FAQs

Currently we offer sales, support, and management for the following TLDs:

• .COM
• .NET
• .ORG
• .INFO
• .BIZ
• .ASIA
• .BE
• .BZ
• .CC
• .EU
• .IT
• .MOBI
• .TV
• .US

In the future, we plan to expand our offered portfolio to include other TLDs and ccTLDs.

To search for domains you need to click on the Home tab. This takes you to the home page. On this page, you can search for a match to a single word or combination of words, and you can search with or without the TLD extension. Domain names can be between 3 and 61 characters long. This does not include the TLD extension, such as .com.

Enter your search word in the text field, and click Find.

The search results indicate whether the domain name is available. If an exact match is found, you will see a large checkmark and the word Success! next to the name. The results page also lists other similar domain names and any Premium Domain Names that are available.

Premium Domains are domains with popular and interesting names that are offered for sale in the marketplace. Many great domain names are already taken, but in some cases, the owners are willing to sell them for a price. Because these names are highly desirable, the price is higher than the price for a regular domain name and is different for each domain name.

You search for Premium Domains in the same way that you would search for any domain. If there are Premium Domains that satisfy your search criteria (the words you use to search for domain names), you will see a separate section in the search results that displays the available Premium Domain names and their associated cost.

Avoid dashes if you plan on using radio ads or word of mouth to publicize your site.

Try different variations of the name to find more, and possibly better, suggestions.

If there's a domain name you'd like to register, the first thing to do is to check whether the name is available. If it is available, registering the name is a very simple procedure.

To register a domain

1. On the Home page, enter the name you want in the text field and click Find.
   The search results page tells you whether the name you want is available and displays some similar or related names that you might want to register.
2. If the name you want is available, simply click the checkbox beside the name. You can choose any of the domain names that are listed on the results page, and you can use the text field at the bottom of the page to search for additional names. The domain names that you choose are added to your shopping cart.
3. When you're ready to review your choices and check out, click Done.
4. On the next page, choose the registration term and any available options for each of the domains that you selected. You can register domains for up to 10 years.
   If you decide not to purchase a domain that is in your shopping cart, simply click REMOVE beside the domain name.
5. Click Done to confirm your choices.
6. If you are a new customer, complete the fields in the First-Time Customers section and click Register and Continue. All fields are mandatory except for Company and Phone Extension. Passwords can be 4 to 20 characters long and must contain at least one digit.
   Once you set up your account, a confirmation email is sent to the email address that you specify, and all future email correspondence will be sent to that email address.
7. Alternatively, if you have already registered as a customer, enter your username and password in the Returning Customers section and click Log in and Continue.
8. On the Summary page, review the items in your shopping cart, enter your credit card payment information, and then click Buy Now to complete the registration process. Your credit card statement will show DOMAIN EMAIL4165315293 416-531-5293 MS as the merchant for this purchase.

All residents of Canada and customers using a credit card issued by a Canadian bank must pay the Canadian Goods and Services Tax (GST), which is currently 5%.

Purchases of domains, email forwarding, and domain forwarding are all subject to Canadian GST.

For more information, you can go to the government of Canada web-site http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/gst-tps/menu-eng.html

We only accept Visa, MasterCard, and American Express cards. We do not accept cash, cheques, or money orders.

The Credit Card Security Code (also called CVV2) is a security measure that we require for all transactions. Since the security code number is printed on your credit card, but not stored anywhere, the only way to know the correct security code number for your credit card is to physically have possession of the card itself.

Finding your Credit Card Security Code

On MasterCard or Visa cards, you can find the security code number on the back of the card to the right of the account number. On American Express cards, the number is located on the front of the card above and to the right of the account number.

Note: If your European or Asian credit card does not have a card security code, enter 000 as your card security code.

When you complete the registration process, a receipt is sent to the email address that you provided. If you don't receive the email, check your spam folder. If you can't find your receipt, you can print a record of the transaction or have your receipt emailed to you again.

1. Log in to your account and click Manage.
2. At the top of the Domain Manager page, click View your Transaction History here.
3. Find the order for which you want a receipt, and click View Details.
4. On the Transaction Details page, either click PRINT to print the page, or click Re-send receipt to user@yourdomain.com to have a copy of the receipt sent to your email address.

Domains are released after the end of their term if they have not been renewed. Domains that expire at another registrar are subject to their own policies; however, there is usually a grace period, and then a period when the domain is "on hold"- and cannot be registered. You should allow at least 30 days from the time of expiration before you can try registering the domain.

