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The Basics
Q. What
is a URL?
Q. What
is a domain name?
Q. What
do .com, .net, .org...stand for?
Q. Are
.com, .net and .org my only choices when registering a domain
name?
Q. Who
can register a .US Domain Name ?
Q. What is a name server?
Q. What characters
and length can I use for my domain name?
Q. What credit cards do you accept?
Domain Name Registration
Q. Who
should register a domain name?
Q. Could
you explain your registration pricing?
Q. I don't have
a Web site, can I still register a domain name?
Q. What if the domain name
I want isn't available?
Q. Once I have registered
domain name what do I do?
Q. Who owns the domain name?
Q. Why does my newly registered
domain name show up as "available" at other registrars'
whois?
Q. What if I
misspelled my domain name?
Account and Domain Administration
Q. What if I forget my password?
Q. How do I change my account information?
Q. How do
I change contact, billing or administrative information?
Q. How do I renew my domain name
registration?
Q. How do I change my name servers?
Q. How do I register name servers?
Q. How do I park my domain name?
Q. How do I forward
(redirect) my domain name?
NameSpin, and WhoIs
Q. What is NameSpin?
Q. What is 'WhoIs'?
Q. When is 'WhoIs' updated?
Q. What
is the difference between the WhoIs search and NameSpin?
Contact Us
Q. I have questions
not answered by this FAQ page. How can I contact someone at Takefirst?
Q. What is a URL?
A. A
URL, which stands for Uniform Resource Locator, is your complete
Internet address. It is the string of information, such as http://www.takefirst.com,
that directs people to specific locations on the Internet. In
the same way that an address written on an envelope directs
the post-office to deliver a letter straight to your door, a
URL typed into an Internet browser leads directly to the location
of a specific resource on the Internet.
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Q. What is a domain name?
A. A
domain name, such as the "takefirst" portion of www.takefirst.com,
signifies your own address on the Internet. As no two parties
may ever hold the same domain name and TLD combination at the
same time, it is a truly unique identifier of you or your company.
It is how your customers will remember you and find you among
the millions of other Web sites on the Internet.
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Q. What
characters and length can I use for my domain name?
A. Only
a few rules must be followed when registering your domain name:
- 63 characters long not including
the extension.
- Use only letters, numbers, or dash
("-")
- Cannot begin or end with a dash
- Domain names are not case sensitive
- Domain names cannot include spaces
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Q. What credit cards do you accept?
A. At this time we accept Visa,
MasterCard, American Express, JCB and Discover. We have
also found that debit cards will occasionally work but they should
not be relied upon.
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Q. What
do .com, .net, .org...stand for ?
A. These
three extensions -.com, .net and .org - are top-level domain
names in the hierarchical Domain Name System. They are probably
the most popular and most widely recognized top-level domain
names on the Internet. With Takefirst, you can register
any valid, available domain name you choose within these three
top-level domain names. Here is some information about the .ws
and .tv domains. They are owned by the countries of Western
Samoa and Tuvalu. They sold the rights to use the .ws and .tv
as a top-level domain. .ws and .tv are 100% globally accessible,
and they can be viewed by anyone accessing the internet from
anywhere in the world. Additionally, everyone, regardless of
location, has the ability to register/administer .ws and .tv
domains.
All top-level
domains and the guidelines by which they function were created
20-25 years ago. Every country was granted one top-level domain
with the exception of the US which was also given the .com,
.net, org, .edu, and .mil top-level domains. While .com is the
most popular extension, every top-level domain has the ability
to work in exactly the same way. The true difference between
.com and other top-level domains is purely marketing and exposure.
.ws and .tv are alternatives to .com. If you would like more information,
please contact us.
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Q. Are
.com, .net and .org my only choices when registering a domain name?
A. We
currently registers domain names ending in .com, .net, .org along
with the newly added .bz, .biz, .cc, .info, .nu, .tv, .ws and
.us tld's. As other extensions become more widely used on the
Internet, we will offer those to our customers as well. We'll
keep you posted through updates on our home page. If you
would like to register Country Code Top-Level Domains (CCTLDs)
please visit the IANA
CCTLD Database for more information.
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Q. Who can register a .US Domain Name ?
A.
Any U.S. citizen or resident, as well as any business or organization, including federal, state and local government with a bona fide presence in the U.S. can register a .us domain name. All registrants must meet the U.S. Nexus Requirements below.
