How to Register a Domain Name

[Blue]

I thought it might be nice for those who're thinking of registering a domain name but haven't done so before or are inexperienced to have a mini-tutorial and some pointers:

****

Tutorial:

One registers a domain name with a Domain Name Registrar by supplying specific information and paying a fee, usually in increments of a year (or years), which depending upon the Registrar's TOS entitles one to either outright ownership of or "leasing" of the specified domain name for the specified time.

Along with the domain name Registrant, there are three Contacts you will need to identify and supply information for.

In addition, you will need to supply Domain Name Server (DNS) information.

When one's contract with a Registrar expires one needs to renew the contract.

****

Definitions:

Registry - A registry is responsible for delegating Internet addresses such as Internet Protocol (IP) numbers and domain names, and keeping a record of those addresses and the information associated with their delegation. Generally speaking, you will have no interaction with any registry.

Registrar - The organization through which one registers a domain name. This organization interfaces between a registry and one who wishes to register a domain name.

Registrant - The individual or organization that registers a specific domain name with a domain name Registrar. This individual or organization holds the right to use that specific domain name for a specified period of time. The Registrant is the "legal entity" bound by the terms of the Service Agreement with the Registrar. Ensure that your own information is used here.

----

Contact (aka "role" and "handle") - There are usually three of these (sometimes two and sometimes four), and they simply define to the Registrar whom is in charge of what, and where they can be contacted.

You can put yourself as all three Contacts, if you wish.

These Contacts are:

Administrative Contact - Who administers the account. This is the most important contact to define correctly as it has the greatest amount of control (ALL control). The administrative contact has rights to change any information related to the domain name account including - Ownership, Transfer of Ownership, Contact information, Domain Name Servers (DNS), etc. Ensure that your own info is used here.

Technical Contact - Who administers the technical aspects related to the domain name. This contact has limited authorities including renewal of the domain name, changing the DNS, and changing the technical contact info. This contact does NOT have authority to transfer ownership of the domain name. Usually this contact is reserved for whomever will be modifying the DNS info and has webmastering abilities concerning your site.

Billing Contact - Who will be handling the billing for the domain name. Invoices for registration and re-registration/renewal will be sent to this contact. This contact has no authority to make any changes.

(Zone Contact - Now deprecated.)

----

Domain Name System - A distributed database of information that is used to translate domain names, which are easy for humans to remember and use, into Internet Protocol (IP) numbers, which are what computers need to find each other on the Internet. People working on computers around the globe maintain their specific portion of this database, and the data held in each portion of the database is made available to all computers and users on the Internet. The DNS comprises computers, data files, software, and people working together. (Domain name system is sometimes also called DNS).

*Example -> IP = 123.123.123.123 -> translated to domain name -> www.yoursite.com

----

Domain Name Server (DNS) - The actual machine(s) in the domain name systems that store and translate IP's to web addresses (domain names). These are also referred to as "Host Name Servers" or just "Name Servers".

Your host will supply you with the Domain Name Server addresses that you need to supply to your Registrar.

These Domain Name Servers might look like:

ns1.hostserver.com
ns2.hostserver.com
ns3.hostserver.com
ns4.hostserver.com

----

Propogation - The length of time it takes for ALL domain name servers/systems to update their databases so that your IP address correctly resolves to your domain name (web address). This usually can take up to 72 hours.

Whois - A searchable database maintained by many Registrars, which contains information about networks, networking organizations, domain names, and the contacts associated with them. You can use Whois to look up information on any domain name or IP address.

****

So, in essence, you pick a domain name, register it with a registrar by supplying contact and DNS info, make your payment, wait for it to propogate, enjoy the fruits of your labor, and don't forget to renew before it expires.


****

Pointers:

Ensure that you are listed as the "Administrative" contact, using a current viable email address, as this will allow you to retain complete control over your domain name.

Keep records (in a file cabinet?) of all information you supply!!!

Ensure that you know when your registration will expire and renew in plenty of time beforehand.

Watch out for "scams" in which some third party attempts to pass themselves off as one's registrar in order to wrest control of the domain name from you, usually by sending an "official" looking email, snailmail, or fax, stating that your domain name is about to expire and asking you to "renew" your domain name.

****

A personal recommendation: Stay away from Netsol/Verisign. They are a behemoth and there are many horror stories across the net about the domain name nightmares they cause.

I give positive recommendations to GoDaddy. Cheap and Easy!

****

I hope you find this helpful! :cheers:

[skarraman]

well done!

Wish I could have had reference to something like this a couple of years ago. It's easy to get lost in all the jargon.

Dave

[ihelpyou]

Thanks Blue! Nice post! :thumb:

[amica_webmaster]

Ok, I'm trying to understand what this means to me. I see that my organization's domain has an administrative contact, not me, but another member who founded the website, and a technical contact at the hosting company. Does the administrative contact have the power to move the domain to another host? What if that person were to leave the organization - how would we maintain control of the domain?

[Mertu]

On a de-facto level, he (or she) who controls the e-mail address of the administrative contact, controls the domain.

This is because the automated systems the registrars use will (or at least should) send a confirmation request e-mail to the admin contact address. Without a confirmation, any requested changes will not be approved.

