Domain Name Administration:

Good Admin Practices

When you purchase your new domain name(s), you will be asked to create a user name and password to create your new account. Make sure that you write this information down and keep it in a safe place, as you are going to need to re-access this control panel to change a few things when you decide which company will host your new website. A host refers to the remote computer (server) where the files for your new webpage will be stored. More on this later. Important: I suggest that you make yourself the "admin of record" (the administrator) for any domain names you buy. As the administrator, you will be notified of any email correspondence send by the registrar, including notices of renewal. Also, should you decide to transfer the domain name to another registrar (Example: you originally bought it from joesdomains.com, but you now decided to transfer the domain name to godaddy.com), it will be necessary for the administrator of record (you) to respond to an email sent by godaddy.com to the administrator of record (you), verifying that they really wish to transfer the account. They do this to safeguard against unscrupulous competitors stealing customers from one another. If by chance, another person or company purchased your domain name for you, they may be listed (and their email address, not yours) as the administrator on the account. Ask this person or company to make you the administrator of the account. Otherwise, you may have trouble accessing the account and/or transferring it to another registrar if you have a "falling out" with this person or company and would like to do business somewhere else. This is a common problem, believe me...and often a real hassle. To continue, when log into your new domain name registrar (the place you bought it from) you should see a link that says manage domains. Click on it. You should see a place where you can change the names of the domain name servers (DNS). Your new website host will provide you with the names of their servers (usually 2). The DNS represents the web address of the host server where your webpage will be located. They will look something like this like: NS1.JOESHOSTING.COM NS2.JOESHOSTING.COM As I said there is usually always at least 2 address names that will need to be changed. Change them both when ready and save. Expect to wait anywhere from a few minutes to several days for these changes to take effect. Many registrars say 24-72 hours. In my experience, it takes less than a few hours, if all goes well. The last DNS info. that I changed at godaddy.com took just a few minutes. When the transfer is complete, you will be able to type in your domain address in the address bar in your favorite browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla are some examples) and your webpage, if ready, will come up for the whole world to see on the internet when they type in your website address. Example: http://www.pinellasprofessionals.com