Domain email and A records

  • Unknown's avatar
    fiddlefreaker · Member ·

    Hi, do you allow an outside registrar to point their A records to your IP numbers? Let me tell you why I’m asking.

    I’m a regular WP user and I understand how to point a domain to my WP blog if it’s registered elsewhere. I also understand how to edit MX records within my WP admin in order to use domain email. But I have a client with a setup that is baffling me. Her domain is registered at Tierra.net, with DNS settings that point to Earthlink, where she has her old website hosted and her email as well. Last week I went into her registar and put in the WP DNS settings, which did work to point her domain, but her domain email was then broken. I’m trying to do this without interrupting her email service.

    It was suggested to me that I might edit the A records (for hosting) at her registrar to point to your WP IP numbers, without affecting her email. I’m open to suggestions if there is a better way to do this… thanks!

    the blog is https://lisalynneblog.wordpress.com/
    domain is https://lisalynne.com

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • Unknown's avatar
    ariwinokur · Member ·

    Using custom DNS is discussed fully in this article: https://en.support.wordpress.com/domains/custom-dns/

    Please let me know if I can help you further.

  • Unknown's avatar
    fiddlefreaker · Member ·

    Quick response, thanks!

    I’ve read that page many times, and it seems my situation is a bit more complicated, perhaps because there are already some custom MX records set up in her hosting admin at Earthlink? The solution I am asking about would theoretically leave her email setup untouched, as the A records would send the domain name to WP for web hosting ONLY… I’ve been told this may be the simplest solution.

    Are you saying WP doesn’t allow an outside registrar to point their A records to your IP numbers? and if not… do I need to remove the existing custom MX records from her Earthlink settings before adding any MX records into my WP admin? (after I had pointed her domain to the WP blog, I got this message in WP admin:

    “This domain currently has custom mail servers defined in its DNS settings. This means that WordPress.com Email Forwarding is not available for this domain, and that you should manage your email with your email provider. The email servers for this domain are:

    mx1c38.carrierzone.com.
    mx2c38.carrierzone.com.
    mx3c38.carrierzone.com.
    mx4c38.carrierzone.com.”

    These are custom records I can see in her Earthlink admin for DNS.

    Please understand, I am a designer and I’m beyond my depth with most DNS settings. This is why I use wordpress.com and I love it.

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