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Quick Tutorial: Host multiple domain names with one MobileMe account

If you've got multiple websites that you want to host on MobileMe, the manual tells you that's not possible. MacFixIt tells you that it is--with a small caveat.

Joe Aimonetti MacFixIt Editor
Joe is a seasoned Mac veteran with years of experience on the platform. He reports on Macs, iPods, iPhones and anything else Apple sells. He even has worked in Apple retail stores. He's also a creative professional who knows how to use a Mac to get the job done.
Joe Aimonetti
2 min read

If you've got multiple websites that you want to host on MobileMe, the manual tells you that's not possible. MacFixIt tells you that it is--with a small caveat. If you have not already read my quick tutorial from earlier this week on setting up a domain name with GoDaddy, you should check that out first.

Okay, welcome back. Now that you have your initial domain set up in iWeb on MobileMe, you may find that you want to create another website, using another domain name, in iWeb. For example, if you have "http://www.macfixit-joe.com" then you may want to also have "http://www.independent-contract-writer-joe.com" hosted on your MobileMe. Apple does not allow more than one unique domain name to be associated with a MobileMe account, but with the magic of domain forwarding, you can still manage.

Now, I mentioned a caveat. In order for the site forwarding to work so you do not see the absurdly long web address, you must enable masking for that domain name. By enabling masking, the web address bar will never change from the original domain name (i.e., if you click on a sub-page of "http://www.independent-contract-writer-joe.com" the web address will continue to read: "http://www.independent-contract-writer-joe.com"). This becomes a small issue if you expect users to bookmark particular pages in your site because they will all be bookmarked as the domain name (not the individual pages) and will only redirect to the home page.

But, if all that is okay with you, follow these simple steps with GoDaddy:

  1. Design a New Site in iWeb and publish it to your MobileMe account.
  2. Purchase your second domain name.
  3. From your GoDaddy account overview page, select your domain name.
  4. Click the "Forwarding" button.
  5. Click the "Edit" link in the pop-up window.
  6. Click the "Advanced" link.
  7. Select "Forward with Masking".
  8. Bring up your newly created iWeb site in a browser window. The web address should be something like: "http://web.me.com/username/sitename/home.html".
  9. Copy the web address of the first page of your new site.
  10. In the Forwarding window in your GoDaddy account, paste the web address so that "Forward YourDomain.com to:" is set to your "web.me.com..." address.
  11. Click OK and you are all set. Changes to domain forwarding and masking could take up to an hour, though in my experiences they tend to be much quicker.

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