Registering a domain name

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Lizard1977

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#85439 19-Jun-2011 17:51

My wife writes a personal blog (via Blogger) connected with her job, and has been talking about getting her own domain name to make it more personalised. She also ties in her Facebook, Twitter and Shelfari accounts, and uses LinkedIn, so I think she may want to use the domain as springboard for a full website at a later date, if it seems appropriate. It's just an information spot, there's no plan to monetise her "brand."

I've never registered a domain name, so I'm not sure how to go about it. I think the actual process of registering the name is pretty straightforward, but I'm not sure about things like hosting (necessary? recommended?) or whether there is a better place to register the domain? I'm sure there are plenty of people who have done this before - anyone care to share some advice or tips on how to do this properly?

Cheers

Lizard

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#482864 19-Jun-2011 18:38

Hey mate, I have about 40 or 50 domains registered with godaddy and never have any problems. Its very easy just type the one you want in the home screen select it and buy, there is an option to add hosting to your domain before you checkout. Highly recommended.

Otherwise i also use 1st Domains, which is a NZ company and they are pretty good also, ive never really had any issues apart from a couple if less than helpful support people. But they are usually cheaper and havnt had any downtime.

Stay away from Crazy Domains, real pain in the a** and tones of down time.

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Lizard1977

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#482868 19-Jun-2011 18:53

Thanks for that. GoDaddy was the one we were looking at.

What sort of cost does hosting add? Is hosting even necessary? Or is it sufficient to register a domain, and then set the blog to redirect from the new URL? For all my tech knowledge, the inner workings of the internet is something I haven't fathomed yet...

freitasm

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#482869 19-Jun-2011 18:56

You don't need to host with them. You can use their DNS management tool to point the domain name to the correct IP addresses, which are supplied by your current provider.

michaelmurfy

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#482871 19-Jun-2011 19:09

I recommend grabbing a domain name from http://metaname.co.nz + finding a hosting service that offers php/mysql hosting like http://247hosting.co.nz/ (who are now under new management, and seem to be quite fast)

I have used Metaname myself for quite some time and have found the level of support to be spot on + the control panel very easy to use.

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#482872 19-Jun-2011 19:11

michaelmurfy: + finding a hosting service that offers php/mysql hosting

We don't actually know if they need this for their hosting - perhaps not, seeing they are using Blogger.

Lizard1977

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#482892 19-Jun-2011 20:05

What would hosting be needed for? I guess Blogger host the content at the moment, but are there any advantages to having separate hosting? It's a simple blog, and not much else at this stage, but knowing my wife, it may well grow into something more at a later stage...

michaelmurfy

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#482920 19-Jun-2011 20:55

Lizard1977: What would hosting be needed for? I guess Blogger host the content at the moment, but are there any advantages to having separate hosting? It's a simple blog, and not much else at this stage, but knowing my wife, it may well grow into something more at a later stage...

Ah right, well all you need then is a Domain Name - sorry, was thinking you were wanting hosting too. Just grab one from a Domain Provider like Metaname + follow this to get things all up and running.

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josephhinvest

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#482927 19-Jun-2011 21:13

I bought my domains from Hosting Direct (service has been fine, nothing bad to report).
Just configure the DNS settings to point to blogger hosted blog, is fairly straightforward.
I am using Google Apps for email address, so I have email addresses like me@mydomain.com and contact@mydomain.com etc. Using Apps is easy and just like gmail.

Cheers,
Joseph

Ragnor

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#482942 19-Jun-2011 22:01

These are all separate services but are often bundled together:

Domain Registration:
Basically the right to use a particular a domain name

DNS Hosting:
Server(s) that tell everybody else what servers your domain name and sub domains point to eg: www.yourdomain.com, mail.yourdomain.com, blog.yourdomain.com etc

Web Hosting:
Server(s) that host and serve your website files.

Email Hosting
Server(s) that send and receive email for your domain name.

Most companies when you register a domain with will give you dns hosting for free, that may be all you need at this point.

However if you want to move away from blogger or receive email for the domain you need to look at web or email hosting.

CdTDroiD

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#482945 19-Jun-2011 22:04

I think standard hosting is only like $6 a month or something from godaddy, highly recommended. Really nice and easy to use interface and domain control etc. Plus one click instals

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michaelmurfy

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#482949 19-Jun-2011 22:08

jofizz: I bought my domains from Hosting Direct (service has been fine, nothing bad to report).
Just configure the DNS settings to point to blogger hosted blog, is fairly straightforward.
I am using Google Apps for email address, so I have email addresses like me@mydomain.com and contact@mydomain.com etc. Using Apps is easy and just like gmail.

Cheers,
Joseph

Whatever provider you use, make sure you can actually generate a UDAI - We all remember Jethost right? One of my mates had massive issues with trying to get a UDAI to transfer out since most of their services were b0rked + they also escaped providing phone support.

Hosting Direct "resell" from another Domain Provider who just recently was under attack by a group of Hackers, or Script Kiddies - If they go down for any reason and you want to get out, there's the UDAI issues.

Going with a actual "Domain Provider" ensures you are free to change at any time, plus your domain is less likely to get "lost" like quite a few supplied by Jethost who were also a "Domain Reseller" and not a real Domain Host. Going with a Domain Reseller like Hosting Direct is just asking for trouble in the future.

I have no issue with paying that bit extra to have my Domain Hosted by somebody that actually knows what they are doing, who can actually supply support I trust. Like anything, you get what you pay for.

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#482964 19-Jun-2011 22:51

michaelmurfy: I recommend grabbing a domain name from http://metaname.co.nz + finding a hosting service that offers php/mysql hosting like http://247hosting.co.nz/ (who are now under new management, and seem to be quite fast)

I have used Metaname myself for quite some time and have found the level of support to be spot on + the control panel very easy to use.

Metaname looks interesting and up with the play.. ipv6 and macron support, but their website has almost no information about the company. Is it just a one man band or what? I'm not expecting a 50 man team and a 100 year old business or anything but I'd like to know it's more than one guy in case you know he/she gets hit by a bus sort of thing.

jbard

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#482965 19-Jun-2011 22:57

jofizz: I bought my domains from Hosting Direct (service has been fine, nothing bad to report).
Just configure the DNS settings to point to blogger hosted blog, is fairly straightforward.
I am using Google Apps for email address, so I have email addresses like me@mydomain.com and contact@mydomain.com etc. Using Apps is easy and just like gmail.

Cheers,
Joseph

Really wouldn't use Hosting Direct. I have 20 domains with them which i bought before i knew their customer service was lacking.

Anyway wanted to changed the DNS servers over 2 weeks ago and their site was down, lodged a support ticket and 1 week later had heard nothing.

Called them up and they said they would change it for me. A week after that and it still hadn't been changed i was sick of it so went to request UDAI - that part of their site was broken as well.

Called them up and they said their whole system was down and they couldn't supply it.

I am calling on monday and if they can;t supply it them i am lodging a formal complaint.

Basically their customer support is a joke, but even worse than poor service they act as if they don't even want to help or have you as a customer.

robbyp

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#482968 19-Jun-2011 23:01

@ jbard:

Domain registrars/resellers are required to provide the UDAI in a timely manner. If you need help getting it go to www.dnc.org.nz .

jbard

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#482970 19-Jun-2011 23:07

robbyp: @ jbard:

Domain registrars/resellers are required to provide the UDAI in a timely manner. If you need help getting it go to www.dnc.org.nz .

I did want to avoid this but i will be doing so on monday if they fail to provide it then. Thanks for the help.

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