U.S. Nexus Requirements:
All registrants for the .us domain must be either:
- A natural person (i) who is a citizen or permanent resident of the United States of America or any of its possessions or territories or (ii) whose primary place of domicile is in the United States of America or any of its possessions, or
- Any entity or organization that is incorporated within one of the fifty (50) U.S. states, the District of Columbia, or any of the United States possessions or territories or (ii) organized or otherwise constituted under the laws of a state of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, or any of its possessions or territories, or
- An entity or organization (including federal, state, or local government of the United States, or a political subdivision thereof) that has a bona fide presence in the United States. See Section B.3.1 of the NeuStar (the .us registry) proposal to the Department of Commerce for details concerning what constitutes a "bona fide presence."
See complete Nexus Requirement Document as a PDF at http://www.neustar.us/policies/docs/ustld_nexus_requirements.pdf
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Q. What is a name server?
A. Computers
read Internet addresses through a series of numbers called Internet
Protocol (IP) numbers. Because these numbers would be difficult
for people to remember, user-friendly Internet addresses were
developed using combinations of words and numbers. A name server
is a computer that has the capability to translate, or resolve,
the domain names we see and use in our browser windows into
IP numbers. For more help with name servers please see "How
do I change my name servers?" and "How do I register
name servers."
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Q. Who should register a domain name?
A. Anyone
who wants to establish a presence on the Internet or wants to
secure the name for future use or resale.
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Q. Could you explain your registration
pricing?
A.
Our standard prices are US$14.95 to register, transfer or renew a domain
name (.Com, .Net, .Org) for one year, US$28.95
for two years, US$69.95 for five years and US$134.95 for ten years.
.US, .Info and .Biz - US$28.95 for two years, US$69.95
for five years and US$134.95 for ten years.
.Bz - US$39.95 for one year, US$74.95 for two years, US$179.95
for five years and US$349.95 for ten years.
.Cc - US$59.95 for one year, US$99.95 for two years and US$229.95
for five years.
.Nu - US$74.95 for two years, US$179.95 for five years and US$349.95
for ten years.
.Tv - US$49.95 for 1 year.
.Ws (WebSite) - US$69.95 for two years.
Register
Now!
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Q. I don't have
a Web site, can I still register a domain name?
A. Yes.
You can register a domain name at any time and start your online
identity by using our name servers until you have access to
name servers of your own.
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Q. What if the domain name
I want isn't available?
A. If
you search for the availability of a name on Takefirst
and it is not available, it means that someone else has already
registered that domain name. We can only register domain names
that are available. To find any particular information related
to a registered domain, please visit the InterNIC
Registry Whois Search. If you want to find alternate
available domains please try our NameSpin
feature.
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Q. Once I have registered
a domain name what do I do?
A. The first thing you are going
to have to do is to find a web host (we recommend you take a look
at our Hosting
Page) and create an account with them for the domain
name that you registered with us. Next, return to your Takefirst account
with your Web host's nameservers. Remove the old ones and add the new ones. Third, upload your html pages to them if you already have any. Finally wait up to 72 hours for all this updating
to circulate throughout the Internet. You should now be able
to receive e-mail and page hits.
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Q. Who owns the domain name?
A. The
owner of the domain name is the registrant information entered
into our database at the time of the original registration. To
find out the registrant information for a domain name registered
under us, please visit our WhoIs
Search. For a general WhoIs search please visit the InterNIC Registry WhoIs
Search
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Q. How much does
it cost to register a domain name?
A. Please
see our pricing
page for our competitive rates.
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Q. Why does my newly registered
domain name show up as "available" on another registrars'
WhoIs?
A. When
you register with us, your request is immediately sent to the
NSI shared registry. They update their whois database only once a day, so if your registered domain
misses the current update you will have to wait up to another
24 hours before your domain shows up. The DNS information update
process is similar except this happens worldwide and can take
up to 72 hours for completion.
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Q. What if I misspelled my domain
name?
A. Please
take extra care during registration to make sure that everything
is as it should be. All registrations are final and fees are
non-refundable.
If you have made a mistake you have three choices:
1. Keep the domain you have registered and develop it.
2. Have us delete your ownership from the domain. (No
refund)
3. Register the new name and have one of them redirected
to the other.
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Q. What if I forget my password?
A. Please
visit our Forgotten
Password Page.
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Q. How do I change my account information?
A. Login
to your account. In this area you will be able to change your
owner contact, administrative contact, technical contact, billing
information and name server.
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Q. How do
I change contact, owner, administrative, technical or billing
information?
A. Making
changes to different aspects of your account is a relatively
simple process. Simply login
to your account by entering your username, password and
domain name. You will then be able to choose from a number of
possible actions and be given specific instructions online on
how you can complete any changes you need to make.
