Domain name (registrar) settings
mission-critical that this be correct info
This is critical information for you to review. Your domain name is registered (”rented,” if you want to think of it that way) through a “registrar.” These are accredited by ICANN so that they can do this service for a fee. However, there are a lot of bad apples in the group; frequent complaints involve either (a) high fees, (b) confusing web site interfaces, (c) no way to contact, (d) slow to respond to any questions, (e) all of the above.
I strongly recommend Dotster. They are not the cheapest (sometimes you get what you pay for), but they have a clear web site, a good frequent questions area, and are responsive whenever I’ve contacted them for personal assistance. They also have an excellent reminder service and that is worth everything to me. If your registration expires your domain name is gone and all the work on your site (search engine listings, advertisement, email, etc.) is down the drain. I also have heard good things about GoDaddy and would expect you’d be happy with them as a second choice.
Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty: the settings.
Name servers
If your site is hosted with CFDS, we will provide you a pair of name servers to enter at your domain registrar. It will look something like this:
ns1.cflinnxxxxx.com
ns2.cflinnxxxxx.com
If you are handling your own hosting, you’ll need to contact your host or look through their frequent questions area to determine which (typically 2 or 3) servers they want you to designate.
If you are using Dotster as your registrar, select your domain name and under “Name Servers” look for “Update Name Servers” and enter the information on that page. If you are using another registrar, search their help area to find where you should enter this information. Search for “name servers” or “domain name servers” or “DNS.”
Contact information
There are four categories of contact information for a domain. It is drop-dead important that this information be kept up to date and be correct. There are ICANN requirements that demand accuracy, but even more important from a practical point of view, you need to be able to be contacted for reminders and other time-sensitive domain name registration business.
- Owner. This is the person who is viewed by the registrar as having the right to make decisions about the domain name. This must be you.
- Administrative. This should be you as well.
- Billing. This should be you or can be a designee who handles your payments.
- Technical. This could be you, or it could be your web developer, or it could be your host.
Please note that all four items of contact information are public information (ie: they will come up in any WHOIS search on the Internet). It is strongly suggested that you not indicate your home address or home phone number or personal email address. Use a PO Box. Use an email address (perhaps a Googlemail, Yahoo, etc.) address that you regularly check but which can sift through the spam you will get from having a published email address online. Do note, though, that most registrars will offer to “shield” either all of your information or portions of it (ie: email) for a small yearly add-on fee. This is recommended.
If we initially helped you with your domain name purchase and later transferred the domain(s) to your own account at Dotster or another registrar, please update your Contact Information to reflect your own name, address, etc. CFDS cannot be responsible for updating your account information to which we have no access. Please do this at your first opportunity.
