I have bought a domain that I want to use as a unique Tumblr website but I can't get the url to pick up on Tumblr settings.

The domain is a .com registered with 123-reg. I've set the CNAME to the correct tumblr url and also set the A record too. When I visit the url I get the Tumblr error page so I know that the domain is pointing, however when I go to settings in Tumblr and "Test" the url it says that it's not pointing and I can't save it. What could be the problem?

  • How can you set both a CNAME and an A record at the same time? Are you talking about different subdomains? – Stephen Ostermiller Jun 5 '14 at 10:24
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    Did you enter your domain name into tumblr's system and test it with the following instructions? tumblr.com/docs/en/custom_domains – Stephen Ostermiller Jun 5 '14 at 10:26
  • I've set the A record back so just using CName now. I've just done exactly the same thing with a .co.uk url of mine and that's working fine – user3177012 Jun 5 '14 at 11:04

It sounds like you haven't completed the "Post-login steps" from http://www.tumblr.com/docs/en/custom_domains

  3. Click the pencil to the right of the ﻿username﻿ section and enable "Use a custom domain."
  4. Enter your domain (e.g. mywebsite.com) or subdomain (e.g. blog.mywebsite.com).
  5. Click “Test your domain.”
  7. Hit “Save.”

Until you complete these steps, the Tumblr server won't know which tumblr account with which to associate this domain name.


I did this recently, and it usually takes some time for the A record to update before tumblr's test button will recognize that it is set up.

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