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Q. How do I renew my domain name
registration?
A. If you would like to renew your domain,
please log into your account. When you get to the 'Your
Account' Welcome! page, Click on the link 'Domain Renewal' :
Renew or extend the registration period of your domains. Remove
or Add the domains you would like to renew. Now all you
have to do is follow the steps that the web site gives you.
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Q. How do I change my name servers?
A. 1.
Log into your Takefirst account.
2. Click "Manage your domains"
3. In the drop down box, choose the domain you want the name
server information to change for.
4. Click the button "Manage..."
5. On the left side of the screen you will see some links, click
the one that says "Name Servers."
6. At the bottom of the page it will list your current name
servers. "Remove" the old ones in turn.
7. "Add" the new name servers in turn. Enter the name
server names NOT the IP address. Name server names will be something
like ns1.nameserver.com
8. Click update.
9. Now wait up to 72 hours for the change to take place.
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Q. How do I register name servers?
A. You
first need to two IP addresses
usually provided by your ISP.
1. You need to log into your account and click on the link to
manage domains.
2. Select your domain from the text box with the drop down arrow.
3. At the bottom portion of the screen there is a link "Name
Server Registration", click on that link.
4. You are then prompted to add the first part of the name server
extension. I strongly suggest that you use the ns1 and ns2 beginning
extension. The rest of the name server appears by default as
your domain name. Whatever you do DO NOT enter www for the beginning
extension for your name server.
5. Enter the IP address in the text boxes directly below the
name server name, EXACTLY as the ISP has given them to you.
6. Then click on the word "Continue" with the arrow
through it and your name server is registered. You can then
register the second name server.
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Q. How do I park my domain name?
A. You
don't need to do anything, your domain is automatically parked
on our future home web server. This service is free and
you can park the domain for as long as you like.
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Q. How do I forward (redirect)
my domain name?
A. Takefirst
now offers URL Forwarding for only $4.95 a year and no banner
ad.
You can forward your domain by:
1. Log into your account.
2. Click Manage your Domains
3. Select a domain.
4. Under 'Other Options'... Click URL Forwarding.
5. Read the directions and enter the URL or IP address that
you want your domain to forward to.
Don't forget the http://www. when entering your URL. In 24 hours,
your domain will be pointed to your web site or IP Address.
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Q. What is NameSpin?
A. We
know it's a frustrating experience finding out that your first
name choice isn't available. That's why Takefirst offers
you NameSpin,
an easy way to search for an alternate domain name. NameSpin's
thesaurus feature allows you to find creative synonyms to your
original name choice. And if you really want to find a creative
name, just enter three words into the appropriate spaces on
the screen. NameSpin will go to work concocting different combinations
of the entered words and whip up all kinds of unique name combinations
for you to consider. Another special feature that NameSpin offers
is the capability to search up to 300 possible domain names
simultaneously. Enter your names into the appropriate field
(to save time you may want to paste a name list from a text
document), wait a few seconds, and NameSpin will tell you which
names are available of all the names you checked.
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Q. What is 'WhoIs'?
A. The
'WhoIs' feature is a search engine connected to a database of
domains registered through Takefirst. When you search
for a domain name, it will return the domains registration information
if the domain was registered through Takefirst. The registration
information that is listed includes that for the Owner, Administrative,
and Technical contacts. To see this in action please visit our
WhoIs
search.
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Q. When is 'WhoIs' updated?
A. When
you register with us, your request is immediately sent to the
NSI shared registry. They update their WhoIs database once a
day, so its possible for your domain to just missed the current
update. If this happens you will have to wait up to another
24 hours before your domain shows up. Domain name searches at
all registrar sites are updated IMMEDIATELY after registration
so that no domain name can be registered more than once. WhoIs
lookups take between 24-48 hours to update. You still might
not find your records at some sites because each registrar is
only required to maintain WhoIs records for domain names that
they register. They are not required to maintain WhoIs records
for domain names registered with other registrars.
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Q. What is the
difference between the WhoIs search and NameSpin?
A. A
WhoIs search allows you to enter any domain name registered
by Takefirst to find out, for informational purposes
only, the registration records for a particular domain name.
NameSpin, as described above, searches for domain name availability
and helps you create alternate domain names if the one you want
is already taken.
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Q. I have questions not answered
by this FAQ page. How can I contact someone at Takefirst?
A. We'll
be happy to answer any questions you have about our services.
If you already have an account, it is preferable that you contact
our customer
support describing the question you have,and we'll contact
you shortly.
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