NameFAQs - Answers to common domain name questions

[RJ]

NameFAQs - http://www.namefaqs.com

I am compiling a list of frequently asked questions about domain names. The goal is to have a base of knowledge that will further help 'Newbies' become 'Name Pros'.

What kind of questions do you think would be fitting to include?

If you'd like to help further the effort, you can post or PM your Domain Related Questions and Answers.

As a little bonus, if your question makes it onto NameFAQs you'll get 25 NP$ out of it, and if you provide a question AND an answer to the question and we use it, you'll receive 75 NP$

 

[Dr.Pepper]

Question: How many country specific domains are their?

Answer: Their are 184 country specific domains.

100 are restricted and require a local presence

84 are unrestricted - anyone from anywhere can register them

http://www.verisign.com/products/idnames/wp/idnames1.html

 

[Sharpy]

What are all of the possible Domain status catagories:

Active
Registrar Lock
Registrar Hold
Redemption Period
Pending Delete

What does each mean?

Active: Domain enjoys good standing between its owner and the registrar of record.

Registrar Lock: Domain most likley enjoys good standing between its owner and the registrar of record. The domain owner has used the lock feature so that no transfer request can be completed unless the owner unlocks the domain

Registrar Hold: The domain has expired. The registrar is attempting to contact the owner to renew it. During this period, about 35-40 days after the listed expiery date, only the owner may renew the domain name at its regular renewal Rate. The Hold period can be calculated by looking at the expiered/on-hold domain and adding 35-40 days to the "Updadted" Date

Redemption period. Domain is expired and has gone through its Hold period without being renewed by its owner. During this period, 30 days, only the domain owner may renew the domain, however the cost is 10-30 times more than the regular renewal rate, depending on the registrar. Again the redemption period end date may be arrived at by adding 30 days to the "Updated" date.

Pending Delete. Domain is expired and has gone through its Hold period and the Redemption period without being renewed by its owner. During this period, 6 days, noone may renew the domain, this domain is now set to delete and will become available to the public/drop services. Again the Pending Delete period end date may be arrived at by adding 6 days to the "Updated" date.


-RJ- these dates/facts may be a little off but I think the inclusion of the satus info would be good. Just fix my explanations if they are off a bit.

 

[KingDon]

How do I choose a good name to register?

If you can find 5 people you strongly believe would have an interest in the name, then it's worth a shot. Know who your prospects are before you buy the domain name. The object is to buy something you can sell, not because it sounds nice. This is what separates the collectors from the sellers. Only buy what you think you can sell, and always go with reason over emotion when uncertain.

 

[SlashRoot.Com]

How do I protect my domain name from unauthorized updates or domain hijacking?

Lock it up! Most registratrs allow you to a put a "lock" on your domain. While a domain is in locked state, name server changes, doman transfers, ownership changes, etc. are disabled. Check with your domain registration services provider (rsp) or domain registrar for details.

SlashRoot
----------------------
SlashRoot.Com

 

[SlashRoot.Com]

What can I do if I’m already a victim of a fraudulant domain renewal/transfer scam?

There has been many cases of some companies sending out solicitations disguised as official looking renewal notices. If you were tricked into any such fraudulant solicitations, the first thing you should do is contact the payment authority. If you contact them promptly, any such domain transactions will not be processed if the company is not able to secure payment for the transaction. If you have already sent money, we suggest contacting your bank or credit card company immediately and request the payment be either stopped or reversed.

Contact the card company using the following contact numbers:
Visa Global Customer Assistance: 1-800-847-2911
Mastercard USA: 1-800-MC-ASSIST (1-800-622-7747)
Mastercard Canada: 1-800-307-7309
American Express: 1-800-528-4800
Diners Club USA: 800 2 DINERS (1-800-234-6377)
Diners Club Canada: 1 800 363 3333

 

[Jeff]

Q.) I received an inquiry from my Registrar regarding "Incorrect Whois Information" for my domain name. What does this mean, and more importantly, what do I do? It looks serious. :o

A.) Reply to this type of inquiry immediately! It concerns potentially missing or or inaccurate Administrative WhoIs details for your domain name at the Registrar. If it's not addressed and rectified within 15 calendar days from the date of the original notice, the Registrar may cancel your domain name registration. This is a disclaimer with each of the domain Registrar's at the time of registration.

 

[SlashRoot.Com]

How can I combat an incident of illegal solicitation for domain transfer/renewal, etc.?

Incidents of any illegal domain renewal/transfer related solicitation scams should always be reported to your current domain registration services provider. Additionally, the following resources can be used to help combat such scams:

In the United States:
* Report your incident at the United States Postal Inspection Service using their on-line complaints forms published on their website: http://www.usps.com

* You can also file a complete report to your local Postmaster or mail to:
INSPECTION SERVICE SUPPORT GROUP
222 S RIVERSIDE PLAZA STE 1250
CHICAGO IL 60606-6100

In Canada:
* Businesses and consumers who believe they have been misled should contact the Competition Bureau toll free at 1-800-348-5358 or visit their web site: www.competition.ic.gc.ca

* Report your incident using the Competition Bureau On-line Complaints form at: http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/ct01260e.html

* Review the latest information at the The RCMP website: http://www.rcmp.ca/scams/bfraud.htm

SlashRoot
---------------------
SlashRoot.Com

 

[Dr.Pepper]

I just registered a new domain name. How long until I can use it?

New domains and changes to domains may take up to 48 hours to become effective.

What is URL forwarding?

If you have another website you can make your users to go to that webpage when they type in www.yourdomain.com.

What is SLD?

The SLD is the second level domain.


What is Email forwarding?

