Want to buy Domain Name

unwashed potato! · 15 Apr 2006 at 22:53

I am currently learning how to build a website and am looking at building one and having it up running in the next 2months. I am at the moment wondering how to go about buying a domain name (i think thats whats its called) e.g. mywebsite.co.uk. i have the name already and have typed it in and nothing haas come up so i beleive that it is still free to buy? but how do i do this?

Also i know someone that will want me to be building a website for them once i can, which will be about what she does (horse training) and has done, and just ways of contacting her to lessons etc. What kind of bandwith etc, (dont know all that id need to cover) am i looking at and where would be a good place to get this for little price?

thanks for any help recieved

sos for sounding like a noob, i am very new to this so please be nice

Fakel1ty · 15 Apr 2006 at 23:10

first go to somewhere like 123 reg and check your domain there, just because you can't get to the site doesn't mean it's free.

secondly you need to consider what your site is going to be doing. for example if it's database driven you may have to go for more expensive hosting that supports ASP/PHP, or alternativly you could serve it from your home machine assuming you aren't going to get a lot of traffic (your ISP will complain if you get lots of hits and drain bandwidth)

unwashed potato! · 15 Apr 2006 at 23:15

thanks for the quick relpy.

Well im not too sure yet what my site will do, i am just looking to makemy first one so i just will try and add lots of things that will improve my skills, maybe ill do one for my clan or something with extra things like a few (not too many) adverts to lower prices, links to other sites etc etc.

So if i did this other persons website on my home machine, wouldnt that mean that the machine has to be on 24/7 and also if my ISP did complain what would that mean, for instance would they start charging more, ir would it just be a letter saying hey bugger, your getting what you paid for

?

thanks again

Fakel1ty · 15 Apr 2006 at 23:27

For your first site i recommend static HTML, that means you need to upload any changes manually. This will probably suit your clan site. Also you can get it hosted for next to nothing for a few years. It only gets expensive if you need ASP or similar for dyamic context, which moves towards business hosting.

Regarding your friends site, yes it's 24/7. Your isp will complain if you are getting lots of hits, say over 100 a day and will either close your account, or push you for a business account. In all honesty, i would recommend it.

Fakel1ty · 15 Apr 2006 at 23:29

Fakel1ty said:
For your first site i recommend static HTML, that means you need to upload any changes manually. This will probably suit your clan site. Also you can get it hosted for next to nothing for a few years. It only gets expensive if you need ASP or similar for dyamic context, which moves towards business hosting.

Regarding your friends site, yes it's 24/7. Your isp will complain if you are getting lots of hits, say over 100 a day and will either close your account, or push you for a business account. In all honesty, i would recommend it.

#i WOULDN'T recommend it!#

unwashed potato! · 15 Apr 2006 at 23:35

Fakel1ty said:
#i WOULDN'T recommend it!#

yeah was just going to say wtf why? but you beat me to it lol

I was thinking of doing static html, if thats what you called it, as i only knew of it that way, what other ways are there?

So how would i search if my domain name i'd like is taken already?

zetec452 · 15 Apr 2006 at 23:48

I'd recommend www.registron.co.uk for .co.uk domain names. You'll find the support far superior to the likes of reg 123.

Fakel1ty · 15 Apr 2006 at 23:58

go to http://www.123-reg.co.uk/ and in the centre of the screen is a domain checker.

it'll tell you what's available (.com, .org, etc) for what you put in.

Static sites use pure HTML. There is no 'code' in the file that is executed each time the page is called. The kind of things you have in code vary, so for example you could retrieve info from a cookie, output the current server time, access records from a database (like this forum)

Static sites are just 'served' from your host. there is no processing required. that is why your isp gives you free webspace becasue it costs nothing to host.

It gets more complicated when you need dynamic content because it is dependant on the host machine. for example if your site uses ASP, you need IIS configured to work your site. this is something you will not have access to unless you pay for business hosting which is expensive.

I think you're taking the right approach in learning static HTML before dynamic - it didn't do me any harm

If you have XP Pro installed you can jump straight in from a learning point of view as it comes with IIS as an option.

unwashed potato! · 16 Apr 2006 at 00:02

well i just found out that your not allowed to use the & symbol in the address, is this true?

The domain name i wanted was adam&eve.co.uk but if i cant have the apersand symbol then i would want adamandeve.co.uk, however when i search for this it leads me to apge saying it is already taken by such and such, however i would have thought that whoever has taken it would have a website there. i dont understand this. could someone please explain it to me

Fakel1ty · 16 Apr 2006 at 00:07

yep, & is a resevered character, like ! and £.

it's also common that people hijack common domain names so that you gotta buy it from them. normally they take you to an unrelated site.

unwashed potato! · 16 Apr 2006 at 00:08

Fakel1ty said:
yep, & is a resevered character, like ! and £.

it's also common that people hijack common domain names so that you gotta buy it from them. normally they take you to an unrelated site.

would you be able to check it and tell me if its possible to have this still? sos if im being an anoyance like i said i really am new to this

adamandeve.uk.com is available, however i feel that the uk.com will put the site down, how often do people use or even know of uk.com, is it becoming a bigger thing, like in a year or so it will be common as new names will be needed?

Al Vallario · 16 Apr 2006 at 00:11

1. Do a WHOIS lookup on the domain(s) you are looking at buying. I use www.whois.sc for this purpose; eg. if I am looking up www.exampledomain.com I will slap www.whois.sc/exampledomain.com into the address bar and I'll have my result. If it's available, it will tell you so. If it's already taken, it will provide you with the date the domain expires on, and the contact details of the current owner of the domain name.

