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Global Domain Control Panel FAQs

 

What is Global Domain Control Panel?

Global Domain Control Panel is one of the best, most user-friendly and secure, web-based domain management software. Developed by GlobalFront to meet your needs, GDCP allows you to (a) view, edit, update, backup and restore URL/IP forwarding settings; (b) switch between cloaked/masked/frame forwarding or non-cloaked browser redirection; (c) manage meta tags for title, description and keywords for your domain; (d) park the domain for your future site; (e) post the domain for sale; (f) view, edit, update, backup and restore email forwarding to multiple destination addresses; (g) enable and disable catch-all email address; (h) view, edit and update custom web/IP pointing to external IP addresses or to external hosts/domains; (i) view, edit and update custom MX pointing to external IP address or to external mail server with or without custom MX priority codes; (j) update nameservers for domains; (k) use both "unique domain login system" and "unified domain login system" to manage multiple domains in our servers, (l) update domain password and use instant login finder, and (m) manage any top-level domain (TLD), including but not limited to .com, .net, .org, .edu, .biz, .info, .us and other country code domains - all with your web browser and a few mouse clicks, from anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year, without requiring any programming knowledge on your part.

What is the URL for Global Domain Control Panel?

There are two ways you can log into Global Domain Control Panel:

  • If you are using GlobalFront's domain forwarding services, but have NOT used the control panel to point your domain to any external server, then you can also log into the control panel by visiting http://www.yourname.com/admin/gdcp/ , where "yourname.com" refers to your domain that is using our domain services.

Do I need to know any programming to use the Control Panel?

No. There is absolutely no need to know programming to use Global Domain Control Panel. If you have internet access and any standard browser including Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, and know how to fill out an online form and click your mouse, then you can use Global Domain Control Panel!

I originally registered my domain through another registrar. Do I need to transfer registrar to use your domain forwarding services?

No. If you already registered your domain through another registrar and would like to use our DNS and forwarding services, you can do so by simply updating nameservers for your domain directly with your current registrar. Please visit our "move domain" page for details.

Would there be any ad on the forwarded URL or emails?

No. There is absolutely NO advertisement, pop-up window, banner, bar, button, link or reference to our site if you buy our forwarding services (ND1, ND2, ED1, or ED2 services). Web forwarding will only display your target website. Unlike some other providers, we do NOT even include any hidden reference to our site in the html code for the pages. Also, our email forwarding service does NOT add any ad tagged to the forwarded emails. (Note: Please be advised that if you buy our "registration and free parking service (ND3 Service)", then a link to our site will appear on the parked page).

Would my domain name stay in the browser address field?

Yes, it is your choice. When we setup your domain in our servers, "cloaked forwarding" is configured as the default setting provided you include a target URL in our order form. If you would like to have your domain name stay in browser address field when somebody is visiting your remote site, then select "cloaked forwarding" in Global Domain Control Panel whenever you update your domain's URL forwarding. Cloaked forwarding is the default setting in Global Domain Control Panel. If, for any reason, you would like to display the remote site URL in the browser address field, then select "browser redirection" option when you update your URL.

Would my domain work with or without www? What about UPPER and lower case letters?

Yes. We support domain access both with or without www host name. Also, domain names are not case-sensitive. Visitors typing either of the following will be able to view your destination site or parked page:

  • www.yourdomain.com
  • yourdomain.com
  • http://www.yourdomain.com/
  • http://www.yourdomain.com
  • http://yourdomain.com/
  • http://yourdomain.com
  • http://YourDoMAin.com/

I am moving an existing domain. Would it be possible to specify the URL and email forwarding settings in your server before I update nameservers for my domain in the registry database?

Yes. As soon as we process your order and send you Global Domain Control Panel login information, you will be able to login and modify the URL, email and/or DNS settings for your domain in our server before you actually modify the nameservers for the domain with your registry. The URL, email and/or DNS settings for your domain in our server will be reflected in the net AFTER you modify your domain with your registry and this modification is propagated across the net which takes 24-72 hours depending on the registrar you are using.

