Domain Management

This is the website address (URL) that borrowers will enter to access your website. (For example, http://www.A1loans.com.) Click Edit Domains to change the domain of your website.

Page Redirects

A redirect automatically sends site visitors from the URL they entered in their browser to a different page in a WebCenter site. Set up a redirect to drive visitors to a specific WebCenter site or page (such as the Home page of a loan officer's site) or to more easily measure the success of a promotion or marketing campaign.

For example, let's say your company has a website with the domain www.a1loans.com. Joe is a loan officer at A1 Loans and he has his own web page at www.a1loans.com/joe. A1 Loans then decides to purchase a Corporate WebCenter site, along with a number of individual Loan Officer sites for each loan officer. While setting up the Corporate site, the administrator makes sure to point www.a1loans.com's domain to the Ellie Mae web server. As a result, when a visitor types www.a1loans.com in their browser, they will be sent to the company's new WebCenter site instead of their old website. However, when they type www.a1loans.com/joe in their browser, they receive a "Page Not Found" error. This is no longer a valid URL since Joe's old page is not part of the WebCenter.

To fix this problem, you would set up a redirect to transfer visitors from www.a1loans.com/joe to Joe's new Loan Officer site at www.a1joe.com/home. With the redirect in place, when visitors type www.a1loans.com/joe in their browser, they'll be taken to Joe's new WebCenter site. This way, borrowers don't have to learn a new URL and the link printed on Joe's business cards is still valid.

You can also use redirects to improve the effectiveness of a promotion or marketing campaign. For example, let's say you are running a promotion and you want to drive potential borrowers to the "How to Get a Loan" page in your WebCenter site. You distribute flyers that read "Go to www.a1joe.com/specials to learn about our special loan rates and a chance to win a new iPhone." You could then set up a redirect that sends visitors directly to the "How to Get a Loan Page" when they type www.a1joe.com/specials in their browser. To measure the success of the promotion, you could go to Site Statistics page and view the number of hits and page views www.a1joe.com/specials received.

Click Edit Page Redirects to modify or set up a redirect.

ClosedEdit Domains

  1. Enter your site's domain (or URL) in the text box.

Note: Enter the site's domain only (for example, www.a1loans.com). Do not include a specific page or location (for example, www.a1loans.com/garyjones). To target or drive visitors to a specific site page, use the Redirects section of the Domain Management page.

  1. Click Add Another Domain to add an additional domain for your site, and then repeat step 1.
  2. To add a subdomain, enter a subdomain name in the designated text box.
  1. When finished, click Save & Publish.

You can choose not to enter a domain or subdomain here. If you have completed the WebCenter Setup Wizard but do not enter a domain, Ellie Mae assigns a domain to your site for you. The site is "live" and available to the public on the Internet. All status online messages from Encompass will be sent to your site, as will any documents or messages sent from your clients. The domain assigned to your site will look similar to this: 1234567891.Brokersite.com.

When you do enter a domain here, there are additional steps you must complete in order for your site to be "live" and available to view on the Internet. These steps are:

  1. Your domain service provider must set up your domain record so that the domain name points to the WebCenter web server.
  2. You must enter your domain address on the WebCenter's Edit Domains page.

The preferred method for setting up your domain record so that the domain name points to the WebCenter web server is to create a CNAME record that points to website.elliemae.com. However, some domain service providers do not allow the creation of a CNAME record. If you do not have a CNAME, as a named contact for your company, please visit the Encompass Resource Center to "Submit a case" specifying the following options:

A Client Care representative will contact you to provide the guidance necessary to update your WebCenter domain.

For more information, contact your domain name service provider.

ClosedConfigure the Domain Name Records with a CNAME Record (Preferred Method)

  1. Contact your domain name service provider or log in to the account that they have provided to edit the DNS record for your domain.
  2. Create a CNAME record and configure it to point to website.elliemae.com.

ClosedExample 1 - Sample Steps

Here are the steps to create a CNAME using a domain service provider. Depending on the domain service provider you are using, the steps you need to follow may differ.

To Access the Zone File Editor:

  1. Log in to your Account Manager on your domain service provider's website.
  2. Next to Domains, click Launch.
  3. Do one of the following:
  • From the Tools menu, select DNS Manager, and then click Edit Zone for the domain name you want to update.
  • Click the domain name you want to update, and, in the DNS Manager section, click Launch.

To Add a CNAME Record:

  1. Go to the Zone File Editor for the domain name you want to update.
  2. Click Add New Record. The Add DNS Record window displays.
  3. From the Record type list, select CNAME (Alias).
  4. Complete the following fields:
  • Enter an Alias Name – Enter the subdomain name for the alias assignment: www
  • Points to Host Name – Enter the host name you want the alias to point to: website.elliemae.com
  • TTL – Select how long the server should cache the information: ½ Hour
  1. Click OK.
  2. Click Save Zone File, and then click OK. The new CNAME record displays in the CNAME (Alias) section.

