Infin It! Third Party Plugins

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Infin It! Help

Infin It! Third Party Plugins

There are many third-party resources that you can add to your site through Infin It!. So...

The discussion below is not an exhaustive list of all resources that allow CNAME domain mapping (the technique used by Infin It!).

Important Warning: Do not promote the third party (sub)domain, only your SBI! site's subdomain. Click here if you forget why. And see below to ensure that the search engines don't find your content on the third-party URL.

The CNAME Provider information for each resource is included below. You'll need that when creating a new subdomain for that resource. You'll also find links to help provided by each resource, specifically about domain mapping (when available).

Hosting

There are many hosting providers out there. However, you need one that allows subdomain mapping (not just domain mapping).

Register for the host's 12 month package. Most include a domain name, which you choose at registration.

(You can also transfer an existing domain name, but it's easier to just use a new domain name, especially since one is usually included in the price of the plan. And if you expect to use it for only hosting the subdomain's application, no one will ever see the domain name you choose.)

Many hosting services have developed their equivalent of cPanel due to large cost increases from cPanel. So there are no consistent methods across hosts for mapping to a subdomain.

Before you purchase any hosting, contact the host's support team and ask if they allow subdomain mapping.

If they do, ask them for the instructions before you purchase. (This will also give you an idea of how responsive and helpful their support is.)

Mapping Your Subdomain

Now it's time to map your Infin It! subdomain to your hosting account.

CNAME Provider Information

The CNAME Provider domain name is your hosting account's domain name (e.g., www.anydomainnameyouwant.com. -- with the trailing period), where you replace "anydomainnameyouwant.com" with the name you registered or transferred to the host.

Return to Infin It! and set up your Infin It! subdomain following the instructions in the Infin It! help.

For example, if the owner of anguilla-beaches.com registered anguillabeachblog.com as her hosting account domain name, she would enter www.anguillabeachblog.com. in Infin It!'s CNAME Provider box.

Add Your SBI! Subdomain Name to Hosting

You may have to wait 12-24 hours before this part will succeed. Type your site subdomain (e.g., blog.anguilla-beaches.com) into your browser.

If you see a placeholder page from your host, proceed with adding your SBI! subdomain name using the instructions the host gave you.

Critically Important

Your host has associated your Infin It! subdomain with the the hosting subdomain you just created, not with "www." Therefore, you must return to Infin It! and change your CNAME Provider information if you want any of your visitors to reach the content you have in your subdomain.

  1. Go into Infin It! and click on the Edit Subdomain button.

  2. For CNAME Provider, remove "www" and then type or paste in the subdomain for the hosting domain name. (It may or not be the same as the Subdomain Name you added at the top of Infin It!.)

    If you're not sure of the subdomain you created at your host, return there and click on Subdomains. You'll see a list of your subdomains at the bottom of the page.

    Copy the text before the first dot, and paste it into Infin It!, replacing the "www" in the CNAME Provider box.

  3. Click on Update It! to save your change.

Setting Up a 301 (Permanent) Redirect

If a search engine should happen to find your content via your hosting (sub)domain URL, your Infin It! subdomain will lose some of the credit for that content.

And if another webmaster found that URL and linked to it, the SEs might consider the host's URL even more important.

So, as a precautionary measure, set up a 301 (permanent) redirect, which all hosts offer. If you're not clear on how to do it, ask the host's support team for help.

Installing Your Application Software

If you want to add a phpBB forum or WordPress blog to your site, or any of dozens more applications, you can do so using Softaculous. Most hosts offer it as an app installer.

If you want to add anything that's not in Softaculous, you'll have to install that application yourself (geeks only, or ask for help from a SiteSell Professional).

If you don't see Softaculous, ask your host's support team.

Directions for Use
  • Click on the Softaculous icon.
  • Select the application to install.
  • Click on Install and follow the instructions for the application you want to add.

The Softaculous Installation Process

  1. In Softaculous, choose the application you want to use. Read the information provided. Click on Install (it will likely be the active tab).

  2. Follow the instructions for installing and setting up the software you want to use.

Below is a list of the major kinds of third-party resources that SBIers are most likely to want to add to their site.

Most are available via Softaculous, which is the recommended way to go. The applications below are presented merely for the sake of options/completeness.

(Optional) 1-2 Months Later...

Additional Infin It! Setups With Your Host

Most SBIers who use Infin It! will likely use it to add only one specific type of resource into their sites. However, maybe you're really ambitious...

Let's say you want to add a full WordPress blog, a phpBB forum and an e-store (Softaculous offers you several options). No problem! Hosts support this.

However, you'll likely have to contact your host and move up to the next higher plan once you reach your addon domain name limit.

Once the addon domain is available, repeat the above processes to create the new subdomain and a permanent redirect and install your software.

But don't create them all at once. Each one has a fairly big learning curve and also requires maintenance time. Get used to each for a month or so, one at a time, before deciding if you're ready to set up and maintain another one.

Support?   SiteSell Support cannot help you with problems at third-party hosting services or with third-party software. But here's a tip...

Download pages/templates from your new application and keep them handy in case you "ruin" your working copy. This backup copy can save you from having to un-install and re-install an application, losing work done to that time.