Would I need to update nameservers with the registry everytime I change anything with your control panel?

No. You would need to update nameservers with your registrar only ONE-time if you are moving an existing domain. After that all changes in DNS and forwarding settings made with Global Domain Control Panel for your domain will be automatically updated in our server(s) and reflected in the internet.

How do I setup/update URL forwarding?

Once you login to the Global Domain Control Panel, simply click on the "Manage URL/Tag" button, select "Edit Target URL or Meta Tags" option, and enter the target site URL as http://www.somehost.com/members/yourpage.html, and click the "Update" button. This will configure your domain to display the target site at http://www.somehost.com/members/yourpage.html instantly. Your domain name will continue to stay in the browser address field if you check the "cloaked forwarding" option (default) while you click the "Update" button. You can then use the "View Domain in a New Window" link of the control panel to find out how the domain appears on a browser.

What is the difference between cloaked forwarding and browser redirection?

If you select cloaked forwarding in the web settings option page of our control panel, then your domain name will continue to stay in the browser address field when a visitor is using your domain name to browse through your destination site. On the other hand, with browser redirection, as soon as the visitor enters your domain name in a browser, the browser will be redirected to the target address you specify. The target URL rather than the domain name will appear in the browser address field when you use browser redirection. You can switch between cloaked forwarding and browser redirection for your URL setting by simply clicking the radio button for "Forwarding Type" option in the "Edit Web Settings" page. Please make sure to click the "Update" button to save your settings. Most of our clients select cloaked forwarding, since they would like to have the domain name stay in the browser address field.

How do I setup/update IP forwarding?

Once you login to the Global Domain Control Panel, simply click the "Manage URL/Tag" button, select "Edit Target URL or Meta Tags" option, and enter the target IP address as http://123.123.123.123/yourpage.html or http://123.123.123.123/ , and click the submit button. This will configure your domain to display the target site at http://123.123.123.123/ instantly. Your domain name will continue to stay in the browser address field if you check the "cloaked forwarding" option (default) while you click the "Update" button. You can then use the "View Domain in a New Window" link of the control panel to find out how the domain appears on a browser. (Please note that you would need to use your actual target IP address instead of 123.123.123.123 in the target address field. Also, if you have a static IP address, then you might consider using web/IP pointing instead of IP forwarding. Please find the difference between them below. 

What is the difference between IP forwarding and web/IP pointing? Which one is better?

This answer is for people with technical skills in virtual hosting.

URL or IP Forwarding: If (a) your domain name has not been setup as a virtual host in the httpd service of the target server, (b) your site is a subdirectory of another virtual host, or (c) your site URL looks like any of the following:

  • http://123.123.123.123/mypage.html
  • http://123.123.123.123/somedirectory/mypage.html
  • http://host.domain.com/mypage.html
  • http://host.domain.com/somedirectory/mypage.html

then you must use URL or IP forwarding. Also, if your site has been setup as a virtual host in the httpd service of the target server AND the target server IP changes frequently, then you would need to use URL or IP forwarding. Updates to URL or IP forwarding is fast and becomes effective instantly as soon as you update target URL or IP address with Global Domain Control Panel.

Web or IP Pointing: Web or IP pointing allows your domain to offer direct access to site subdirectories, and in general, gives your site better search engine ranking. Web pointing will work (a) if you have a unique IP address for your website (e.g., http://123.123.123.123/ loads your site), OR (b) if your domain has been configured as a name-based virtual host in the server where your site is located. For either of these cases, if you do NOT have a static IP address or if your IP address changes every few months, it is strongly recommended that you use URL/IP forwarding rather than web pointing to avoid prolonged downtime for your website. Unlike URL/IP forwarding which you can update instantly with Global Domain Control Panel, updates to web pointing take anywhere from 15 minutes to 8 hours for propagation, as domain IPs are cached by most of the ISPs in the internet. (That is to say: even if your web IP is updated in our DNS servers within 15 minutes, other ISPs will still look for your site at the old IP address until the other ISPs' network cache for your IP expires and their networks relookup your web IP from our DNS servers). Also, web pointing will disregard the URL/IP forwarding done by our httpd server as all http request for your domain will be directly routed by our DNS to your target httpd server.