You can setup [email protected] e-mail for your domain. When someone sends an e-mail to that e-mail address, you can automatically redirect it to your main e-mail address.

What is A Address record ?

Using this record allows you to associate a host with an IP address.

What is C Name record?

C Name record type is used to associate a host name with another host

What is MXE (Mail Easy) record?

MXE (Mail Easy) Using a mail record allows you to specify the address of your mail server.

How do I add privacy to my existing domains?

What is Dynamic DNS and how can it be used?

What is the difference between POP3 mailbox and Email Forwarding for my domain name?

 

[zaros64]

Don't understand NP$s. A guy PM me and said do you do NP$s? I'm new to selling domains.

NP$ = NameBucks, you have 2.00 at the moment...
anyway they are the namepros currency, you get NP$ when you make posts... look around the site and you will find more info

Cheers

 

[Mobi Cheap]

Do most domainers purchase a reseller account for the purpose of obtaining the registration discounts for themselves?

I wouldn't say most, but many do.

Especially with registrars like Enom, which are set up to be primarily wholesale operations.

The idea is that everyone wins this way: the registrar doesn't have to waste man hours explaining the same thing to too many people, and the registrants don't have to pay for that.

 

[Mobi Cheap]

Thanks Mobi Cheap, that was basically what I thought too, but needed second opinions, and it's why I've hesitated to register a lot of good .net names.

I found a list of acronyms on a different thread that was helpful, but it was missing some of the common acronyms used when you view your parking stats at your parking company.

I particularly am interested in knowing not only the meaning or RPM, CTR and RPC, not just the literal meaning but what they actually mean to the parking company. For instance I see my RPM at $430 for one name then the CTR at 200%, RPC $0.22 and Revenue at $1.72. So I'm having a little difficulty making sense of this data.

Your input is much appreciated.

Chas

Sure Chas.

I've create a worked example from the numbers you reported (please ignore the minor rounding errors):

(reported) RPM $430
(reported) CTR 200%
(reported) RPC $0.22
(reported) Revenue $1.72
(calculated) Clicks (inferred) 7.8
(calculated) Visitors (inferred) 3.9
(calculated) RPM Check (recalculated) 440

To find out how much you understand the definitions you discovered yourself, tell me first to what extent the above makes sense to you and we'll take it from there.

 

[allroundguy]

In some English dictionaries, yes, but ...

Question: Are all the Dictionary words gone?

Answer: Some 97 percent of the words in Webster's dictionary have been registered.

Hmmm,
The domain industry is world-wide, and a number of people don't care if what they want is in any dictionary, or just a random mix of characters.
Lots of web documents, published on an unpronounceable url, attract all sorts of traffic like magnets just to redirect people somewhere else.
Ever heard of msnbc.com - tdnam.com - tucows.com (is that really 2cows?).
There are no crappy domains - It's all in between the ears.
Sellers must try to figure out what potential buyers could be interested in.
Type in Google: "lorem ipsum" and see how successful dummy text can be.
The domain industry will boom again when domainers start again thinking about what potential customers may need or just want, instead of trying to set value standards based upon third party opinions.
Different people have usually different opinions and may very well read in totally different dictionaries.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

Question: How long can a domain name be?

Answer: In the fall of 1999 a domain could only be 23 Characters. But the rules have changed and you can now register a domain with up to 63 characters.

 

[RJ]

Thanks pepper, though we alread had that one. :D
http://www.namefaqs.com/question/qstId/16.html

Any other ideas? Check the FAQs that we already posted on the site.

Sending 20 NP$ anyway for being the first reply. Thanks!

 

[Dr.Pepper]

Question: What characters can I use in a domain?

Answer: The letters of the alphabet numberic characters and the hyphen.

I didnt see this one on your site^

 

[RJ]

Originally posted by Dr.Pepper
Question: What characters can I use in a domain?

Answer: The letters of the alphabet numberic characters and the hyphen.

I didnt see this one on your site^

Same FAQ as I posted before. You're on the right track though, exactly the kinds of questions I'm looking for.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

Originally posted by -RJ-
Same FAQ as I posted before. You're on the right track though, exactly the kinds of questions I'm looking for.

:notme:

 

[Dr.Pepper]

Question: Can a domain name include curse words?

Answer: The question still has not been answered in court. So it is up to the registers policy.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

Question: What are the new titles going to be?

Answer: No one knows for sure but many people have suggested the follwoing titles:

.god -For a religious site
.firm -For businesses and firms
.web - For online activities
.arts - For artistic and cultural sites
.rec -For entertainment sites
.xxx For adult sites
.sex For adult sites

 

[Dr.Pepper]

Question: Is it true that every single all a's domain names have been registered? (example a.com aaaa.com aaaaaaaaa.com

Answer: Yes every domain from 1 to 63 characters long that have all a's have been registered.


Question: Was ais the people who regged all these?

 

[webmasterinfo]

Very nice site!!
Thx alot!

 

[RJ]

Originally posted by Sharpy
What are all of the possible Domain status catagories:

Active
Registrar Lock
Registrar Hold
Redemption Period
Pending Delete

What does each mean?

Thanks Sharpy! Now in the FAQs

http://www.namefaqs.com/question/qstId/26.html

NP$ on the way

 

[RJ]

Originally posted by Dr.Pepper
Question: How many country specific domains are their?

Answer: Their are 184 country specific domains.

100 are restricted and require a local presence

84 are unrestricted - anyone from anywhere can register them

Good one, thanx Dr. P! Just added
http://www.namefaqs.com/question/qstId/27.html

 

[Dr.Pepper]

Originally posted by -RJ-
Good one, thanx Dr. P! Just added
http://www.namefaqs.com/question/qstId/27.html

Thanks for the NP$ !