FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)
General FAQs
1. What is the difference between a gTLD and a ccTLD?
A gTLD is a generic Top Level Domain. These are top level domains that are NOT affiliated with any country and can be registered by anyone for a fee.
ccTLDs are Country Code Top Level Domains.These are the two character top level domain names affiliated with various countries around the world. Many ccTLDs are closed or restricted, requiring proof of residency in the country in question. Others are not restricted, and can be purchased much like gTLDs.
2. What is the difference between www.xxxxxx.com and xxxxxx.com?
xxxxxx.com is the name of the domain itself; www.xxxxxx.com is the actual address of your domain on the Internet. When your domain is hosted by I-dentity (parent company of
Your Domain Registrar), visitors can reach your website by typing either xxxxxx.com or www.xxxxxx.com. If you use another web hosting company, you will need to check to see if
they support this.
3. What if my desired name is the same as a trademarked name?
Generally, if you've registered the name in good faith, it's not a name belonging to an internationally known company, and you can show that you have a legitimate reason to use that name then you are likely to be able to keep that name. That may not be the case if it can be shown that you purchased the name for the express purpose of reselling it to a company with a legitimate claim to the name. Please see the
uniform dispute resolution policy for details.
4. Who does a registered name actually belong to, the end user or the
registration service provider?
Domain names are not truly owned -- they're leased out on a first-come, first-served basis, and remain with the initial lessee until either a) the lessee does not renew the name, or b) a business with a trademark of the same name demonstrates a greater claim to the name than the lessee can demonstrate. The question is better phrased as "who can control the domain name".
With Your Domain Registrar, the answer is the domain's Administrative Contact. This is usually specified by the registrant during the registration process; however, as each registration service provider may have slightly different policies in this matter, please consult individual registration service provider's websites for full details.
5. What is the difference between a Registry, Registrar, and Registrant?
Registry: The 'Registry' is the backend that registrar's
have shared access to. Each registrar writes new names to a central
registry database, from which the authoritative root (essentially,
a table of all domain names on the Internet) is built.
Registrar: A "Registrar" (or "Domain Name Registrar") is
an organization like Your Domain Registrar that has control
over the granting of domains within certain TLDs (top level domains,
like the generic .com/.org/.net or country-specific .ca/.us/.mx
etc.).
Registrant: A registrant is the person or company who purchases
a domain name. For example, Betty F (Registrant) registers
the name bettyf.com through Your Domain Registrar (Registrar) who in turn
writes the name to the central database (Registry).
6. How do I change my domain name?
Unfortunately, once a domain is registered, it cannot be undone. Our system is automated. When completing our
form, please type your domain name carefully.
7. Can you explain the purpose of the different domain contacts?
When you do a WHOIS lookup on a domain registered with Your Domain Registrar, there
are 4 sections: Registrant, Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, and Billing Contact.
Here is a sample output of a WHOIS lookup:
Registrant:
Identity Website Hosting, Inc.
PO Box 6885
Lancaster, CA 93539-6885
US
Domain name: I-DENTITY.COM
Administrative Contact:
Department, Sales admin@i-dentity.com
PO Box 6885
Lancaster, CA 93539-6885
US
+1.6617228280
Technical Contact:
Department, Sales admin@i-dentity.com
PO Box 6885
Lancaster, CA 93539-6885
US
+1.6617228280
Registration Service Provider:
Your Domain Registrar ($10.50 Domains!), sales@yourdomainregistrar.com
661-722-8280
http://www.YourDomainRegistrar.com
This company may be contacted for domain usernames/passwords,
DNS/Nameserver changes, and general domain support questions. Call
toll-free at 1-877-903-2475, extension 703, or visit their website at
http://www.YourDomainRegistrar.com or http://www.YDR.biz
Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
Record last updated on 01-Jan-2008.
Record expires on 06-Apr-2008.
Record created on 07-Apr-1998.
Registrar Domain Name Help Center:
http://domainhelp.tucows.com
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.MDNSSERVICE.COM
NS2.MDNSSERVICE.COM
NS3.MDNSSERVICE.COM
Registrant (a.k.a. Organization): This is the Company name and mailing
address of the "owner" of the domain (domains are really leased, not owned,
and only a lawyer can interpret the legal ramifications of "ownership" in this
context for your legal jurisdiction).
Administrative Contact: This is the name and e-mail address of the person
that manages the domain.
Technical Contact: This is the name and e-mail address of the person
that is the technical contact for the domain. This can be someone at your organization or
someone from your website hosting company.
Billing Contact (does not display in WHOIS database): This is the name and e-mail address of the person who
is responsible for payment of renewals. This person will be contacted by e-mail, 90-days, 60-days,
30-days, and 5-days prior to the domain's expiration date. Domains are not automatically renewed.
Renewal FAQs
1. What happens when my domain (that I registered through Your Domain Registrar) is due for renewal?
The Administrative and Billing Contacts for the domain are notified by e-mail on 4 separate occasions.
The first e-mail is sent 90 days prior to the expiration date, then 60 days, 30 days, and lastly, 5 days prior to the expiration date.
These are the only notifications you will receive. It is very important that you make sure your contact e-mail addresses are correct.
BEWARE:
It has been brought to our attention that a company calling itself "Domain Registry of Canada", "Domain Registry of America", or "Liberty Names" is targeting Your Domain Registrar customers to renew their domains. They obtained our customers' contact information through the publicly accessible WHOIS database, and are sending renewal notices through regular mail in an envelope and on stationary intentionally designed to appear to be an official notice.
