Important Change for Domain-Mapped Ning Networks

[Eric Suesz]

Do you have a domain-mapped network — a.k.a., a custom URL?

• If you do not have a custom domain, you can stop reading right now. 
• If you do have a custom domain, we want to let you know about an important change: We’ve changed our IP address.

Here's what you need to know about this change:

• All Ning Networks are hosted on an IP address.
• For a long time, Ning has hosted all networks on this IP address: 8.6.19.68.
• We have created a new IP address for all Ning Networks: 208.82.16.68.
• This new IP address is now live.
• Networks without a custom domain have been automatically moved over (or will be shortly).
• If you have a custom domain with an A Record, you'll need to update your settings with your registrar. 
• If you only have a CNAME (no A Record), you won't need to update your IP address.
• Networks with a custom domain will continue to work on the old IP address (it is still active right now), but we intend to disable it in the future. 

How do I know if I have a domain-mapped network?

If your network URL includes the word “ning” in it (e.g., networkname.ning.com), you do not have a domain-mapped network. You won’t need to do anything. 

What do I need to do?

You need to change the settings that route your members to the correct place whenever they visit your domain. You will need to do this with your domain registrar. 

Who is my registrar? 

When you set up your custom domain, you did so through a registrar like GoDaddy. If you don’t remember who your registrar is (don’t fret — that’s not entirely uncommon!), you can look it up. Use this public and free WHOIS service to look up your registrar.

What, specifically, do I need to change? 

Change the A Record set up for your network's custom domain from 8.6.19.69 to 208.82.16.68. You will need to sign in to your domain registrar to update that DNS record. 

I don't have an A Record

For some registrars, a CNAME is enough to map your custom URL to your Ning Network. A CNAME connects your domain to your Ning Network using a URL rather than an IP address. If that's the case for you, you don't need to worry about this change.

What if my A record doesn’t point to 8.6.19.68 or 208.82.16.68?

In some cases, a valid CNAME (pointing your domain straight to your network URL) is enough and you may have some other IP listed for your A record - usually your registrar's default. We still recommend swapping to 208.82.16.68, but you shouldn’t see any change when 8.6.19.68 goes offline if you don’t change anything.

Why has Ning made this change? 

There are a number of reasons to change IP addresses. The most important is that this new IP address allows us to better protect your network (and the entire Ning platform) against Denial of Service (Dos) attacks. This change also gives us more control over IP addresses, which will make Ning network carrier (ISP) independent. 

What happens if I don’t update my settings? 

If you don’t update your settings, when we disable the old IP address your network may become inaccessible to you and your members. 

How long do I have to change my settings? 

We will disable the old IP address in the coming weeks. We don’t have a specific date for you yet, but we strongly (strongly) encourage you to make this change soon. In fact, we recommend you take care of it right now. It may take a few minutes to access your account with your registrar and make this simple change, but getting it out of the way now is probably the best approach. 

I need to know more about domain mapping

We have some documentation about domain mapping in general here in the Help Center. If you have questions specific to changing the A Record with your domain registrar, you may want to visit their support center or contact them for more detailed instructions. Of course, if you're stuck or need help, we always encourage you to shoot us a message from the Support link on your Dashboard. We'll do our best to help you get this detail updated for your network.

 

[Eric Suesz]

Hey, Noelle! We have made this change, although we haven't turned off the old IP yet. We will do that in the coming weeks, so I strongly encourage you to update your IP address very soon.