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- What is a Domain Name?
A domain name is the common name you type into a web browser to access a particular website (i.e., google.com, hasweb.com, etc.). Most people don't realize that WWW is not part of a domain name. It is actually a special kind of subdomain and should be left off when someone from Hasweb asks you for your domain name. For example:
You probably think of your domain name as:
http://www.mycooldomainname.com/
but it isn't. The domain name is:
mycooldomainname.com
Note that you can typically save yourself a lot of pointless typing by getting used to leaving off the WWW, since it typically goes to the same location either way (by default).
- Do I need a domain name?
The short answer is YES! If you don't purchase a domain name then the only way you can access your domain is via the difficult to remember server IP address (a string of 4 numbers separated by dots) Example:
http://111.111.111.1...name/index.html
In addition, several features of our cPanel hosting packages will not work properly unless you have a domain name. With domain names being cheap these days (as little as $5 a year for some specials), there is no excuse for you to not pick one up to use with your hosting account.
Don't cut corners here. You will be glad you have the domain name later!
- Where can I buy a domain name?
You can buy a domain name from any accredited registrar.
For your convenience, Hasweb's parent company sells domain names through:
http://hostdimedomains.com/
The standard cost is $15.99 per year for a domain name through us.
You can use whatever registrar you want, some examples:
http://networksolutions.com/
http://namezero.com/
http://dotster.com/
http://godaddy.com/
- Is the cost of a domain name included with Hasweb hosting?
NO and that is a good thing, actually! Why? With most hosting companies that offer to register a domain name for you when you buy hosting from them, YOU DON'T OWN YOUR DOMAIN NAME! This means that if you decide to leave that hosting company, you can't take your domain name with you because your old hosting company owns YOUR domain name! There may be nothing you can do about getting your domain name back, either, since you never really owned it!
Hundreds of our Hasweb/Hostdime customers have fallen for such a scam before they came to us for hosting! Don't let yourself be one of them!
At Hasweb, we allow you to register your domain name through any valid registrar that you want to. This way, you retain complete control over your domain name at all times.
As you've seen in the last FAQ question, we do offer a domain name registration service:
http://hostdimedomains.com/
for the convenience of our clients. If you register through HostdimeDomains.com, you maintain control over your domain name. Do whatever you like with your domain name. You don't even need to host the domain itself with us to register the domain at HostDimeDomains.com.
- Why should I register my domain through HostdimeDomains.com?
Feel free to use any registrar you want to, but there are a few good reasons to buy your domain through us, especially if you are going to have a hosting account with us:
-- If you have problems with your domain name itself, you can contact the same people you contact when you have problems with your hosting account. Send a PM to Aric and he can probably help you out with your domain name problems, for example.
-- We allow free domain name redirection... so you can send secondomain.com to domain.com for FREE.
-- We will beat the normal non-sale prices for ONE YEAR of any valid registrar. Contact Aric (aric@hostdime.com) if you find a better deal elsewhere. In the e-mail, please tell Aric your domain name, the HostdimeDomains.com account username (sign up for one for free before e-mail if need be), the best single-year (not multi-year) deal you've found (price in US dollars, please) and where we can find that offer. We will beat the price so long as the offer is legitimate, standard pricing.
- Can I transfer my domain name from another registrar to HostdimeDomains.com?
SURE! However, to do this you will need:
--Control of the domain name in question. This means that you need to be the CONTACT listed in the WHOIS information for the domain name, or at the very least, your agreement with the registrar must allow you to be able to transfer the domain to another registrar. Contact your current registrar if you have any questions.
--The e-mail address your registrar has for you must be up-to-date. If not, the transfer request will probably fail. You may also need a special code from your existing registrar. Please check with your current registrar before attempting the transfer!
- How do I transfer my domain name to HostdimeDomains.com?
First, sign up for a free account at HostdimeDomains.com, then make sure your contact info is up to date (see the question above), then initiate the transfer through your account at HostdimeDomains.com.
- How long does a domain name transfer take?
Regardless of where you transfer your domain name to, the process is roughly the same:
--Your new registrar sends a note to your old registrar asking to transfer the domain name.
--Your registrar contacts you via e-mail and asks if it is OK to transfer the domain.
--You say yes.
--Your old registrar confirms your response, then contacts your new registrar saying everything is OK.
--The transfer begins.
