Can you redirect a domain, or just domain.com/user?

[LABachlr]

Instead of forwarding a domain via godaddy, I'd like to have the domain point to my httpme server so I can have unlimited email accounts. Can I use the redirect function in cpanel to forward an entire domain, or can redirects only be used for ftp users of a domain (www.domain.com/user)?

If so, can I set it up like the masking feature in godaddy so I can still have meta tags so it will be indexed in google? If not, is there a way to have it indexed in google as the domain, and not as the true URL?

[jtara]

You are confusing several issues. Don't feel bad, though, because Godaddy and others try to over-simplify things and make it "easy", which just adds to the confusion.

There really is no such thing as "forwarding" a domain. DNS servers relate domain names to IP addresses. There's no "forwarding" function in any DNS server, though registrars often do some smoke and mirrors to make it appear so.

What is really happening is that the DNS is set-up to point the domain to an HTTP server that sends "redirects" back to the browser.

I don't recommend that anybody forward a domain on a permanent basis. It's just an extra step that slows down your users. It's unprofessional. Yet, it's widely done, either because people don't understand what is really happening, or because they insist on going with the very cheapest (or free) web hosting solutions, which will not allow you to have your own domain name.

HTTP redirects do nothing for FTP or mail.

To have change where your email is handled, you will have to change the MX records for your domain on your DNS servers. This is a special case for email - email uses special records called MX, rather than using the A records that point a domain to an IP address. So, mail doesn't necessarily/have to go to your web server.