Use MobileMe (.Mac) To Host Multiple iWeb Sites
In order to have MobileMe (me.com) host multiple domains you will need to have a basic understanding of how to use domain forwarding. I want to let everyone know upfront that this process may or may not be supported by apple, but it works very well.
For my example I will be using my domain registrar GoDaddy.com, your register may differ bit in the process but for the most part it will be the same.
For this walkthrough I am going to assume that you have not started anything. The first thing you will want to do is register your domains. As I have stated, I use Godaddy.com. If you want to use Go Daddy I would suggest using a coupon code, either GB3 or Todd. These codes don’t help me but they do help podcasters I like to listen to. One you have your domains registered you are ready to get started designing your sites in iWeb. For this example, I am going to use 2 domains I have had for awhile but have never used, Mac101.info and Mac101.org.
After you open iWeb you will need to create your 1st site. For my sites I am going to use 2 very different themes that I have on review the Jumsoft.com’s theme package. For Mac101.info I used the Paradise Bluebird theme (see the screenshot below)
To add the second Site to iWeb, all you need to do is right click in the page area on the left of the program and select “New Site”. For the second MobileMe hosted site I used Mac101.org. I decided to use the Business Bright theme from the Jumsoft.com iWeb theme collection. ( See the screenshot)
Once you have your sites ready to publish, head into the File menu and select “Publish to MobileMe”. The process is pretty straight forward, but it may take some time to complete so go get a soda and come back.
Once the sites are pushed to MobileMe, iWeb will display a message telling you its done. It’s a good idea to use the “Visit Site Now” button on the message. This will give you the information you will need to forward the domain. You will notice it will take you to the first site you setup. For me that was http://web.me.com/promptcs/Paradise_Bluebird/Welcome.html
Now we need to go over to Go Daddy , or your domain registrar. You will need to log into your account and navigate to the domain settings. One you are in the domain settings area click on the domain you are going to forward first. I am going to work on the Paradise site first so I am going to click on the Mac101.info. This is what the screen should look like. ( I have blurred out a lot to protect myself.)
Then you will need to hit the forward button on the top. It will display the box as seen below. You will need to copy and paste the entire http: link that iWeb sent you to earlier. Again for me this is http://web.me.com/promptcs/Paradise_Bluebird/Welcome.html. Then select the “302 Move Permanently ” radio button. Next you will need to click on the masking tab. You may want to enable masking so that your url will show up as your domain not as the url of MobileMe. If you want the tab to read anything special or you want any extra meta date entered then you should enter it here. Once you finish you will need to click “OK”. This forward may take some time to process, it is not immediate, so give it up to an hour before you get nervous. Test it out and you should see your iWeb site. Mac101.info
Now that we have the first domain forwarded we need to get the second domain done. We will need to get the web address for the second site. It is not hard to get at all it is the same as the first with the difference being the Title of the site. My first was Paradise_Bluebird my second site is Business_bright. That would make the web address http://web.me.com/promptcs/Business_Bright/Welcome.html. All I need to do now is follow the instructions all over again. Mac101.org
I hope each of you are able to get this to work with your registrar, if you have any problems leave a comment below so I can try to help you out.
I have had my website forwarded with this method for awhile now. My problem with this is that a google search q. does not identify this site. at all. Even if I search bradjohns.net. Now Im a a net dummy and I realize that there are procedures to move a site up the google search q. but I thin that this isnt the issue. Because the site is forwarded, for whatever reason, the domain name doesnt seem like it actually exist outside of the domain hosts eyes. Id love to know Im wrong here b/c I want to host multiple domains on MME but not at the expense of having them invisible to the eyes of google.
Great article..THANKS!
Just wanted to add a few specifics as I just finished the process.
Your Domain should be set to “PARKED”
Your CNAME should be set to “www” @ which means it will then point to your “A Host” which should be set to the GoDaddy IP Address which will THEN point to the URL that you set in the “Forward” field.
Hope that helps
It seems to me that this will only work for the first welcome page but what about the other pages of the second site?
Great article! Gave me a glimmer of hope.
Here’s the question. Previously, I had a website hosted by a third party and domain name registered with go-daddy… had name servers set up pointing to the original hosting account. Now, because I’ve gotten a mac, and intend to use iWeb i want to forward those domains to the me.com website (as illustrated above). I figured I would remove the existing name servers from my old host in go-daddy’s domain manager, but what do I do in their place? Park? let go-daddy host my domain? I’m not sure.
Just so you know… So far all I get when I enter the supposedly forwarded domain (http://www.nateandnoah.com)all i get is a go-daddy “ad” page.
