Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions What is a domain name? Are there any rules for registering a domain name? How do I pay for a domain name registration? How do I find out if the domain name I want is available? What are registrants, registrars, and registries? Who should register a domain name? How do I create an account? What is URL Forwarding and how does it work? What is Protected Email and how does it work? What is Secure Email (SecureMail) and how does it work? How do I configure Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express for my SecureMail account? Registrations Which domain name extensions (TLDs) can be registered through my account? How do I register a domain name? How long does it take to register a domain name? What can I do if the domain name I want has already been registered? Can I register multiple domain names at one time? How do I delete a domain name registration? How do I renew my domain name registration? Can I renew multiple registrations at one time? How do I renew an expired domain name registration? What is the Redemption Period? How do I transfer my domain name registration from another registrar? Why did my registration transfer request get declined? Can I transfer multiple domain name registrations at one time? How do I transfer my domain name registration away to another registrar? How do I transfer my domain name registration to another registrant? Why is my Confirmation Code not working for my domain transfer request? What is private registration, and how do I get it? Administration Who has access to modify a domain name or account? How do I modify my account information? How do I modify my domain registration WhoIS information? Who do I list as the contacts on the registration? How do I set the auto-renewal option for my registrations? How can I avoid having to re-enter my credit card information all the time? How can I update my default account payment information? What does the registration lock feature do? How can I lock/unlock my domain name registration? Can I change the expiration date of my registrations so they expire at the same time? Name Server Modification Who has access to modify a domain name or account? What are name servers and why do I need them? How do I modify the DNS information for my domain name? Can I modify the DNS information for more than one domain name at a time? How do I register a name server? How do I modify a name server's host name or IP address? How do I delete a name server? Domain Status Codes What are Domain Status Codes and what do they mean? General Questions What is a domain name? A domain name is an Internet address (example: some-company.com). This is the convention used to access a web site. Many people use domain names to promote their business. A registrant would go through a registrar to register a domain name with the registry. Are there any rules for registering a domain names? A domain name can contain the English-language letters A through Z, and the digits 0 through 9. You can also use hyphens, but hyphens cannot begin or end your domain name. Spaces and special characters (i.e. - !, $, &, #, etc.) are never permitted. It must be a minimum of 3 characters, and a maximum length of 67 characters. How do I pay for a domain name registration? Credit card is the only form of payment accepted for domain name registrations, renewals, and transfers. Other forms of payment are accepted only for Bulk Transfers. How do I find out if the domain name I want is available? You can check the availability of a domain by doing a “WhoIS.” The WhoIS is the public information on a domain name registration – it shows where the domain is registered, the contact information (registrant, administrator, technical, and billing), the registration created date, expiration date, updated date, and the DNS name server information (where it is pointed to). What are registrants, registrars, and registries? A registry is an entity that maintains the master database of domain names for a particular top-level domain (TLD). Below are the registries we work with and their corresponding TLDs (extensions): VeriSign .COM & .NET PIR .ORG Afilias .INFO NeuLevel .BIZ NeuStar .US The registry receives domain name information from registrars, who register domain names on behalf of registrants-people like you who would like to register and use a domain name. The registry puts that information into what is called a "zone file," which allows computers to route Internet traffic to and from domains around the world. Who should register a domain name? Any entity that is trying to establish a presence on the Internet should register a domain name. How do I create an account? To create an account, simply click on “Register” in the upper right hand corner of the home page. You will need to provide a unique username and password as well as a password question and answer in case you should forget your password at a later date. Once this is done you will need to fill out your Organizational Contact information. This will be the listed registrant of the domains that will be registered through that account. If the billing, administrative and technical contacts are the same, click on the appropriate button. If not, continue to add the appropriate details for these contacts. You will need to agree to the Terms and Conditions in the AITDomains.com User Agreement before moving to the next section. You can read the agreement by clicking on "User Agreement." You will then be asked to verify the information you have submitted. You will then be forwarded to your home page where you can begin to manage your account. What is URL Forwarding and how does it work? URL Forwarding allows the directing of your different domains to an existing website address. This helps to broaden a websites footprint, so to speak, by increasing the potential traffic avenues to that site. AITDomains' URL Forwarding is also Masking, so users don't see the underlying