CUNY Academic Commons

brooklynwaterfront.org appears to be a third-party site that loads https://bwrc.commons.gc.cuny.edu/paper-brooklyn/ in a frame. Browsers have security policies about not allowing cross-domain links within frames, which is why you get an error message when clicking the download link in http://brooklynwaterfront.org/paper-brooklyn/.

When users want to have a custom domain for their Commons site, we typically ask them to go through the process of setting up a mapped domain. https://dev.commons.gc.cuny.edu/hosting-partner-handbook/, https://help.commons.gc.cuny.edu/domain-mapping-commons/ This would avoid any of the problems caused by the clever but ultimately limited iframe technique used by brooklynwaterfront.org.

However, because of the current situation at GC IT, I'm not certain whether we can easily make requests for new domains to be mapped to the Commons. Matt, do you know the situation? Before inviting the owner of brooklynwaterfront.org to go through the process, we want to be sure that it can actually be done on our end.

Marilyn, if you want to report back to the user in the meantime, you can let them know that the broken functionality is due to the fact that brooklynwaterfront.org is embedding a Commons site in a frame, and that our team is investigating next steps.

I'll pass this along.

I've worked on this site before, and I thought it was domain mapped. So I'm a little perplexed as to why http://brooklynwaterfront.org/ doesn't just resolve to https://bwrc.commons.gc.cuny.edu/.

Boone, GC IT is also now very overwhelmed with the email migration for faculty and staff that just rolled out today. So if it's not already mapped, I agree with you that we aren't likely to get a speedy response from them

I've worked on this site before, and I thought it was domain mapped. So I'm a little perplexed as to why http://brooklynwaterfront.org/ doesn't just resolve to https://bwrc.commons.gc.cuny.edu/.

It appears that it's always been this way. #14850, #5319

I see. OK, standing by.

He has written again:

"This is a follow-up to your previous request #8218 "Website Issue"
Hi Marilyn,
We're still having the same issues, any word on how to resolve? Thanks!
Best,
James"

I replied "The solution we used to have - mapping your domain - is no longer available to us thanks to some changes in the IT personnel. All I can think to do is add an explanatory note that directs users to the commons site."

Is there anything else we can suggest?

The one other suggestion I have is: Replace the 'frame' application at brooklynwaterfront.org with a simple redirect to bwrc.commons.gc.cuny.edu. You'd still be able to navigate to the .org domain, but it would always resolve to the Commons URL. Then, people would browse the site on the Commons URL. If and when we're able to support new custom mappings, we can then migrate to that solution.

Thanks. He asks: "To be clear, in doing this, if you went to "brooklynwaterfront.org" - it would simply redirect to the functional Commons site?"

Yes, that's the situation I'm proposing. Optional, of course, but it would essentially do away with the problem of not being able to view certain types of content.

He replies "We think that this redirection is a good option, is there a way to test that it will work before making the change?

We would like to resolve this ASAP, so if you are able to do this, let me know so I can test it out. Thanks!"

I'm confused - he seems to think we would be making this change. Wouldn't it be done on his end?

That's correct, Marilyn. We don't control the domain brooklynwaterfront.org. That domain currently points to the following IP https://dnschecker.org/reverse-dns.php?query=216.250.120.220, which is owned by perfora.net, which I think is associated with 1and1.com. A member of the BWRC team, at some point in the past, must have purchased space on that host, set up the frame, and pointed the domain to the frame.

The BWRC team will, at a minimum, have to figure out who controls the domain name, ie who the registrar is. Some registrars have domain-forwarding built into their DNS tools, in which case everything could be done at the registrar level, by forwarding brooklynwaterfront.org to bwrc.commons.gc.cuny.edu. If the registrar doesn't offer domain forwarding, then the team will instead have to figure out how to access the perfora.net/1and1.com site, and replace the frame implementation with a simple redirect. Something like:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; url='https://bwrc.commons.gc.cuny.edu'" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <p>Please follow <a href="https://bwrc.commons.gc.cuny.edu">this link</a>.</p>
  </body>
</html>

The "0" part of the refresh tag should mean an immediate redirect.