@Audrey Enciso -
I believe the problem is you set everything to goto “web.me.com” you really need to forward to your sites exact folder it should look like this “http://web.me.com/promptcs/Paradise_Bluebird/Welcome.html” if you make that change t should work. Please let me know if you need more help.
HI THERE,
I have developed a website without using iweb software. Is it any chance I can host it on me.com?
I really don’t want to spend too much money to get a hosting site again..
Thanks in advance.
I own the domain name http://www.essenttos.com (purchased from 
GoDaddy) and I currently have a site hosted with Apple’s MobileMe 
service (web.me.com). I used your procedure and I went to godaddy to forward domain name to mobileme site (in CNames (DNS), I entered web.me.com and in forwarding it now says http://web.me.com/audrey.a.enciso/Consulting/Our_Services.html. Now however, when I click on the link the name and password box appears saying “To view this page, you need to log in to area “me.com” on web.me.com:80″ and asks for name and password. When I enter my protected name and password and click log in, the same box reappears. This happens over and over and the site doesn’t appear. Why is this. And how can I get to site that Apple Support says looks fine in mobileme? And if I type website address in address bar, I used to see the Godaddy Coming Soon page, now a box appears asking for username and password for http://www.mydomainname.com. The site says: “idisk.mac.com” I’ve tried my protected name/password, my mobileme name/password and neither goes through so now I can’t even see the Coming Soon page. Please help.
i actually already have one domain registred at iweb settings on my mobileme account. do i have to delete that one?
Ihope i understood it correct . but if it works you are my hero! I am looking for this method since months!!!
Hi:
This is a great article and just what I was looking for. Thank you!
My question is: Can you mix a cname site with a forwarded site? My original site is set up with a godaddy domain using cname. When I added the second site using forwarding, it never showed up. Is it possible to switch the cname site to a forwarded site as well?
Thanks!
So to have multiple domains you merely have to create a separate site and then redirect your domain name to the url on mobile me.?
you don’t have to have multiple accounts on mobile me to have multiple domain names?
you can just upgrade account to have more storage?
@Leeshee -
That is right you don’t have to have any hosting plan with Godaddy or any hosting service, well except MobileMe.
Thanks a bunch for the help here. I want to have my second site be just the mobile me account address. is there a way to do that? I want to keep them separate and not have my home site on the personalized domain. Does that make sense?
Just to clarify. You are just forwarding your mobile me website to your personal domain. And the hosting if through Mobileme. You do not need any hosting through godaddy to do this.
Nice job and a VERY handy thing to know.
@Jake -
Jake, I just took a look at your site and every link was working fine. The site looks real nice.
I did everything, but it says “A username and password are being requested by http://www.teacher180.com. The site says: “idisk.mac.com”I checked iWeb and I do not have any password setup. Did I do something wrong?
Hi, Good article. Although I am still having some difficulty understanding what I am forwarding, exactly.
IWeb publishes my first website to MobileMe. I have created two different websites on IWeb, adn I have registered two different domains. I am trying to have two completely different websites hosted through MobileMe.
When I go to goDaddy, I see the forwarding tab, but I am unclear as to what I should forward. Do I need to forward the first website at all? (the one that is already up and running)….or do I just need to forward the second website? If I need to forward the second website, where do I forward it?
Thanks for you help
@david -
For this method you won’t Use the mobile me settings. You when you do the masking step you are doing the same thing.
@marcos navas -
I want to help you out because my wife is a teacher as well. My only problem is that I am not sure what you are seeing. If the software allows you to publish straight to MobileMe (.mac) then you should do that. If not then You need to get into your iDisk by logging in at me.com (MobileMe) then navigate to your sites folder and paste everything (files and folders) the program gave you there.
hello…i have a question… i currently have a godaddy domain connected wit my mobile me..i have downloaded an apple sponsored software called Planbook which is primaryly for teachers. After i create my planbook i have an option to publish it to my mac account. I can publish, using the Planbook software, to a local drive, ftp, or .mac. i need help posting this file downloaded from the planbook software. The file, after publsihing it locally, has an index.htm and various other folders and htms. How do i put this on my mrnavas.com??? im going to copy and paste exactly wat is said under the .mac tab:
Path:
files will be uploaded to the “sites” folder on your idisk. Enter a path to store files in a subfolder. You can access your Sites folder by accessing: http://hompage.mac.com/dotmacusername in your favorite browser.
what should i put here??? how do i put this planbook on my site as its own site? whats the sites url????
Hi,
Thanks for the article. A quick question that I dont understand while waiting my SECOND site to work. On Mobile me you have to registar a personal domain name- there is no way to include more than one there. I am referring to the first page n mobile me accounts.
Thanks
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