Now, if you have a legal claim to the domain (such as it being the name of your business), but the admin contact is the personal e-mail of a former employee, that can be changed--but there will be some, variable level of messiness, ranging from contacting the registrar through phone/e-mail to getting lawyers involved.

[rockynate]

I can attest to this difficulty. One of my web clients had to fight for over 6 months to regain control of her domain. The ISP she originally set up her hosting and domain registration with registered the domain in his own name.

He either didn't want to lose her hosting business, or had a vendetta against her, or was just plain incompetent. But he would never approve any transfer requests, even when saying on the phone that he would.

She finally had to call the lawyers in... and he immediately approved the transfer.

[Webmaster T]

Originally posted by Mertu
On a de-facto level, he (or she) who controls the e-mail address of the administrative contact, controls the domain.Yes but if you are still using just the email address as authentication you are asking for big trouble that is how SEX.com got robbed of their domain. Don't count on this for authentication change to the password system it is much more secure.

[Mertu]

Except that (in the name of convenience and automation) for some you just click on a "Forgot my password" link and the password gets e-mailed to the admin contact. :)

[River Derwent]

Originally posted by Mertu
On a de-facto level, he (or she) who controls the e-mail address of the administrative contact, controls the domain.

This is because the automated systems the registrars use will (or at least should) send a confirmation request e-mail to the admin contact address. Without a confirmation, any requested changes will not be approved.


Hello, I'm new here. This looks like an amazing place, full of knowledgeable people. I hope to be able to refresh my knowledge of Search engine activities, after a couple of years of putting it into the "too hard" basket.
However, after a client of mine was badly ripped off, I've decided it's time to get up to date again.

In regard to domain names, what Blue and others have said is great, and I have a couple of additional items to contribute.

Your domain can be grabbed from under your nose quite easily, IF YOUR ADMIN CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS IS NOT UP TO DATE!

Nowadays, domain registrars will generally approve the transfer of a domain to another registrar WITHOUT approval from the domain owner.

A fraudster can apply at another registrar with the contact details of the genuine owner, and apply to transfer the domain.

The current registrar will send the genuine admin contact an email, and if they don't get a negative response the domain will normally be transferred to the new registrar where the new "owner" can do whatever they like with the nameserver settings.

So: to protect your domain name, it is essential to do these 2 things:

1. Apply to have your domain name "locked" by the registrar, so that it CANNOT be moved away without your express permission.

2. Make sure your registrar contact address is current.
A recent project by a domain registrar (sorry, can't dig up the source) showed that around 40% of domain admin contacts were invalid or unreachable. Scary!

Amica_webmaster asked:
"Does the administrative contact have the power to move the domain to another host? What if that person were to leave the organization - how would we maintain control of the domain?"

Nowadays, most domain registrars provide an admin control panel where domain owners can log in and make changes.
To move the domain to another host, all you would have to do is log in and make a change to the nameservers.

Actually, the holder of this password is more powerful than the admin contact, because the admin contact address can be changed by the password holder.

Regards,

Eric G.

[Steve Sardell]

Hi Blue,

Have been meaning to thank you for your post. Thank you! One question: do you rec a private listing when reg a domain?

[Blue]

Hi Steve!

You're welcome.

Excuse me for being dense (been a long day) but I don't quite understand your question. Could you spell it out a little more fully for me?

Particularly, did you mean "receive", and what did you mean by private listing? Are you referring to keeping the normal whois domain registration details private?

[Steve Sardell]

Originally posted by Blue
Hi Steve!

You're welcome.

Excuse me for being dense (been a long day) but I don't quite understand your question. Could you spell it out a little more fully for me?

Particularly, did you mean "receive", and what did you mean by private listing? Are you referring to keeping the normal whois domain registration details private?

Hi Blue,

Thank you for such a quick response. Yes, I am wondering about your recommendation if is advantageous to keep the whois details private.

[Blue]

OK. I can see through my self-induced fog now...

I don't know if I'm best suited to give you a recommendation on this.

However, I will give you my opinion based on my own thoughts.

I don't do it - keep my whois details private, that is.

My reasoning is that I feel as a business owner I should make any contact details about my business viewable to whomsoever may need to view them. I have nothing to hide, and I also feel that it inspires trust in those I may have business dealings with.

If someone has troubles with me, I want them to be able to find me by any means they can so that I may address the issue.

I actually don't like the idea of any business being allowed to hide their whois details. Why should they need to?

I think hiding whois info, in cases where it's not warranted, just allows the unscroupulous and unethical to take advantage of the rest of us, and the system.

In certain circumstances, I would allow that it should by all means be necessary - for instance, in the case where there has been a stalker or other predatory entity.

But for normal everyday business I don't think it should be allowed.

I'm sure others have opposing opinions, but that's mine and I'm sticking to it.

:cheers:

[Steve Sardell]

Hi Blue,

Thanks muchly. I echo your thoughts and have not seen a need to keep it private. In fact, until I had visited Godaddy, I did not know it was possible.

Thanks again for such a quick reply. Folks like you really make this a super forum.