Many hosts now offer a sandbox where you can set up your entire site on a subdomain of the domain name you received with the hosting purchase.

Once you have everything worked out, simply transfer (or export) it all to the subdomain you created for it.

The Infin It! forum is available should you need help or answers.

If you'd prefer to concentrate on creating your content, a SiteSell Professional can do the hosting setup and software installation for you. See https://pros.sitesell.com for more details.

Using HostGator as Your Host

If you already use HostGator, you don't need to switch to another host. These are the instructions to use with HG. (Thanks go to Erik from fun-film-talk.com for figuring it all out for us!)

When you first open Infin It!, decide on a word or hyphenated phrase for your subdomain (e.g., forum, blog, news-updates). Once on the page where you enter your CNAME Record, leave that empty for now and go to HostGator.

Log in and go to the Addon Domains section. Type your Infin It! subdomain exactly as it will be once you complete the process (e.g., forum.sbidomainname.com).

Press the Tab key on your keyboard. The Addon Domain Panel will automatically enter some good choices for your new addon domain name. You can leave these as is.

Go to the Subdomain/Ftp Box and note the word/phrase in that box (e.g., forum).

That word, plus the HG domain name, are what you will enter into the CNAME Record in Infin It! (e.g., forum.hostgatordomainname.com. -- don't forget the period at the end).

Add that domain name to Infin It!. Then decide on the navigation options you want to use (this can be done later if you want).

Save the subdomain.

Within 24-36 hours, your subdomain should be working. You can test it by typing it directly into the address bar of your browser.

No Navigation Button/Menu Item Showing on Your Site?

If you don't see a NavBar button or menu item by the time the subdomain is working, rebuild your Site Navigation. That will force a rebuild of your entire navigation, adding the new button or menu item to your pages.

While there, decide where you want the new subdomain's button/menu item to appear in the NavBar/menu (e.g., top, bottom, somewhere in the middle).

Blogs

Blogger, WordPress and other blogging platforms can be used with Infin It!.

Blogger.com

Google's Blogger.com offers free blogs. The CNAME Provider information is...

ghs.google.com.

Remember to add the period after it when pasting it into Infin It!.

If you need help with the Blogger end of the setup, see this Google help...

https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/1734722?hl=en&ref_topic=1734117

You will also have to use Infin It! to create a site ownership subdomain during the process. Follow the instructions provided by Google.

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is a hosted service like Blogger. It uses the free WordPress software (see below), but takes much of the work out of setting up your blog.

It's free to use, but mapping a subdomain to your WordPress.com domain name is $18 per year. Customizing any of the available templates with CSS requires WordPress.com Premium, at $99/year.

There are also some limitations. The template choices are few. Placing AdSense ads on your blog is prohibited. You can't edit the code of the blog itself (you can edit the HTML in your posts, but not of the blog itself, to make it work differently).

And the bottom of each page of your blog will have a "Powered by WordPress.com" message. You also can't have affiliate links on your blog.

If you choose WordPress.com, the CNAME provider you enter into Infin It! will be yourblogname.wordpress.com. (including the final period).

WordPress.org

WordPress.org (not .com) offers free (open source) software that you install on a server at any host that works with Infin It!.

See CNAME Provider Information above for what to enter into Infin It!.

Forums

A Google search will find several options for forum software. You can use any you like (as long as your host supports subdomain-mapping), but we recommend you simply use Softaculous to install...

phpBB

phpBB is one of the most popular packages. It's free and open source, which means that it will always be free. It also means that it can take some time before upgrades fix certain problems.

See CNAME Provider Information above for what to enter into Infin It!.

Shopping Carts and E-commerce

If you don't already have a store, most hosts offer a choice of e-commerce solutions that you can one-click install using Softaculous. Some of them are discussed below.

Softaculous Offerings

See CNAME Provider Information above for details about the name you enter into Infin It!.

Membership Sites

Combine Infin It!, hosting and aMember Pro software to add a membership component to your site. Or simply use the software to password-protect your e-goods.

See Installing aMember Pro Software in TNT HQ for details on setting up aMember Pro.

See CNAME Provider Information above for details about the name you enter into Infin It!.

Another option is to install WordPress and add a membership plugin such as WishList Member or MemberMouse. Use WordPress simply as the host of the membership system.

Wikis

You have three options for wikis. You can host one at wikispot.org, or purchase hosting and install TikiWiki or phpWiki, or manually install MediaWiki (the most common wiki) at your host.

You need to have lots of time on your hands to manage a wiki. In general, not recommended.

Wikispot.org

If you choose wikispot.org, map your subdomain to domains.wikispot.org. and wait for the subdomain name to make it to all the nameservers around the world.

There will be spots in your wiki that lead back to wikispot.org. These can't be changed. Anyone clicking on one of those links will be taken away from your site.

TikiWiki and phpWiki

Follow the hosting instructions above if you want to use TikiWiki or phpWiki, both of which can be installed using Softaculous.

See CNAME Provider Information above for details about the name you enter into Infin It!.

MediaWiki

The most popular wiki software, MediaWiki, is not available as a Softaculous installation. Be sure that a host that offers one-click MediaWiki installation also allows subdomain mapping before you proceed.

If you prefer, you can download it here and install it manually in your hosting account.