How to Redirect Your Domain by Setting Up Web Forwarding

Web forwarding, also known as domain forwarding, is used when you want your domain name to automatically redirect visitors to another URL. UpdateYourAccount SharingYourProducts UsingOrganizations DomainNames HowDoDomainNamesWork? ChangeDomainSettings ManageManyDomainsatOnce LinkYourDomaintoaWebsite WebForwarding ChangeYourNameserver DNSRecords DomainContacts WhoisPrivacy Tags WDRP ProcedureforDisclosureofDomainContactData RegisteraDomain RenewaDomain TransferaDomaintoGandi TransferaDomaintoAnotherRegistrar ChangetheOwnerofaDomain OperationsforAdvancedUsers DomainNameServices CommonQuestionsaboutDomainNames Marketplace UsingEmail SimpleHosting CloudServers GandiCloudVPS SSLCertificates Billing GandiResellers GandiAPI Docs DomainNames CommonlyUsedDomainNameOperations HowtoRedirectYourDomainbySettingUpWebForwarding HowtoRedirectYourDomainbySettingUpWebForwarding¶ HowtoSetUpWebForwardingtoRedirectYourDomain HTTPversusHTTPS CommonWebForwards EditingExistingForwards WebForwardingFrequentQuestions Webforwarding,alsoknownasdomainforwarding,isusedwhenyouwantyourdomainnametoautomaticallyredirectvisitorstoanotherURL.Itiseasytosetupandit’sfree. Webforwardingcanbeusedforredirectionswithinyourdomain(forexample,example.com→www.example.com)aswellasredirectingyourwebsitetoanotherdomainentirely(forexample,example.com→www.example.org).Ifyourbusinessusesseveraldomainsnames,youcanalsousedomainforwardingtodirectthosedomainstoyourprimarysite. Note Forthebestresults,thedomainnameinquestionmustbeusingGandi’sLiveDNS. HowtoSetUpWebForwardingtoRedirectYourDomain¶ Afterclickingonthedomaintoenterit’sadmin,choosethe“WebForwarding”tab,andthenselect“Create”under“Addyourfirstwebforwardingaddress”. Inthefollowingformyoucanspecifythesubdomainyouwishtoforwardfromandtheaddressyouwanttoredirectto.Youcanalsoselectwhichprotocoltouse(http,https,orboth).FormoreexplanationofthedifferencesbetweentheseprotocolsseethesectiononHTTPSbelow. Youcanalsospecifywhetherthisisapermanentforward,atemporaryforward,oramaskedforward. Apermanentforwardshouldbeusedwhenyouhavepermanentlymovedyoursite,orifyouintendaforwardtocontinueindefinitely.Thistypeofredirectsignalstoasearchenginethatthewebsitewhichisforwardedtoistheauthoritativesourceforthatdomain. Atemporaryforwardshouldbeusedwhenyouaretemporarilyforwardingyoursite,suchasduringmaintenance.Thissignalstoasearchenginethatthischangeshouldnotbeindexedbecauseitisonlytemporary. Amaskedforwardwillhidethedestinationaddressfromusers.Withbothatemporaryandapermanentforwardtheuserwillseethefinaladdressoftheforwarddisplayedintheiraddressbar.However,whenusingamaskedforwardtheuserwillseetheoriginaladdressintheaddressbarnomatterwheretheygotoontheforwardedsite.Becautiouswhenusingthistypeofforwarding,asitispenalizedbysearchengines.Somebrowsersmayshowtherealaddressanyway,orevenblockthecontentaltogether.Somebrowsersmaynotsupportframes,whicharerequiredforamaskedforwardtowork.Formostusers,atemporaryorpermanentforwardisthebetteroption. HTTPversusHTTPS¶ HTTPSisnowthepreferredinternetprotocolformostwebsites.HTTPSencryptsthedatayousendovertheinternetsoitcannotbeinterceptedbyathirdparty.InordertouseHTTPSyoumusthaveanSSLcertificateforyourwebsite.GandiprovidesafreeSSLcertificatewitheverydomainpurchase.YoucanreadmoreaboutSSLcertificatesintheSSLsectionofourdocumentation. IfyoucreateaforwardusingtheHTTPSprotocol,andafreecertificateisavailable,acertificatewillbeautomaticallygenerated.Besuretoactivatethiscertificatebyclickingthelinkintheconfirmationmailyoureceive. Itisnotpossibletocreateamaskedforwardusingahttpslink. Note Whencreatinganewforward,youmaywanttostartwithHTTP,thenverifythattheforwardisworkingcorrectly.Then,afteryouhaveverifiedtheforwardisworking,youcanswitchtoHTTPSortothedualHTTPandHTTPSoption.ThisapproachallowsyoutoidentifyanyproblemsbeforeanSSLcertificateisputinplace. CommonWebForwards¶ Thefollowingdomainredirectsareonescommonlyusedthatyoumaywishtoconsideraddingforyourwebsite: www.example.comtoexample.com *.example.comtoexample.com(The*wildcardforwardsanythingtypedinasasubdomain.) Note Forsecurityandtechnicalreasons,awildcardforwardcannotbeusedwithHTTPS. EditingExistingForwards¶ Youcaneditanexistingwebforwardbyfollowingthesesteps: Afterloggingin,select“Domain”fromtheleftnavigationmenu. Clickthenameofthedomainwhichhasthewebforwardingyouwanttoedit. Clickthe“Webforwarding”tab. Findtheexistingforwardinthelistandclickthe3doticonnexttoit.Click“Edit.”Youcanalsoselect“Delete”todeletetheforwardingentrycompletely. Makethedesiredchangestotheforwardusingtheform. Click“Save.” WebForwardingFrequentQuestions¶ Formoreinformationonwebforwardingseethewebforwardingsectionofourfaq.