--When the transfer is finished you will be notified by e-mail.
This whole process takes at least 4-6 days if everything goes well. If your old registrar does not respond, or doesn't have current contact info for you or you don't respond, then the transfer will fail.
- What recourse do I have if the transfer fails? Can I get my money back?
Regardless of what registrar you use, the answer is going to be NO to that last question. Once you pay for a transfer, money can not be refunded, because non-refundable fees have already been paid by your registrar to start the transfer process. However, every good registrar we have seen will permit you to attempt the same transfer as many times as you need until it goes through properly (as we do at HostdimeDomains.com).
Of course if the transfer fails, you should contact your old registrar to make sure they have current contact information for you because most of the time this is what holds up a transfer.
When you are ready, contact your NEW registrar and ask them to retry the transfer.
- The transfer has completed successfully, now what?
Your domain name will probably still be pointing to your OLD hosting company's server and not Hasweb's. You need to change the nameservers to the two that we gave you in your welcome e-mail when you signed up for hosting with Hasweb. Typically, the nameserver addresses look something like this:
dns11.hasweb.com
dns12.hasweb.com
But please check the e-mail we sent you when you signed up. If you haven't signed up with us yet, now would be a great time to do so!
- How do I change my nameservers to point to the two you gave me in my hosting welcome e-mail message?
Every registrar has a different process and we can't help you specifically with this, contact your registrar. At HostdimeDomains.com the process looks like this:
--Log into your account at HostdimeDomains.com.
--Select the domain you want to edit the nameservers for.
--Click Change Nameservers.
--Make sure the drop down list at the top of the screen is set to CUSTOM NAMESERVERS.
--Remove any nameservers listed in any of the fields on this page.
--Put in the two nameservers from your hosting welcome message that we sent you. Put one nameserver name per field and put the one listed first in the e-mail first when you enter it into this page.
--Save these changes
--You can (and should) now LOCK your domain name if you like. This will stop anyone from falsely attempting to transfer the domain if you don't want it transferred. To do this, check the "domain locked" item on the main domain page and save the changes.
That's it! You're done!
- If I buy a domain through HostdimeDomains.com and I forget to renew my domain, what will happen?
We will send you an e-mail several days before your domain is about to expire. If need be, be sure to log in and renew your domain. If you forget to do so by the deadline, your domain will stop working. For a period of time (about 2-4 weeks) your domain will remain registered but inactive with us. During this time you can simply log into your hostdimedomain.com account and renew your domain. After the hold period expires, we release the domain so it becomes available for anyone else to register. Please note that these days, 100% of all expired domains are picked up immediately by domain prospectors who may charge you many thousands of dollars if you want to get your domain back from them, so please avoid this and make sure all of your domains are renewed on time. There is nothing Hostdime or Hasweb can do about this if your domain expires and is picked up by someone else!
- How long does it take after I make the changes to the nameservers for my domain name before it works with my hosting account with Hasweb?
Right now, domain name propagation takes up to a full 72 hours (3 days) from the time you make the nameserver changes noted in the question above.
THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HASWEB or HOSTDIMEDOMAINS. This is simply the way the Internet works right now.
Why?
Domain name changes of any kind don't get changed instantly everwhere... the information needs to travel out over the Internet and be picked up by ALL the other DNS servers. This takes 1 - 3 days. Think of it like ripples in a cyber pond... some nameservers will take longer to be affected by these "ripples" of new information than others.
- My domain name has propagated but my friend still can't see my website, my e-mail doesn't work correctly, I can't log into FTP, etc.
Has it been a FULL three days (72 hours) since you made the nameserver changes to your domain name? If it has NOT been a full three days, then the problem is almost 99.95% certain to be caused by incomplete domain name propagation. PATIENCE IS KEY! Please wait 3 full days (plus one hour) before you start panicking and complaining, because it probably has nothing to do with us or our servers.
Yes, really!
- I want to change my domain name on my hosting plan what must I do?
If the account is out of the 30 day grace period we charge a small fee to change domain name, if it is within the 30-day grace period we can change it for you no charge Also, we will change the domain name under certain situations for free if its a hardship case. One thing is for certain, though, if you change your domain every week, we're going to charge you. 
I hope this has helped you.
Regards,
Aric
This post has been edited by Aric: 15 April 2008 - 02:53 PM
Reason for edit: Revised, added items
