Before we get into the technical details, let's be clear: this is not for the faint of heart. If you aren't sure whether you can modify DNS at your domain, or you don't have your own domain and instead maintain a blog at wordpress.com, livejournal.com, typepad.com or some other hosted provider, then MyBrand is NOT for you. Since we cannot provide DNS-specific support, we'd really appreciate you reading through this entire post, not just because it took us a long time to write it (it really did), but because it will ultimately save you time.
What MyBrand Really Does
MyBrand lets you create an alias at your domain so that you can "mask" your feed URL at FeedBurner. For purposes of this example, we're going to assume that your domain is "yourdomain.com" (yes, we're clever), and you have a feed that today is at feeds.feedburner.com/BestFeedEver. Once MyBrand is active, you can use feeds.yourdomain.com/BestFeedEver instead of feeds.feedburner.com/BestFeedEver. Cool, right?
Please note: This does not in fact change where your feed lives. The feeds.feedburner.com address is still valid, and feeds.yourdomain.com is just an alternate URL that users can use to access your feed. That's good news: all of your subscribers today will continue to get your feed content without having to resubscribe.
Several of you asked whether you could "redirect" your existing subscribers away from the feeds.feedburner.com address to the feeds.yourdomain.com address. Not really, no. Since they're both in fact the same feed (you've just created an alias that points at the FeedBurner URL), redirecting from one to the other would in fact create a loop. And nobody likes loops.
Can you help me modify my DNS records?
If you need a pointer on creating a CNAME at your domain, here are directions for GoDaddy users: http://help.godaddy.com/article.php?article_id=666&topic_id=163. Don't use GoDaddy? Contact your domain registrar and/or webhost for more guidance. Like we said up above, we can't help with DNS-specific issues on your domain because there are just too many domains out there.
What is a CNAME?
A CNAME is web-speak for an alias or shortcut from one Internet name to another. It allows you to say "Send all of the traffic for feeds.yourdomain.com to feeds.feedburner.com."
When will the changes I make become visible?
Sometimes, it can take as long as 24 hours for DNS change to propagate. We recommend you wait a full day before becoming alarmed.
How do I determine if I can even edit my CNAME?
Check with your domain registrar or web hosting provider to see if you have this capability.
Will my subscribers have to re-subscribe to my feed?
No.
What if I am unable to change my CNAME?
Some domain registrars may not allow you to edit your DNS records. Unfortunately, this is how MyBrand works! (Sorry.) If you really want to use MyBrand but can't edit your DNS records, consider switching to a different registrar.
Where do I go to activate MyBrand?
To get started:
- Sign in to your FeedBurner account
- Click My Account
- Click MyBrand, enter your domains and click Activate
What if I want to stop using MyBrand? What's the process for deactivating the service and what should I tell my domain registrar?
To stop using MyBrand:
- Sign in to your FeedBurner account.
- Click My Account
- Click MyBrand, then click "Deactivate"
- With your registrar, remove the CNAME entries from your domain's DNS record.
A note about feed redirection
Those of you using the FeedSmith plugin for WordPress, or who use a custom server-side redirect to redirect feed subscribers from your site to ours, can update those redirects to use your new MyBrand-ed URL. Visit the control panel for your plugin (or edit the .htaccess file for your site if you're self-customizing the redirect), and change the FeedBurner URL from our domain to your own.