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The following FAQs provide general information on domain
names and the domain name registration and transfer processes.
Selecting a Domain Name
Registering Domain Names
Transferring Existing Domain Names
What is a "domain name"?
A domain name is the label used to identify your Web site, for
example WitnessToday.org. It usually describes some aspect of your site and
is easier for your visitors to remember than your Web address, also known
as your IP address.
In order for visitors to access your site on the Internet, you must select
a unique domain name and register it with an accredited domain name registrar.
Witness Today will register your domain name for you if you want us to.
What kinds of things should I consider when choosing a domain name?
Because your domain name will represent you, you should
make sure that the name you choose is memorable and descriptive.
Your domain name can be up to 67 characters long and can include any combination of letters, numbers and dashes (although it cannot start or end with a dash). A domain name must end with a domain extension, such as .net, .com,
or .org. The letters “www” at the beginning of a name are not considered part of the domain name.
What kind of domain name extensions can I use? Can I use international domains such as .tr, .ch, .ca, .us or .au?
You can use common domain extensions such as .com, .net
and .org as well as international domain extensions such as .tr, .ch,
.us and .au. Witness Today can provide hosting for any of these domain types.
Witness Today can register domains with .com, .net, .org, .info and .biz extensions.
Witness Today cannot, however, register international domains.
I picked out a domain name. How can I find out if it is available?
You can quickly check to see if a domain name is available
doing a domain lookup at
http://www.internic.net/whois.html. If the domain name is already registered, you may want to try variations
of the name.
Remember, the domain extension is part of the domain name—mydomain.com is not the same as mydomain.net.
Someone else is already using the domain name I want. Is there anything I can do?
Once a domain name is registered, it belongs to the person or company that registered it. If you are really interested in having a domain name that is already registered to someone else, you can contact the owner of the domain name to find out if the name is for sale or you can wait for the registration to expire.
Can I have more than one domain name? Can they both point to the same Web site?
You can have as many domain names as you like. You can have each domain name point to a different site, or you can have multiple domain names point to the same Web site (but not to different pages within the same Web site). Many companies register several domain names and have them all point to the same central Web site. This is known as a “domain alias.”
Registering multiple domain names for the same site brings the largest draw to your site. When picking multiple domain names—or aliases—for the same site, consider variations of your name such as common misspellings as well as both singular and plural versions of the name.
I have decided on my domain name. What is the process for registering it?
Once you have decided on a domain name and have checked
that it is available, you will need to register it. Witness Today can
register your domain name for you. See
How do I register my domain name.
I want to reserve my name, but
I'm not ready to post my site yet. What are my options?
You have a number of different options. If you think
you may want to get your site up and running in the near future, you can
go ahead and register your name and sign up for a hosting plan now. You
will receive a parking page that all your site's visitors will see until
you are ready to publish your site.
Even if you think it may be a while before you are ready to publish your site, you
may want to reserve your name "just in case". This is sometimes
referred to as "parking" your domain.
How do I register my domain name?
Once you have decided on a domain name and have checked
that it is available, Witness Today can register your new domain name
for you. Just let us know what name you want registered. The domain name propagation
process normally requires 24 to 48 hours.
Of course, you can always take care of the registration process yourself
by working directly with an another domain name registrar and then transferring
the domain name to Witness Today. See I
already have a registered domain name. How do I transfer it to Witness
Today?
What
is a Whois Record? Can I keep this information private?
ICANN, the international governing body for domain names,
requires every Registrar to maintain a publicly accessible "WHOIS"
database displaying all contact information for all domain names registered.
All names registered by Witness Today will include only Witness
Today's contact information.
How do I register a non-US domain name?
Although Witness Today welcomes international domains, we do not register international domains. Although the process may vary slightly from country to country, there are several basic steps you should take to register an international domain name.
First, check with the appropriate domain registration agency to verify that your new domain name is available.
