Table of Contents

Configuring your domain for a BigCartel website

So you have created a website with BigCartel and now need to configure your domain name at Gandi so that it takes visitors to your website.

After having finished configuring your BigCartel website for your domain, you will need to make some technical changes to your domain at Gandi. For security purposes, Gandi cannot perform these changes for you.

Step 1: Log into your domain name

You will need to log into your domain name with any of the contacts (other than the billing contact) (trouble logging in?).

If you have registered your domain name via a reseller, you will need to contact them to make the changes on your behalf. If this is the case, you will see a message on our website saying that you do not have sufficient rights.

Step 2: Change your zone file

You now need to make a change to your DNS zone file so that your domain points at your website.

Adding records

To add the CNAME record you need to first make an editable copy of your zone file (see instructions).

The entry or entries you need to add will look something like this (check your BigCartel account to be sure): 

www 10800 IN CNAME YourStoreName.bigcartel.com.

Replace “YourStoreName” with the actual store name you have at BigCartel.

Since BigCartel will not give out their IP address, you will need to use Web Forwarding if you wish to have your bare domain point there.

Example of a zone

Here is an example of a zone file for a domain (we'll use example.com) that will bring visitors to a BigCartel website: 

@ 10800 IN MX 50 fb.mail.gandi.net. 
@ 10800 IN MX 10 spool.mail.gandi.net. 
imap 10800 IN CNAME access.mail.gandi.net. 
smtp 10800 IN CNAME relay.mail.gandi.net. 
webmail 10800 IN CNAME agent.mail.gandi.net. 
blog 10800 IN CNAME blogs.vip.gandi.net. 
pop 10800 IN CNAME access.mail.gandi.net.
www 10800 IN CNAME YourStoreName.bigcartel.com.
@ 10800 IN A 217.70.184.38

After you submit your new zone file, please be sure to wait a couple of hours for the zone to be updated with the new information, as the changes are not seen immediately.