2. Get some hosting. I'd recommend going with one of those stereotypical American hosts to start of with - the sort that compete heavily on price and oversell their services (although this shouldn't be a problem for someone looking to set up one or two small sites). I'd personally recommend Dreamhost for this purpose. Do a quick Google and you'll find a plethora of people throwing Dreamhost affiliate links at you; if the affiliate has chosen to offer so, these can wipe a considerable amount off the price. If my memory serves me correctly, you can bag the cheapest plan for around $20 for the first year; including a free domain name.

I won't go into building the actual site; but I'd recommend you go with PHP and MySQL if you're looking at doing anything dynamic

Edit: Personally, I doubt .uk.com will become any more popular than it is at the moment. I would avoid straying from the most well known domain extensions (.com/.org/.net/.co.uk) unless you're absolutely desperate

Fakel1ty · 16 Apr 2006 at 00:13

the url doesn't resolve. I've done a 'whois' check and that doesn't work either, which is against Network Solutions policies.

this means that someone has registered the domain name to a machine that is unreachable (either the machine has been switched off for ages, or it's been hijacked)

I really doubt you are gonna get this one

Al Vallario · 16 Apr 2006 at 00:18

Fakel1ty said:
the url doesn't resolve. I've done a 'whois' check and that doesn't work either, which is against Network Solutions policies.

this means that someone has registered the domain name to a machine that is unreachable (either the machine has been switched off for ages, or it's been hijacked)

I really doubt you are gonna get this one

Do you mean www.adamandeve.co.uk? It's loading fine for me, although admittedly it's one of those generic "This domain name has been registered by one of our clients" holding pages. The WHOIS check comes through fine as well; the domain is up for renewal in September

unwashed potato! · 16 Apr 2006 at 00:19

Fakel1ty said:
the url doesn't resolve. I've done a 'whois' check and that doesn't work either, which is against Network Solutions policies.

this means that someone has registered the domain name to a machine that is unreachable (either the machine has been switched off for ages, or it's been hijacked)

I really doubt you are gonna get this one

well from the whois of that website, it says the expiration date is september 2006 so what should i do then? as when typing in the address there isn't the owner of the domain names website, does this mean something like you said turned off? or maybe they still ownthe address but dont use it anymore? so in september, i would possibly be ableto buy it right? how would i do this? also would the current owner get first rights to it?

this is where i read the whois from: http://www.netnames.co.uk/dnrs/netnames.client.Search

Fakel1ty · 16 Apr 2006 at 00:19

Al Vallario said:
Do you mean www.adamandeve.co.uk? It's loading fine for me, although admittedly it's one of those generic "This domain name has been registered by one of our clients" holding pages. The WHOIS check comes through fine as well; the domain is up for renewal in September

Strange, it's working now. Getting the same info.

Fakel1ty · 16 Apr 2006 at 00:22

addy_010 said:
well from the whois of that website, it says the expiration date is september 2006 so what should i do then? as when typing in the address there isn't the owner of the domain names website, does this mean something like you said turned off? or maybe they still ownthe address but dont use it anymore? so in september, i would possibly be ableto buy it right? how would i do this? also would the current owner get first rights to it?

Once it expires it's first come first served.

Though the customer will be informed it's due to expire and will probalby be offered a discount to continue owning it for at least a year. whether they act or not is another question

unwashed potato! · 16 Apr 2006 at 00:26

Fakel1ty said:
Once it expires it's first come first served.

Though the customer will be informed it's due to expire and will probalby be offered a discount to continue owning it for at least a year. whether they act or not is another question

dang, so by the sounds of it im going to have to wait until then to find out if i can get it, if i can that is

thats a right kick in the bottom. oh well i guess that i can just make a really good website by then, or is it possible to just use a rubbish domain name thats real cheap and per month, so i can test it, and like post it here for reccomendations of improvements etc?

Al Vallario · 16 Apr 2006 at 00:31

addy_010 said:
dang, so by the sounds of it im going to have to wait until then to find out if i can get it, if i can that is thats a right kick in the bottom. oh well i guess that i can just make a really good website by then, or is it possible to just use a rubbish domain name thats real cheap and per month, so i can test it, and like post it here for reccomendations of improvements etc?

I'd say it's highly unlikely that you'll be able to pick it up come September. The current owner of the domain will be warned it's about to expire, and it will enter a redemption period of around 30 days after the stated date (22nd September) during which they can re-register it. It is a pretty desirable domain name too!

There's no need to buy a rubbish domain name really. Just look for an alternative instead. .com domains cost about £5/year through American registrars, and .co.uk domains can be had for even less! I don't know of any domain registrar which allows registrations of less than a year at a time; it would be a huge amount of hassle for them and as domains are already so cheap it's not worth it.

unwashed potato! · 16 Apr 2006 at 00:38

Al Vallario said:
I'd say it's highly unlikely that you'll be able to pick it up come September. The current owner of the domain will be warned it's about to expire, and it will enter a redemption period of around 30 days after the stated date (22nd September) during which they can re-register it. It is a pretty desirable domain name too!

There's no need to buy a rubbish domain name really. Just look for an alternative instead. .com domains cost about £5/year through American registrars, and .co.uk domains can be had for even less! I don't know of any domain registrar which allows registrations of less than a year at a time; it would be a huge amount of hassle for them and as domains are already so cheap it's not worth it.

ok,well by the looks of it then i should just find another good website domain name. its a shame as i really liked the idea of adamandeve as i aim the website to be a light and natural looking place, like the i think its called 'Garden of Edan' where adam and eve lived etc

plus my last name is Adams