I selected cloaked forwarding in the control panel. While it works fine for some of my pages, for some pages the real URL show up in the browser address field! Why?

This is usually due to the frame targets you are using for links in your destination website page. The answer to this question would vary depending on the way you are linking pages in your destination site. Please contact us at support@globalfront.com and let us know your domain name and target website URL. We will look at your destination URL page and provide you with a tip so you can fix this easily. The cost for this support is FREE provided your domain is using our URL or IP forwarding service.

How do I update meta tags?

Once you login to the Global Domain Control Panel, simply click the "Manage URL/Tag" button, select edit option, and enter or edit the title, description or meta tags for your domain, and click the "Update" button. The meta tags will be updated instantly.

How do I setup/update email forwarding?

Once you login to the Global Domain Control Panel, simply click the "Redirect Emails" button, select "add/edit/delete email alias" option, and click the submit button. On this page, enter the alias on the left side and the destination address on the right, and click the "Update" button. It will take upto 3 minutes for the updates to go into effect in our system. After 3 minutes, send an email to any of the alias addresses you just setup, and you will see that the email is reaching your destination address.

How fast is your email forwarding system?

Our email forwarding system is very fast, efficient and reliable. Our mail servers deliver or forward 97 percent of the messages in less than a minute, including over 85 percent messages delivered to destination servers in less than 5 seconds. We keep enough redundancy in processing power in our mail servers.

I found that your email forwarding works for my ISP's account, but not when I forward emails to my Hotmail account? What is going on?

If you forward emails for your domain to your Hotmail account, then by default Hotmail system would put all of your forwarded emails in the "Junk E-mail" folder of your Hotmail account. You would need to check the "Junk E-mail" folder in your Hotmail account, select the message(s), and click on the "Not Junk" button to tell the Hotmail system to deliver these messages in the "Inbox" folder in your Hotmail account. Also, please note that many of our clients reported that Hotmail does not deliver their forwarded emails immediately. Most of the time, it takes several minutes to several hours for Hotmail to deliver incoming emails in your hotmail mail box. Note: We do not monitor, and cannot advise you on, changes in external mail server settings. This information was verified by us in February, 2006. This can be changed by MSN Hotmail at any time. MSN Hotmail is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

I forwarded my domain's emails to my Yahoo account. I am not receiving the forwarded messages! What is going on?

If you forward emails for your domain to your Yahoo! account, by default Yahoo! SpamGuard would create a "Bulk" mail folder and put all of your forwarded emails in the "Bulk" mail folder. To have these messages delivered in your Yahoo! "Inbox" folder, please log into your Yahoo! mail account, click on "Mail Options" and then click on "Spam Protection". You will then be able to check an option to have forwarded messages for your domain delivered to the "Inbox" folder of your Yahoo! account. Note: We do not monitor, and cannot advise you on, changes in external mail server settings. This information was verified by us as in February, 2006. This can be changed by Yahoo! at any time. Yahoo! and Yahoo! "SpamGuard" are trademarks of Yahoo! Inc.

I am getting too many spams at the catch-all address. How do I disable the catch-all email forwarding?

After you login to the Global Domain Control Panel, simply click the "Redirect Emails" button, select "add/edit/delete email alias" option, and click the submit button. On this page, delete the "default" alias, and click the "Update" button. It will take upto 3 minutes for the updates to go into effect in our system. After that, our server will bounce emails for aliases that are not configured for your domain.

How do I re-enable catch-all email forwarding?

Please log into the Global Domain Control Panel, click the "Redirect Emails" button, select "add/edit/delete email alias" option, add an alias named "default" along with the destination forwarding address for the "default" alias, and click the submit button. It will take upto 3 minutes for the updates to go into effect in our system. After that, emails to non-specified aliases will be forwarded to the catch-all destination address for the domain.

