HotDoodle Support

The domain name registered in one of a few world wide registries
The servers that deliver web pages and emails
The glue that associates the domain name with the proper servers. This glue is the Domain Name Servers.

Here is an example of how a page like www.bnitricities.com gets delivered.

When the web address is typed, the browser asks the Internet Provider for www.bnitricities.com.
The Internet Provider asks the ".com" registrar for the name server for bnitricities.
The name server looks up the machine address that matches "www" for bnitricities.com and delivers an IP address like 64.71.24.114.
Connected to the internet at address 64.71.24.114 is a web server that figures out which website to return to the browser.
If the request is to deliver email, the search is for the domains "MX" (mail exchange) address, which could be on the smae host as the web site or somewhere entirely different.

So, if the machine ever moves to a different internet location the name server records need to be changed. Unfortunately, DNS server records are not user friendly and are full of technical concepts such as ANAME, CNAME, and MX records. When using a HotDoodle nameserver, Hotdoodle will automatically take care of these records and will update them if ever necessary due to website relocations.

Using HotDoodle Name Servers

The HotDooodle name servers are:

N1.HOTDOODLE.COM
N2.HOTDOODLE.COM

(There is no "N3.HOTDOODLE.COM")

If using the HotDoodle name servers, we take care of updating the information if it ever changes.

Using Other Nameservers

"www.yourdomain.com" and "yourdomain.com" records to reference the "Your Site is Hosted on" IP address shown at the bottom of the Edit Domain screen.

Warning - Websites might be moved in the future

A single machine cannot serve all HotDoodle websites and we may from time to time move a website from one server to another if a server has problems. While we use redundant hardware, the reality is that even these machines do sometimes fail and the new machine must have a different address for various unavoidable reasons.

HotDoodle will inform all website owners should this ever happen to their website, and we will inform in advance if the outage is planned. It will be the website owners responsibility to adjust name server information at a third party domain hosting website. If HotDoodle hosts the domain, HotDoodle will make the changes.

We also reserve the right to relocate websites if needed for performance or operational efficiency.

Configure Domain with Other Name Servers

If name servers of than HotDoodle name servers are used, they will need to point the domain traffic to the server with the HotDoodle website. Once there, we do the rest provided that you have informed HotDoodle about the existing domain.

Why Use Other Name Servers?

The most common reason for using other name servers is when other internet services, especially email, reside outside of HotDoodle. Moving email from one server to another is always a challenge and may be disruptive, and it is often sensible to leave email where it is. In this case, the name servers will remain and the A Record will be changed on the domain instead of changing name servers.

Find the HotDoodle Website's IP Address

Steps: Find the HotDoodle Website's IP Address

1. Log in at www.HotDoodle.com.

2. Click on the "My Stuff" page on the navigation bar.

3. Click on the "Get Domain" link to the right of the website name.

4. Scroll down and find the IP Address for where the website is hosted. E.g. "The website pictured is hosted on 207.57.83.157"

5. Highlight and copy the IP address.

6. Log in to the third party website where the domain is hosted.

7. Paste the IP Address into the domain's A Record.

8. Save the changes to the domain.