To find out a registrar's specific release policy, you should contact the registrar that owns the name. You can find out who is the registrar for a specific name by entering the name into the central database search engine at http://www.internic.net/whois.html.

When you make a purchase using a credit card, we "authorize" funds on your credit card. This is not a charge, but a test to make sure you have the funds available for the purchase. After the authorization returns a result of sufficient funds, we register the domains. If the domain registration fails for any reason, the attempted charge is voided. The net result is that your account not charged. In most cases, the original authorization charge is removed from your credit card account within a few days. You can contact your credit provider to find out their specific authorization policy.

If you are having trouble registering a domain, we recommend that you contact technical support rather than resubmitting the order. If you continue to try to submit your order, you will incur a large number of authorizations, and consequently, you may run out of available credit or freeze your account funds. You may even cause your credit card company to suspect fraud, and they will put a hold on your card.

There are two ways that you can point your domain to your website: you can change the domain's DNS (Domain Name Server) information to that of your website or you can use our domain forwarding service.

When you register your domain, default DNS settings are used. Your web hosting provider can give you their primary and secondary DNS information and you can change the default settings to those of your web host. The DNS information usually looks something like this:

Primary Hostname- ns1.examplehostname.com
Primary IP- 123.45.67.8
Secondary Hostname- ns2.examplehostname.com
Secondary IP- 123.45.67.9

To change DNS information

1. Log in to your account and click Manage.
2. Beside the domain whose DNS you want to change, click Edit DNS.
3. Replace the existing information with the information provided by your web hosting company (you may omit the IP addresses, as they are optional).
4. Click Save. Your new DNS information is automatically entered, if it is verified to be valid.

Please allow 24 - 48 hours for your change to propagate throughout the Internet.

Domain forwarding is a service that is available with your domain registration. It allows you to redirect visitors to another website (that you own) when they type your domain name in the browser address field.

To set up domain forwarding

1. Log in to your account, and click Manage.
2. Beside the domain that you want to redirect, click Edit Domain Forwarding.
3. In the URL field, enter the address of the destination website.
   You can specify the URL, for example, http://www.yourcompany.com/yourexamplesite.html, or you can specify the IP address, for example, http://12.34.56.789.
4. Select Enabled from the drop-down box to implement domain forwarding.
5. If you do not want your website address to appear in the browser address field, select Masked from the drop-down list. When visitors type your domain name in the browser address field, they are sent to your website, but they still see your domain name in the address field. If you do want the website address (the destination) to be displayed in the address field, select Not masked.
6. Optionally, in the Title field, enter the text that you want to appear in the browser title bar.
7. Optionally, in the Description field, enter a short description of your website.
8. Optionally, in the Keywords field, enter some descriptive words that a visitor might use when searching for your website. Separate each word or phrase with a comma.
9. Click Save.

Please allow 24 to 48 hours for your change to propagate throughout the Internet.

To remove domain forwarding

1. Log in to your account, and click Manage.
2. Beside the domain whose domain forwarding you want to remove, click Edit Domain Forwarding.
3. In the URL field, enter the address of the destination website. You can specify the URL, for example, http://www.yourcompany.com/yourexamplesite.html, or you can specify the IP address, for example, http://12.34.56.789.
4. Select Enabled from the drop-down box to implement domain forwarding.

Email forwarding is a service that is available with your domain registration. It allows you to redirect email from an address associated with your domain to another email address.

To activate email forwarding

1. Log in to your account, and click Manage.
2. Beside the domain whose email you want to forward, click Edit Email Forwarding. Any existing email forwards are displayed at the top of the page.
3. In the Add email forward field, enter the email address whose email you want to forward.
4. In the Forwards to email field, enter the address to which you want the email sent.
5. Click Save.

Please allow 24-48 hours for your email to begin forwarding.

To remove email forwarding

1. Log in to your account, and click Manage.
2. Beside the domain whose email you want to forward, click Edit Email Forwarding. Any existing email forwards are displayed at the top of the page.
3. Beside the email forward that you want to remove, click remove.

Please allow 24-48 hours for email to stop forwarding to that address.

You can renew your domain for up to 10 years.