How do I park the domain?

Once you log into the Global Domain Control Panel, simply click the "Park Domain" button, and then the "Confirm Parking" button on the confirmation screen. Your domain will be updated and parked in our server instantly. The parked domain will appear in any browser with your default forwarding address and a link to our site at the bottom of the page. You can remove the link by simply forwarding the domain to any site or posting the domain for sale.

How do I post the domain for sale?

Once you log into the Global Domain Control Panel, simply click the "Post for Sale" button, enter the posted price for the domain, and confirm posting for sale. Your domain will be updated and posted for sale instantly. Any person visiting your site will see a message that the domain has been posted for sale. The domain page will also display the price you entered. Additionally, the page will have your email contact information.

How much do you charge when I sale the domain?

Unlike any other domain traders in the internet, we do NOT charge any commission when you sale the domain. We only charge you a one-time $19.95 fee to transfer the ownership of the domain to the new party. This fee includes extension of the expiration date for the domain for 1 year. Since your email address is posted as the contact information for the domain in the "domain for sale" page generated by the control panel, your prospective buyers get the chance to negotiate with you directly regarding purchase of the domain name.

How do I backup or restore the target URL, meta tag or email settings?

To backup or restore the target URL and meta tags, click on the "Manage URL/Tag" button, select "Backup the Current Settings" option or "Restore the Backup Settings" option, and click the "Submit" button. To backup or restore email forwarding settings, you can click on "Redirect Emails" button, select "Backup the redirection database" option or "Restore the redirection database from backup" option, and click the "Submit" button. Backup or restored copies of the settings are saved by the server instantly. Please be advised that you must have used backup option at least once so you can restore the settings later. Otherwise you would get an error message stating that there was no backup copy for the previous settings you are trying to restore.

How do I use web/IP pointing to external IP address?

To setup or update custom web/IP pointing to external IP address or external domain, please use "Web/IP Pointing" button of the control panel, and select setup/update option. On this screen, please select "IP Address" in the "Target Type" column, enter IP address in the "Target IP or Host/Domain" column, and click the "Setup/Update Web Pointing" button. Web pointing will cause external ISPs and servers to ignore the URL and IP forwarding settings in our server, as all HTTP requests for your domain will be directly routed by our DNS to the target IP or target host or domain.

How do I setup "A" records using your control panel?

To setup or update "A" records for your domain, please use "Web/IP Pointing" button of the control panel, and select setup/update option. When you enter a target IP address in the "Edit Web Pointing" screen of the control panel, and click the "Setup/Update Web Pointing" button, our system automatically configures "A" record(s) for your domain using the IP address(es) you entered.

How do I point a domain to a subdirectory file of another domain name in an external server?

This is technically known as "domain forwarding" or "URL forwarding", not "domain pointing". To do this, please log into the Global Domain Control Panel, click on the "Manage URL/Tag" button, select "Edit Target URL or Meta Tags" option, and enter the target site URL as http://www.somehost.com/mysite/mypage.html, and click the "Update" button. This will configure your domain to display the target site at http://www.somehost.com/mysite/mypage.html instantly. Your domain name will continue to stay in the browser address field if you check the "cloaked forwarding" option (default) while you click the "Update" button. You can then use the "View Domain in a New Window" link of the control panel to find out how the domain appears on a browser.

How do I setup "CNAME" records using your control panel?

To setup or update "CNAME" records for your domain, please use "Web/IP Pointing" button of the control panel, and select setup/update option. When you enter target host or domain name in the "Edit Web Pointing" screen of the control panel, and click the "Setup/Update Web Pointing" button, our system automatically configures "CNAME" record(s) for your domain using the target host(s) or target domain name(s) you entered.

Does it make a difference if I enter (or forget to enter) a trailing dot (".") for "CNAME" records?

