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Having trouble getting others to see your web site?
This section helps you determine why other users can't browse to your
BadBlue web site. Assuming you've already
downloaded and
installed
BadBlue, follow these step-by-step instructions to
help repair the problem.
Is your BadBlue server running?
If not, click on the Windows Start menu and select BadBlue;
a browser window should appear with the BadBlue main menu.
If you've had problems with the basic installation of BadBlue,
visit the installation help center.
Is your network connection up?
Can you browse to other web sites like news.com? If not,
you'll need to connect to the Internet or trouble-shoot
your network connection with your ISP. This will allow
external users to surf to your PC.
Do you have a router?
If not, skip to step 4.
The most common problem with router configuration is
port forwarding. To set up your router to
forward requests, you'll need to know:
- The internal IP address of your BadBlue PC
- The port number BadBlue is using
To find the internal IP address of your BadBlue PC,
use
these instructions.
To find the port number that BadBlue is using, click on
the small BadBlue system tray icon and select Restore.
The port number will be displayed in the small window.
Once you know the internal address of your BadBlue PC and
the port number,
use the following router instructions to configure port
forwarding:
D-Link Router Port Forwarding
Linksys Router Port Forwarding (bottom of page)
All routers (portforward.com)
Can you access BadBlue from your external IP address?
Your external IP address is available to users in the outside
world. For example, if you use a router, the router's IP
address is your external address. To determine your current
external IP address, use:
http://checkip.dyndns.org/
Now try accessing your web server using the external address.
Note: if you're using a router
and port-forwarding, you may be unable to surf to your external
IP address from inside your LAN; have a friend with
an outside connection verify your site is accessible as follows.
If running on port 80, enter the external IP
in a browser address bar:
http://24.18.36.3/
substituting your real external address for 24.18.36.3.
If you're running a port other than 80 (say, 9003), use:
http://24.18.36.3:9003/
subsituting your real IP address for 24.18.36.3 and
the real port for 9003. To change the port number that BadBlue
runs on, see the sidebar (at top right, entitled 'Can't get it to work on port 80?').
Is your domain name (DNS) configured?
If you haven't configured dynamic DNS yet, visit the
Dynamic DNS Help Center.
If you've set up dynamic DNS using BadBlue, confirm that it's
working correctly; surf to:
http://www.dnsstuff.com/
find the box entitled "DNS Lookup" (top right)
and type in the domain name (e.g., jsmith.dyndns.org),
then press the "Lookup" button.
Does the resulting IP address answer match up with your external
IP address (step 4)? If not, you'll need to determine
whether your dynamic DNS is configured correctly.
Visit the
Dynamic DNS Help Center for DNS
troubleshooting ideas. Remember that after you set up
dynamic DNS for the first time,
you will have to exit BadBlue completely
(by right-clicking on the small system tray icon and selecting
'Exit') and restart (from the Windows Start menu).
Final checks
Lastly, test your address and have some friends test it in the
outside world. You can invite friends to your PC by using
the Manage >> Invite friends menu to email
invitations to associates. Note: if you're using a router
and port-forwarding, you may be unable to surf to your domain name
(or external IP address) from inside your LAN; have a friend with
an outside connection verify your site is accessible as follows.
Note that if your PC is running on port 80, your invitation URL
will look like this:
http://youraddress.dyndns.org/
And if you're running on a port other than 80 (say, 8081), use:
http://youraddress.dyndns.org:8081/
To invite users to a specific folder or photo album, see
the Folder setup section.
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What's port 80?
Web servers like BadBlue usually run on something
that is the Internet equivalent of a 'TV channel'
called a 'port'. Ports are numbered from 1 to
65535. Web servers usually run on port 80, though
they can be configured to run on almost any port (as
long as it's not being used by another service).
BadBlue's port number can be easily changed, if necessary.
See below for details.
Using a router and can't surf to your own domain?
If you're using a router and port-forwarding,
you may be unable to surf to your domain name
(or external IP address) from inside your LAN; have a friend with
an outside connection verify your site is accessible. The easiest
way is to use the invitation email option on the Manage tab - see step 6 at left.
Can't get it to work on port 80?
Is everything set up right, but other users can't
get to your server running on port 80? Be advised
that some Internet providers block port 80!
To change BadBlue's port
number, double-click on the small BadBlue icon in the system tray.
Press the Stop button, then change the port number (say, to
port 8081). Press the Exit button, then restart BadBlue from the
Windows Start menu.
Remember, if you have a router,
you'll need to reconfigure your router's
port forwarding for the new port number (see Step 3 at left).
Using a port other than 80?
If you're running a port other than 80,
remember that you'll need to add the port number
when referring to the web address of your site, say,
http://127.0.0.1:8081/ or
http://me.dyndns.org:8081/
if running on port 8081.
HTTP 500 Internal server error?
Connection Refused error?
Web page cannot be displayed error?
If Internet Explorer (IE) reports any of these errors,
use the IE menu, select
Tools >> Internet Options >> Connections Tab >> LAN Settings
and ensure that:
Automatically detect settings
and
Use automatic configuration script
are both not 'checked'.
'Page cannot be displayed' error?
'Cannot find server' error?
If Internet Explorer (IE) reports either of these errors,
press the browser Refresh button.
For instance, if you're running ZoneAlarm,
it will ask whether BadBlue can access the Internet and act as a server?
On both questions, check the
Remember this answer the next time I use this program
box and press the Yes button.
You can then press the browser's Refresh button
to display BadBlue's main menu. Or right-click on the BadBlue
system tray icon at lower right and select 'Main menu'.
Other problems or questions?
Having other issues - or found a way to solve
a problem not on this list?
Let us know!
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