To renew your domain

1. Log in to your account, and click Manage.
2. Beside the domain name, click Renew.
   An order for a one year renewal is added to your shopping cart, and the cost of the renewal is displayed at the bottom of the page.
3. Optionally, if you want to renew for a term other than one year, click the number of years for which you want to renew your domain. (Remember, you can renew for up to 10 years, so if your domain expires in 3 + years, you can only renew for 6 additional years.)
4. To renew another domain, click Manage and repeat steps 2 and 3.
   If you change your mind about a renewal, simply click Remove and the item will be removed from your shopping cart.
5. When you're finished selecting items, click Done.
6. On the Summary page, review the items in your shopping cart, enter your payment information, and then click Buy Now to complete the registration process.
   Note: Your credit card statement will show ShopCo [BrandURL] as the merchant for this purchase.

To secure your domain against unauthorized transfers, you can lock your domain. Locking your domain ensures that an authorization code (auth code) cannot be generated for your domain, and the auth code is required to transfer your domain to another service provider. This is a security feature that has been designed to ensure that you have full control over any changes made to your domain.

To lock a domain

1. Log in to your account, and click Manage.
2. Beside the domain name, click Edit Transfer Lock.
3. In the Domain Locking drop-down list, choose Enabled, and then click Save.

The auth code is a unique combination of characters, similar to a password, that is used to show verifiable proof of ownership of a domain. If you are transferring a domain to another service provider, you must supply the auth code to that provider to show that you have the authority to transfer the domain. The auth code can only be generated by the owner of the domain.

The first time you purchase a domain, you must create an account. When you are ready to check out and pay for the items in your shopping cart, you will be asked to provide some personal information, such as your name and address. You will also be asked to create a username and password. You only need to submit this information once. The next time you make a purchase or when you want to manage your domains, you only need to enter your username and password to log in to your account.

To change your password

1. Log in to your account, and select the domain whose password you want to change.
2. Click Manage, and then click Edit your Account Information here.
3. In the Password field, enter your new password. Passwords can be 4 to 20 characters long, and must contain at least one number.
4. In the Password (verification) field, enter you new password again.
5. Click Save.

When you first register a domain, your account information is used to define the Owner, Admin, and Billing Contacts for domains that you register.

To change your account information

1. Log in to your account.
2. Click Manage, and then click Edit your Account Information here.
3. Make the required changes to any of the fields.
   If you make a mistake, click Cancel to change the information back to its last saved state.
   Note: The phone number must be in the format +CCC.NNNNNNNNNNNNxEEEE where C is the Country code, N is the number, and E is the extension.
4. Click Save.

You do not have to use your home address when you enter your contact information; however, according to ICANN policy, the address that you specify must be a valid address. If you don't want to use your home address, you can use your business address instead.

Note: If you use invalid contact information, your domain registration may be terminated.

When you first register a domain, the information that you supplied when you set up your account is used to define the contact information for any domains that you register. You can change the Owner, Admin, Billing, and Tech Contact information for a domain through the Domain Manager.

To edit contact information

1. Log in to your account and click Manage.
2. Beside the domain whose contact information you want to change, click Edit Contacts.
3. Make the required changes to the contact information.
4. Optionally, click Use contact privacy to hide your identity (address, phone number, email address) when a WHOIS lookup is done on your domain name.
5. Click Save.

Note: When you change your contact information, the change is reflected in any new domain registrations, but it is not automatically propagated to the contact information for existing domains.

Contact Privacy is a free service that hides your identity (address, phone number, email address) when a WHOIS lookup is done on your domain name. When you register your domain, Contact Privacy is included at no extra charge.

WHOIS databases are specific to each registrar. If you registered the domain name properly, it will show in our WHOIS database immediately. It will show in the InterNIC central database 24-48 hours later, but might not ever display in another registrar's database. That doesn't mean someone else can register the name, the name record is still taken, but it might not show you as the owner. Your best bet is always to look up a domain at the registrar of record. To find out who the registrar is for a name, go to http://www.internic.net/whois.html.

It usually takes two business days for updates to be seen elsewhere on the web, including hosting information. This is standard Internet propagation time. Additionally, some Whois databases are not compatible with others. You may wish to use a central whois lookup, as one registrar may not carry another's information. The best practice is always to look up a domain at the registrar of record. To find out who the registrar is for a name, use this resource:

http://www.internic.net/whois.html

.

If you have forgotten your username or password, we can send it to you via email. On the Login page, you will see the link Forgot your password? When you click this link, the Password Recovery page appears. Enter either your username or your domain name and click Send Password. We will email your username or password to the email address that you supplied when you created your account.