

THE FINAL STEP:

If any of these steps cause or give you nausea, headaches, diarrhea, vomiting, or any other out of the ordinary daily blogging symptoms, then disconnect from your computer immediately, put your feet up on a lazy boy recliner, take two aspirin, and then call me in the morning.  I'd be happy to help you through it if you need!  To get your own personalized and customizable Outside Blogs, CLICK HERE.  :-))

Have you been on ActiveRain for a while & wished that you could Jazz up your profile with some reall awesome graphics or picture?  Several members contact me regularly in complete frustration from trying to add a really great looking header to their profile. 

Have visited a blog &  come across a header that resembles one similar to this:

As you can see above, the photo I inserted does not even cover the whole bar & is so distorted & blown up that you really can't tell what it was.  So, I thought it was time to share with everyone how to design a really great looking header for your outside blog.  Granted, there are several ways to design a really awesome header, but for this exercise we are going to use a single photo.

There are so many different photo software programs you could use to create.  The key to making the process smooth & successful is using photo editing software you are familiar with. In the past I have used everything from Pro-Grade Adobe Photoshop to a cheap PC program called Microsoft Picture it 10.  In fact, my latest header was designed with a free online software program called Picnik.

How To Create an Awesome Header

The first thing you need to do is chose a photograph to work with.  You want to make sure that the photo you are working with is at least 960 pixels wide to start.  If not, things will become all distorted or not fill up the entire header box. Here is the original picture I chose to create my header.  The original size was entirely too large at like 1620 x 880.  So the next thing you will want to do is resize the photo to 960 pixels wide.

After choosing a photo & resizing you will then need to make some cropping adjustments to the photograph.  The dimensions for your header need to be 960 pixels wide by 134 pixels high.  Most pictures are not going to fit these dimensions exactly.  In fact, 99% of the photos you chose are going to need to be cropped to fit properly.  So, what you need to do is open the photograph up in any photo editing software & find the cropping utility.  Enter the correct dimensions & move around the selected area to crop out the section of the photo you would like to use.

Now that you have the photo cropped, you can either use that photo as is for your header.  Or if you want, you can add your logo or text onto the header.  Make sure if you are adding text that is a descriptive title & NOT Contact information.  All Your Contact info is on the side already.  If you place your email address or website URL people will become frustrated when they try to click on the header & it doesn't do anything they are expecting.

The Final Result?

This is how it looks on my ActiveRain Blog

Lastly, you can see it on my Outside Blog as well:

I hope this helps all of you that have been frustrated designing your blog header. For those of you who feel daring, you could using multiple photos like Debe Maxwell has on her blog. But process is much more complicated and advanced.

As always, do not feel overwhelmed by designing a Header!  This header was designed in less than 10 minutes time.  Also, Do Not Get Caught up on Photo Quality.   The photo I used was taken with my iPhone one evening while out on a bike ride through my neighborhood.  No fancy equipment, or editing software was used to enhance the photo.  I simply took the photo, did the simple steps in Picnik & uploaded.

So, now that you know how to jazz up your ActiveRain & Outside Blog, stop making excuses & get to it!

As some have already noticed, Activerain recently gave the members an opportunity to have an outside blog page. This is a huge thing and an awesome idea. The best part about it, is that you can write your posts in Activerain and by just clicking one box, they are automatically added to your own personal outside blog. For the more advanced users you can purchase an outside domain name and have your outside blog point to that page. Since this release, I have seen many questions about how to set up your outside domain name, so I asked Brad if he wanted me to write a brief tutorial to help everyone else. My outside blog went active yesterday.

First thing is to visit GoDaddy.com and find a domain. You can see if your domain is available by searching at the top of the page, or in the middle there is also a search area. Type in exactly what you want the domain to be and click go.

If the domain is already taken, you will see this next screen come up.

If this happens, simply try another domain name, or you can pick one of the different variations which will be listed below. If the domain is not taken, this screen will appear:

Once you have found an available domain, you will need to set up an account with GoDaddy & go through the steps to purchase the domain. After you have purchased the Domain, you will need to point Activerain Servers to your new domain. Below is how to do that.

First, log into your account with GoDaddy & click on the tab on the left side that says My Products and then Manage Domains.

After clicking on the Manage Domains link, a menu across will appear. Click on the image that says Nameservers.

You will then bring up a menu screen with multiple tabs. Click on the Custom Nameservers box at the bottom of the Default Nameserver tab. Then click the Custom Nameserver Tab.

After clicking on the Custom Name Server Tab, input these exactly:

Nameserver 1: NS1.AGENTSPACES.COM

Nameserver 2: NS2.AGENTSPACES.COM

Then click OK.

You are now set up on GoDaddy.com. You will then need to go to your Activerain page. Click on the Outside Blogs button. Halfway down the page you will see the box, Use an outside domain name (advanced). Here is where you will type in your new domain page. Enter it exactly the same as your domain name. Also make sure you click the enable box.

The last step is to go to the bottom of this page and click SAVE CHANGES.

After clicking SAVE CHANGES it will take up to 72 hours for the nameservers to be directed and for the page to go active. You have done everything properly. The only thing left to do is be patient and wait.

Enjoy your new outside domain name blog. Thanks ACTIVERAIN!

Here's A TIP I just picked up from AR support:

If it has been more than 24 hours and your personalized domain is NOT WORKING:

Go into your AR Blog setup page, and disable the custom domain section and save.
(just uncheck the "enable" box)

Then go back in and re-enable it and save once again.  This will clear the bug issue
that was discovered over the weekend and stored in your browsers memory.

Make sure you don't add in the http://  or the www, to the domain name, just enter
the domain name ONLY:  ie: JeremyBlanton.com

So if you're one of those still waiting, this WILL be the process that will fix it.

*****UPDATE #2*******

Since there is going to be a lot of questions and tips/tricks coming out over the next few months, I made a group for outside blogs this evening.  Go Join Here