Switching Hosts

When I first started, most of our clients never had a Web site before. Now, most of our new clients already have one. One step in the process of developing a new site for a client is to move their domain to another server, and make a backup of their current site.

To move a domain you need the following information:

• The registrar, or the company where the domain was registered. Popular choices include Network Solutions, Register.com and Go Daddy. To determine the registrar (and get other information) you can often perform a "whois".
• Your username or ID and password. If you have lost this you can often generate an email from the registrar to the email on file to reset your password. If you no longer have access to this email you can still reset the password, but there's a lot more work involved to prove that you have the rights to this domain.

To get access to the current Web site you'll need your FTP info. Once you have your FTP info you'll be able to upload and download your Web site, as well as access files that aren't accessible via the Web. You'll need:

• Your host name (often ftp.yourdomain.com or www.yourdomain.com, but sometimes it's completely different)
• Your username
• You password

Often this information comes from the hosting company when you first signed up with them. If you have lost this information you should contact the hosting company to get this information. You may need to prove you are the owner of the account.

Rich Brooks
Master of His Domain (Name)

Comments

[D.A.]

pairNIC.com might have been a worthy mention, especially for TypePad users.

Also, a cautionary note that might serve newbies well is GoDaddy's (and a few other registrars) privacy options for domain registration. For those who like the idea of hiding their registration details, for whatever reason, a reminder; they'll be required to fax or mail photocopies of two pieces of identification (driver's license / passport, etc) to goDaddy's administrators should they forget or loose their password. There is no easy, e-mail me my passowrd, option available for these private registration options on GoDaddy. Any reluctance to blindly supply such ID to GoDaddy (exposing yourself to potential identity theft / abuse), results in an inability to fully adminster your domain registration until you do supply that ID. One reason this has the potential to be an issue is GoDaddy's online process for accepting payment for their privacy option, is less than optimal itself. One you opt for the option, and after you have entered your credit card payment, the site (administered by a wholly owned subsiderary of GoDaddy, assigns you an initial password, rather than allowing the customer to select their own. Secondarily, that assigned password is does not require a confirmation step the way picking ones own password typically does. Therefore, it can easily be overlooked and is only displayed once, on one page of the process. A weakly presented option at best. Not recommended.

--D.A.