You absolutely SHOULD NOT send any money to these companies in order to renew your domain, as Your Domain Registrar is your domain name provider.
If you have already sent money, we suggest contacting your bank or credit card company regarding your options of having payment stopped or reversed.
There are a number of ways to combat the practice:
• Enable WHOIS Privacy: This is the absolute best protection, stopping the scam dead in its tracks as there is no way for the scammer to contact you.
• Enable Domain Locking: A locked domain cannot be transferred, again, preventing the scam from working.
Both WHOIS Privacy and Domain Locking can be enabled through our Manage Domain Control Panel.
To find out when your domain will expire or to update any of your contact information,
login to our
Manage Domain Control Panel.
You can renew your domain at any time by using our online Renew Domain interface.
2. Does the pricing change when it's time to renew my domain name?
Absolutely NOT! The renewal fees are the same as the original registration fee. Our prices NEVER go up!
3. I registered my domain through Your Domain Registrar for 1 year. I now want to pay for additional years.
How can I do that?
You can renew your registration at any time by using our online
Renew Domain interface.
4. I just realized my domain name expired. I tried to renew it, but got an error. When I looked in the WHOIS database to see when it expired, it shows that it is in
'redemption'. What does that mean?
The Redemption Period is applicable for domain names that have expired and is in addition to the grace period that follows the domain's expiry date.
Domain names that are not renewed within 40 days (Grace Period) of their expiry date can now be restored during the Redemption Period that starts 45 days following the expiry date and ends 75 days following the expiry date.
The Redemption Period differs from the Grace Period in several important aspects:
1. Domain names must be 'redeemed' before they are renewed. The redemption process established by the registry is a separate, manual procedure that must be completed before the redeemed domain can be renewed.
2. During the Redemption Period, the
Verisign Global Registry WHOIS will show the domain status as "REDEMPTIONPERIOD". The Registry charges a substantial Redemption Fee to redeem a domain name. The redemption fee is in addition to the standard renewal fee.
3. The Redemption Period provides a final opportunity for registrants to Renew a domain they did not intend to let expire. However, the process is costly, both in fees and in effort.
If your domain name is in redemption period, please
contact us for instructions on getting it out of redemption.
NOTE: Not all domains have Redemption Grace Periods. The Redemption Grace Period only applies to the following TLDs: .biz, .com, .info, .name, .net and .org.
Transfer FAQs
1. What does "Transfer Domain" mean?
"Transfer Domain" refers to the change of domain name registrars.
By changing your domain's registrar to Your Domain Registrar, you benefit from our low annual renewal fee — a savings of up to 57% over our competitors!
Unlike our competitors, Your Domain Registrar has no hidden fees; all free services listed are ALWAYS FREE (no a la carte). Renewal prices are the same as the new domain registration prices -- no surprises.
2. Does it cost anything to transfer my domain?
There is no fee to transfer a domain. You will be charged the normal one year registration fee.
This one year is added on top of whatever time is remaining on the domain. For example, if you registered foo.org with Network Solutions, and it has 2 years remaining on the registration, then after a successful transfer, your domain will have 3 years left on its registration.
3. What is the procedure to transfer a domain?
Click on the 'TRANSFER' link on our website and follow the onscreen instructions.
NOTE: To successfully transfer a domain, the Administrative Contact must respond to two e-mails — one from us and one from
the current registrar. If the Administrative Contact does not respond to both e-mails within 5 days, the request will be declined.
The total process can take up to 10 days. You will be notified by e-mail as to whether the transfer was successful or unsuccessful. If the transfer was
unsuccessful, you will receive a full refund.
4. Can transferring a domain name cause any downtime?
No! When you make a request to transfer a domain, the template is similar to a registration. You set the Registrant, Admin, and Billing Contacts.
The name server entries will never change during a transfer. This is to prevent domain resolution from breaking.
5. In what instances would a transfer request fail?
1. The Administrative Contact e-mail address for the domain, as displayed in the WHOIS database, is invalid.
2. The domain is not yet 60 days old.
3. The existing registrar for the domain has the name locked for either:
a. nonpayment or
b. at the end user's request (requesting party needs to contact existing registrar to unlock domain)
4. Domain name is in dispute.
5. The domain name has expired.
Management (DNS) FAQs
1. What is a name server?
A name server identifies where your domain is hosted. It is necessary to update the name server or zone record
information whenever you move your site from one host to another.
2. Can I use any hosting company for my domain name?
Yes! It's just a matter of updating your nameservers for your domain name. You can do this anytime from our Manage Domain Control Panel. Your hosting company
will provide you with the nameserver information.
3. I registered my domain name; why can't I find my web page?
After registering your domain, you will still need a place to host it. To forward your domain namem to your existing website (even a free hosted one),
login to our Manage Domain Control Panel and click on 'Zone Record Management'.
Our parent company, Identity Website Hosting, Inc., offers a variety of web hosting and site builder plans.
4. How do I move one of my domains to a different profile that I have with Your Domain Registrar?
Login to the Manage Domain Control Panel for the domain name you want to move.
Click on 'Manage Profile'. Next, click on 'Change Ownership of Domain'. Type the username and password for the other profile; select
'Move to existing profile'; type a domain name in the other profile; and finally, click on 'Change Owner'. Logout.
The change is immediate. You can verify that it was done by logging back into the Control Panel.
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