A domain name is the Internet equivalent of your home / postal address. To be sure of receiving your letters, you must have a unique postal address, or your mail might not arrive at its intended destination. It is much the same on the Internet. You will want people to find your Website, so they will need to know your unique Internet address or Domain Name.
In fact, the true Internet address is a series of numbers in the form 207.46.232.182, but we humans do not find numbers like this very easy to remember, so each number is associated with a Domain name – Mungles.com for example.
Domain names are made up of two parts - a name and an extension, separated by a period (dot). There are many extensions, also known as Top Level Domains (TLDs), including generic extensions - .com, .net, .org, etc – and those associated with a specific country - .uk, .us, etc. Each country will have its own set of rules and procedures regarding who can acquire a domain name with its country extension. These rules are governed by a Naming Authority or Internet Registry.
A business would typically choose a domain name containing its company name or the name of a product it sells. If you are not a business, but want to create a personal Website, you might choose a domain name containing your family name and / or a reference to the subject area of the intended Website - a personal interest or hobby perhaps.
An important point to consider is that new Websites are created every day and the availability of Domain Names is reducing all the time. If you intend to create a Website at some point in the future you should obtain a domain name now rather than putting it off. If you own a Domain name you do not need to have a Website. It is possible to acquire domain names and hang on to them until you need them.
This might seem like an odd question. Surely you would need only one domain for each Website you create?
It is true that you need only one domain name to host a Website, and for most Website owners this is sufficient. However, you might want to 'protect' a domain name by preventing others from acquiring similar names, in which case you would acquire the same name with different extensions, and / or any modified versions of the same name. For example:
- mydomainname.com
- mydomainname.co.uk
- mydomainname.net
- my-domain-name.com
etc...
You cannot purchase a domain name outright, but must register it for period of time. The minimum period is 1 year (for .uk domains 2 years), and the maximum period 10 years (for .uk domains 2 years). When the registration period expires, you must re-register the domain name within a specified period of time if you want to keep it. If you don't re-register the domain name, it will be placed on the open market again for others to register. Domain registration is therefore an ongoing process.
The cost of registration varies according to the TLD, but it is not overly expensive - US prices, UK Prices (new window). Prices are quoted for registration, renewal and transfer.
There are no other costs involved when registering a domain name with us. We do not charge for Privacy or Domain Theft Protection.
You have two options: either transfer the domain name to Mungles or modify the name-servers with your current registrar.
- Transfer the domain name to Mungles.
It is not necessary to transfer a domain from another registrar to use the domain with Mungles. You can simply update the name-servers, as described below. However, you might transfer the domain if it is financially beneficial to do so. For example, the renewals might be cheaper and /or there are more services included for the price.
It is possible to transfer a domain name to another registrar to take advantage of cheaper prices, but leave a Website where it is. This would mean that the Website would remain accessible throughout, as the name-servers would not need to be changed (see below). However, to create a Mungles Website, the name-servers must be updated. Whether you also transfer the domain is a personal choice.
Although there is a charge for transferring a domain, we will add a further year to your registration when the transfer takes place at no additional cost, so you will not lose out on any existing registration period. For example, if you transfer with 4 months still to run on the registration, you will not be required to re-register your domain name for a further 16 months. (see .eu caveat below).
To transfer a domain (non .uk):
- Obtain the EPP Auth Code (also referred to as the 'Transfer Secret' or 'Transfer Auth Code') from your existing registrar. Most registrars have a control panel allowing users to login and manage their domain(s). Within this control panel you will find a 'Transfer Away' option (or similar) from where you can unlock your domain and obtain the EPP code. If your registrar does not have this option you will have to request that your registrar supplies you with the EPP Code for your domain.
- Visit http://domains.mungles.com/ (new window)
- From the menu, select Domain Transfer > Transfer Domain
- Enter the domain name and select the extension (TLD) from the drop-down-list.
- Enter the EPP Code in the box provided.
- Click Transfer.
To transfer a .uk domain:
For transferring .uk domains the process is slightly different. There is no charge for transferring a .uk domain name. Instead of obtaining or requesting an EPP Auth Code, as with other domain types, with .uk domains you need to change what is known as the IPS Tag with the current registrar.
- Change the IPS TAG for your domain. Most registrars have a control panel allowing users to login and manage their domain(s). Within this control panel you will find a 'Transfer Away' option (or similar) where you can enter the IPS Tag for your .uk domain. If your registrar does not have this option you will have to request that your registrar assigns the IPS Tag to your .uk domain for you. The IPS Tag to use is PDR-IN. You will then receive from your existing registrar a 'security key'.
- Visit http://domains.mungles.com/ (new window)
- From the menu, select Domain Transfer > Transfer Domain
- Enter the domain name and select a .uk extension (TLD) from the drop-down-list (.co.uk, .org.uk, etc).
- Enter the security key in the box provided.
- Click Transfer.
There are three ICANN & Registry regulations that you should be aware of with domain transfers:
- The transfer of domain names that have been registered or previously transferred within the last 60 days is prohibited. If this is the case, you will need to wait 60 days from the date of registration or previous transfer before applying for a transfer.
- If you transfer a domain registration within 45 days of the previous expiry date, a further year cannot be added to the registration when it is transferred. If you do transfer within this period, you will lose most of the registration fee paid to your existing Registrar.
- With .eu domains, when a transfer takes place, a new 12 month registration term will be started for the domain name. The new term will run from the date of the transfer to the same date the following year.
- Modify the domain name-servers with your current registrar.
A domain name-server (DNS) is a server (software) that resides on a computer and converts your domain name into an IP address and tells Web browsers where to find your website and files (pages, images, etc). Changing the name-servers for a domain tells the servers/computers on the Internet that the location of your files has changed, i.e. you have physically moved them from one Web server to another (of course, you might not actually have any files yet, but the principle is the same).
Because of the immense size of the Internet and the number of machines involved, it can take some time for your domain to become accessible around the world. All the domain name servers must update their records to reflect the moved domain. This process is known as 'DNS propagation'. You should allow 24hrs for the change to show up in a Whois search.
If you only change the name-servers rather than transfer your domain, your domain names remain with your existing registrar. You continue to use their management tools and control panel, and they should remind you when your registration is due to expire. You will continue to pay your registration fees to your existing registrar. There are no additional fees involved.
Most registrars have a control panel allowing users to login and manage their domain(s). Within this control panel you will find a 'Manage Nameservers' option (or similar) where you can enter the new name-servers for your domain. You might have fields for two name-servers or perhaps more. Don't worry if you do not have as many fields as there are name-servers listed below - as long as you are able to enter at least two, starting with ns1... and ns2... Enter these name-servers in place of the existing name-servers (existing name-servers must be removed).
ns1.dotnetpanels.com
ns2.dotnetpanels.com
ns3.dotnetpanels.com
ns4.dotnetpanels.com
ns5.dotnetpanels.com
If your registrar does not have this option you will have to contact the registrar and request that the name-servers are updated for you.
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