 

ClosedExample 2 - Sample Steps

Here are the steps to create a CNAME using a domain service provider. Depending on the domain service provider you are using, the steps you need to follow may differ.

  1. Log in to Account Manager on your domain service provider's website.
  2. Within Account Manager, use the drop-down list under My Domain Names to select the domain you’d like to manage, and then click the Go button.
  3. In the green box, select Change Where Domain Points.
  4. Select Advanced DNS.
  5. Click the Continue button.
  6. If the domain name was not previously pointed to Network Solutions nameservers (DNS) you will receive a page with message regarding this change. To continue, click the Move Nameservers to Network Solutions button.
  7. In the Host Alias (CNAME Records) section, click Edit CNAME Records.
  8. To add CNAME records:
  • Enter the alias name in the Alias text box: www

Note: If a 'www' entry already exists, do not create a new one. Edit the existing entry.

  • Select the Other Host radio button, and then enter website.elliemae.com in the text box.
  • Click Continue.
  1. Review the list of requested changes.
  2. Click Continue.

ClosedConfigure the Domain Address in Encompass WebCenter Administration

  1. On the Domain Management page, click Edit Domains.
  2. Type the address of your domain.
  3. Click Save & Publish to save your changes.

ClosedEdit Page Redirects - Loan Officer Sites

You can use redirects to improve the effectiveness of a promotion or marketing campaign. For example, let's say you are running a promotion and you want to drive potential borrowers to the "How to Get a Loan" page in your WebCenter site. You distribute flyers that read "Go to www.a1joe.com/specials to learn about our special loan rates and a chance to win a new iPhone." You could then set up a redirect that sends visitors directly to the "How to Get a Loan Page" when they type www.a1joe.com/specials in their browser. To measure the success of the promotion, you could go to Site Statistics page and view the number of hits and page views www.a1joe.com/specials received.

ClosedCreate a Redirect

  1. Specify where site visitors will be redirected from by typing a page name or other value in the text box provided.

Note: The page name (or other value) entered in the text box cannot be identical to the name of an existing WebCenter page. For example, if you have a page in your site with the page name about me.html, you cannot enter about me in the text box.

  1. Select a page from the Target Page drop-down list to redirect visitors to. This is the page visitors will see when they type the complete URL specified in the Redirect From text box.
  2. Click Remove to remove a redirect.
  3. Click Add Another Redirect to create a new redirect.
  4. Click Save & Publish to save your changes.

ClosedEdit Page Redirects - Branch and Corporate Sites

You can use redirects to drive visitors to a specific WebCenter site or page, such as the home page of a loan officer's site. For example, let's say your company has a website with the domain www.a1loans.com. Joe is a loan officer at A1 Loans and he has his own Web page at www.a1loans.com/joe. A1 loans then decides to purchase a Corporate WebCenter site, along with a number of individual Loan Officer sites for each loan officer. While setting up the Corporate site, the administrator makes sure to point www.a1loans.com's domain to the Ellie Mae web server. As a result, when a visitor types www.a1loans.com in their browser, they will be sent to the company's new WebCenter site instead of their old website. However, when they type www.a1loans.com/joe in their browser, they receive a "Page Not Found" error. This is no longer a valid URL since Joe's old page is not part of the WebCenter.

To fix this problem, you would set up a redirect to transfer visitors from www.a1loans.com/joe to Joe's new Loan Officer site at www.a1joe.com/home. With the redirect in place, when visitors type www.a1loans.com/joe in their browser, they'll be taken to Joe's new WebCenter site.

ClosedCreate a Redirect

  1. Specify where site visitors will be redirected from by typing a page name or other value in the text box provided.

Note: The page name (or other value) entered in the text box cannot be identical to the name of an existing WebCenter page. For example, if you have a page in your site with the page name about me.html, you cannot enter about me in the text box.

  1. Select a site domain from the Target Site drop-down list. This is the site you are redirecting visitors to.
  2. Select a page from the Target Page drop-down list. This is the page visitors will see when they type the complete URL specified in the Redirect From text box.
  3. Click Remove to remove a redirect.
  4. Click Add Another Redirect to create a new redirect.
  5. Click Save & Publish to save your changes.

ClosedCreate a Redirect to an Employee Bio page

  1. Specify where site visitors will be redirected from by typing a page name or other value in the text box provided.

Note: The page name (or other value) entered in the text box cannot be identical to the name of an existing WebCenter page. For example, if you have a page in your site with the page name about me.html, you cannot enter about me in the text box.

  1. Select a site domain from the Target Site drop-down list. This is the site you are redirecting visitors to.
  2. Select an Employee Bio page from the Target Page drop-down list.
  1. Click Remove to remove a redirect.
  2. Click Add Another Redirect to create a new redirect.
  3. Click Save & Publish to save your changes.