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Last Updated
14th of May, 2012
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You can easily choose a custom subdomain for your IDX system and custom page links. This accomplishes two things:
  1. Ensures that pages indexed by Google, and other search engines, are associated with your primary website. A good example of this is for a client site called Halja.com. This client chose the subdomain home.halja.com. If you perform a search in Google and use the term "site:halja.com", you will see that Google has indexed both the subdomain and primary domain pages together under the halja.com domain.
  2. Provides portability. If you choose to ever switch IDX providers, you can choose to retain ownership of the subdomain that originally hosted those IDX pages.
  3. The domain hosting an iFrame usually belongs to an IDX, MLS, or MLS software vendor. A custom subdomain allows you to display results on a subdomain of your primary domain.
What happens to my links and integration after I create a CNAME?

After adding a new subdomain to your account, the menu and any widget URL links in your wrapper and on your site will no longer be valid. Simply replace the root domain in each with your new subdomain. IDX Broker will automatically display the correct custom and system links in your control panel, however, the live links on your site will not be automatically updated when you create a subdomain for your IDX pages.

If you are using the WordPress Plugin, you will simply need to modify the subdomain in your IDX Broker plugin settings page in order to update all of the links on your WordPress site. 

How do I create a new CNAME?

This requires some knowledge of the self-service domain management platform provided by your ISP. If you don't feel comfortable managing the CNAME yourself, please contact your ISP to have them create the CNAME for you.

Note: Point2 does not provide a way for you to add a CNAME to your 3rd level domains yourself. If you are a Point2 customer, you may contact them directly to accomplish this, or register one or more primary domains with GoDaddy or another ISP that offers DNS control, or domain management.

If you are using GoDaddy customer, or want to move your DNS Control to GoDaddy, here is an article that provides instructions for setting up a CNAME with GoDaddy.

If you are using HostGator to manage your domain and subdoman, instructions on how to create a CNAME record can be found here in HostGator's online support center.

If you are using Blue Host to manage your domain and subdoman, instructions on how to create a CNAME record can be found here in Blue Host's online help center.

If you are using Network Solutions to manage your domain and subdoman, instructions on how to create a CNAME record can be found here in Network Solutions' online support center.

My CNAME is setup, what now?

Below are the steps you need to take in order to establish confirm, and establish your custom subdomain for IDX Broker page links:
  1. Establish a CNAME for subdomain.mydomain.com that points to 'idxco.com'. You can do this via your domain host. Important: Wait 36-72 hours. DNS server changes can take up to 72 hours to propagate across the internet. 
  2. Verify your new subdomain via DNS tools such as those found on CentralOps. See the image below for an example of how a "CNAME" verification would look in CentralOps. If the "data" field displays a domain other than idxco.com, your subdomain has not yet updated or was setup incorrectly. 
  3. Check the box next to "DNS Records" and click "Go" to verify that your CNAME is setup correctly. If those results don't match the image below within 72 hours, please check your CNAME settings to ensure that you have setup your subdomain correctly.

  4. If your subdomain is setup correctly, log into IDX Broker and go to the Account Management > Domain Control screen. Enter your custom subdomain.

  5. Click the "Change Domain Settings" button at the bottom of the page. Your account page links will now include your custom subdomain in the URL.

  6. Go to My Preferences > Global Preferences and scroll down to "Map Options". Click the button called "Get a Map Key" and enter your new custom subdomain in the Google screen that follows. Submit the form in Google, then copy and paste your new key in the field directly under the "Map Options" subtitle.
Note: A Custom subdomain may be setup as a non-www subdomain, or a www subdomain, but not both. For instance, www.idx.mydomain.com is a completely different subdomain from idx.mydomain.com. IDX Broker can verify a single subdomain, not two subdomains. We recommend that you point the remaining subdomain to your primary website. This can be done via your DNS subdomain tools.

AFTER SWITCHING

After switching to a custom subdomain, you'll need to do a few things. First, make sure that you update the URL's of any IDX links you've already pasted into your website or IDX global wrapper to match this new structure. Typically, this can be accomplished with a find & replace.

Next, go to My Preferences and scroll down to Map Options to update your Google API key.

Finally, if you have walk score enabled on your property details pages (set via your preferences page) you will need to sign up for a custom key for the service on your custom domain and copy it into the box on the left under Account Management --> Domain Control.
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