Second, check to see whether the domain registration agency for your country requires an account to be created on
Witness Today's servers before they will proceed with the domain registration procedure.
If so, submit your order to Witness Today before requesting the registration
of your domain name. We will then email to you important information about
your account, including your Web address (IP address) and information
about nameservers and their Internet addresses. This is the information
typically required by your country's domain registration agency to register
the domain.
You should wait 48 to 72 hours between receipt of your order confirmation from
Witness Today and submission of your domain registration request in order to allow time for the nameserver information to propagate.
What does it cost to register my domain name?
There is no cost for registering your domain. As long as your site
lifts up the Body of Christ and brings glory to God, Witness Today will
take care of the costs.
How long will it take to register my new domain name?
Witness Today registers your domain name immediately after receiving
your request. The propagation process
normally requires 24 to 48 hours.
I already have a registered domain name. How do I transfer it to
Witness Today?
If you want to transfer your registration from your current registrar
to Witness Today, you can request that Witness Today transfer your
domain name for you.
If you are leaving your registration with your current registrar but
want to move your domain to Witness Today and use our Web hosting services,
you will need to change your current nameserver information to Witness
Today's
information. You can log on to your registrar's systems and transfer
the domain name yourself using the user name and password they assigned
you.
Log in to your registrar's site using the user name and password they
provided you and change your current nameserver information to Witness
Today’s
nameserver information. You can find your Witness Today nameserver
information by emailing us.
I don’t remember who my registrar is. What can I do?
The WhoIs information should tell
you who the registrar is.
Do you have contact information for the most common registrars?
Here are some links to domain manager interfaces for some registrars:
My registrar requires that I go online to transfer my domain. What information do I need to give them to successfully transfer my domain name to
Witness Today?
You will need to provide your current registrar with
Witness Today’s
nameserver information. You can find your Witness Today nameserver
information by emailing us.
How long will it take to transfer my domain name to
Witness Today?
Typically the transfer should be completed within about
48 to 72 hours. You may want to check with your registrar to see exactly
how long it should take to complete the transfer.
How long will it take for my domain to be active?
There may be a brief delay between the time your domain name registration or transfer is completed and the time when your domain is active and can be accessed by everyone over the Internet. This is due to the propagation process.
What is propagation?
When visitors type your domain name into their Web browsers, their
request is referred to a nameserver that indicates the physical location
(the IP address) of your domain on the Internet. When your site location
changes to a new IP address, or when you deploy a new site with a new
domain name, nameservers around the world must be notified of the change.
This process of notification is referred to as propagation.
Propagation typically takes 24 to 48 hours. During this time, if you
are transferring your domain, some nameservers will still refer to your
site’s old location while nameservers that have already been notified
of the change will refer to the new location. As a result, visitors
accessing your site may be directed to either the old or new location,
depending upon which nameserver they connect to.
If some visitors are still being directed to your old site location
after 72 hours have elapsed, you should contact your previous Internet
Presence Provider and request that they update their DNS and delete
your domain from their servers. Once this has been done, and this change
has been completely propagated, the transfer to your new location will
be complete.
If your site is new, your site may not be recognized by all nameservers
until the propagation period has completed.
How can I avoid downtime while I wait for the new information to propagate throughout the Internet?
While waiting for the new nameserver information to
propagate throughout the Internet, we recommend maintaining your site at
your current host to avoid down time for your site.
My site is not showing up when I type in my domain name. What’s wrong?
If you have recently set up your account, this probably means that your domain name has not been propagated to all of the possible domain nameservers.
If after 72 hours
the domain name still does not resolve correctly, contact Witness Today support
at hostmaster@witnesstoday.org.
You should also check that you have given your home page a valid file
name (such as index.htm or default.htm) and that you uploaded the files
to the correct directory. For more information on these types of problems,
see the Publishing Your Web Site
FAQ.
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Currently hosting 1542 sites in 66 countries.