In DNS zone file, it does make a difference. However, Global Domain Control Panel is intelligent enough to automatically add the dot for you when it is required, and remove the dot when it is not, so you won't need to worry about adding or missing the trailing dot.

How do I use MX pointing to external IP address?

To setup or update custom MX pointing to external IP address or external mail server, please use "MX Pointing" button of the control panel, and select setup/update option. MX pointing will cause external ISPs and servers to ignore the email forwarding settings in our server, as all emails for your domain will be directly routed by our DNS to the external mail server or IP you enter in the control panel.

How do I use FTP pointing to external IP address?

To setup or update custom FTP pointing to external IP address or external domain, please use "Web/IP Pointing" button of the control panel, and select setup/update option. You will then be able to enter the ftp server name or ftp server IP address and click the "Setup/Update Web Pointing" button to enable FTP pointing.

I am using DSL or cable modem service, and I think I have a relatively static IP address. How can I locate my IP address?

If you are not using a proxy server for internet connection, then you can use GlobalFront's IP Tracker script to instantly find your IP address. You can also locate your IP address by using Global Domain Control Panel. Please go to the internet using the computer for which you are trying to locate the IP, log into Global Domain Control Panel, click on Web/IP pointing button, and select setup/update option. Right below the "Web/IP pointing" editing form, you will find your IP address. To help you with Web/IP pointing setup, our system automatically tracks your IP and prints it in the "Web/IP Pointing" setup page. Our system also tracks and prints your IP address in the "MX Pointing" setup page. You can also use the following methods to locate your IP:

  • (a) If you are using Windows 95, 98, 98E, and ME, then please select "Start", and click "Run". In the "open" field, please type "winipcfg" and click "OK". Windows will report your IP address.
  • (b) If you are using Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 or Windows XP, then please select "Start", and click "Run". In the "open" field, please type "cmd" and press "Enter" to get to DOS prompt. Now type "ipconfig" and press "Enter". Windows will report your IP address.

My web server is using a non-traditional port? Would your DNS, URL forwarding or web/IP pointing still work for my server?

Yes. Our DNS, forwarding and pointing services will still work for your site. If you are using URL/IP forwarding, then please make sure to enter: http://www.servername.com:portnumber/ in the control panel. If you are using web/IP pointing service, then you do NOT need to enter the port number in the web/IP form of the control panel, but you would need to include the port number along with the IP address in the "virtual host" block of your web server configuration file for the host name to resolve at that port and at that IP address. Note: For security reasons, many ISPs block inbound traffic to non-traditional ports. You might need to check with your ISP if you are using non-traditional ports for web hosting.

How do I update nameservers for my domain?

If your domain was registered through GlobalFront, then to update nameservers for your domain, please log into Global Domain Control Panel, click on "Nameservers" button, select "Edit/Update Nameservers" option, and enter new nameserver information. Please note that it may take upto 24-72 hours for the effects of nameserver updates to be reflected across the net. This is the standard delay for propagation of registry updates.

How much time does it take for the forwarding updates to work?

Updates for URL forwarding, browser redirection, IP forwarding, IP redirection, meta tags, domain parking, and domain posting for sale are implemented instantly when you update them. Email forwarding updates are saved instantly, but it takes upto 3 minutes for the changes to go into effect in our mail server. There is no propagation delay or DNS changes involved in forwarding updates.

How much time does it take for the pointing updates to work?

Web pointing, MX pointing and FTP pointing updates are saved in our servers instantly and reflected in our DNS servers within 15 minutes. However, as domain IPs are cached by most ISPs, there is a DNS propagation delay involved in pointing updates. It may take upto 8 hours for external ISPs to recognize the change until their local DNS cache expire and their DNS servers relookup the DNS settings from our DNS servers.

Can I try Global Domain Control Panel before I buy your service?

Yes. Unlike most providers who have a non-refundable setup fee for domain forwarding services, we offer free setup and an unconditional 14-day FREE trial for our domain forwarding services. You also have the option to try Global Domain Control Panel NOW using one of our domains. Please visit our Free Trial page for more information.


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