destination address...they only see what they type in. Nameservers must be set to ns0.nameit.net and ns1.nameit.net, and your URL Forwarding administration interface is "yourdomain.com/admin/", where you can login with your username and password to modify the destination URL. What is Protected Email and how does it work? Protected Email employs server-side antivirus and antispam software to protect your email client and keep your inbox clean. Your email address will be "yourdomain@yourdomain.com", and your email client mailservers should be set to "yourdomain.com". What is Secure Email (SecureMail) and how does it work? SecureMail from SecureLook is an email solution that provides ene-to-end client to server email encryption for your email account. Get your small business or office on this 128-bit SSL solution, and enjoy virtually unbreakable security for all your email correspondence. A secure webmail application is included so you can utilize the same security protocols when you are away from your office. How do I configure Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express for my SecureMail account? The exact procedure will vary depending on your choice of email program(s). 1. Create a new account under the address your_name@securelook-mail.com. 2. Set your incoming mail server as an IMAP server. 3. Enter the host name www.securelook-mail.com as the address for both your incoming and outgoing mail servers. Please note the www. in the address, as your client will report SSL related warnings based on the name of the server if it does not match. 4. Set the account to use SMTP authentication. By default, your application should use the same user and password you use to retrieve mail. If this is not the case, you will need to set the username and password for SMTP authentication to the values provided above. 5. Set both incoming and outgoing mail connections to use SSL. Verify that your client is set to use port 993 for IMAP (incoming mail) and port 465 for SMTP (outgoing mail). This will guarantee that your entire mail session is secure from beginning to end. Registrations Which domain name extensions (TLDs) can be registered through my account? You will be able to register .com, .net, .org, .us, .info, and .biz extensions. How do I register a domain name? Log into your account and click on “Domain Management” then on “Register Domain.” Start by checking your domain name availability. Enter one domain name per line making sure that you have removed all spaces and you do not use the www in front of the domain name. After your domain names have been checked and are available for registration, name server and payment information will be entered. How long does it take to register a domain name? Our system registers domain names in real time. Once you press the final submit button, the domain name is registered at the registry. What can I do if the domain name I want has already been registered? If your domain name is already registered with someone else you can backorder your domain name or if the domain name you choose is not available, try checking variations of the domain and/or with the other extensions. For example if you want "yourcompany.com" and it is not available, try "yourcompany.biz" or "yourcompany.info." Keep in mind some names may be trademarked. Can I register multiple domain names at one time? Yes. You may register up to 150 domain names at one time. How do I delete a domain name registration? Once the domain name has been registered it cannot be deleted. How do I renew my domain name registration? You can only renew a registration with the current registrar. To renew your registration with us, log on to your account and click on “Domain Management” and then “Renew Domain.” Can I renew multiple registrations at one time? Yes. Log into your account click on “Domain Management” and then on “Renew Domain.” A list of all of your domain names will be shown. Indicate the domain names you wish to renew, the number of years you want to add to the registration, and provide payment information. How do I renew an expired domain name registration? You can only renew a registration with the current registrar. If the expired registration has gone past the registrar’s grace period, only that registrar will be able to restore the domain name from the Redemption Period. What is the Redemption Period? The Redemption period is a 30-day grace period after your domain expires during which you may still restore your domain for a cost of $150. In order to restore your domain with AITDomains, please click here and fax the completed form to 910-321-1390. Restorations are processed Monday through Friday 8:30 am until 8:00 pm. How do I transfer my domain name registration from another registrar? Log into your account and click on “Domain Management” then on “Transfer Domain.” Read the guidelines to make sure none apply to the domain name you want to transfer. Put in the domain name, provide your payment information and submit. Why did my registration transfer request get declined? There are several reasons that a domain transfer would be declined. The most common reason is the domain registration has already expired or is almost expiring. Another reason for declines is the current administrative contact not confirming the email the losing registrar sends. Can I transfer multiple domain name registrations at one time? Yes, this can be done through a bulk transfer order. Contact your registrar for more information. How do I transfer my domain name registration away to another registrar? You will need to contact the registrar you want to transfer to and find out how to submit a request from their system. All you have to do on our end is to make sure the contact information on your account is up to date so the requesting registrar will not have any problems obtaining authorization for the transfer. How do I transfer my domain name registration to another registrant? You will need to contact your registrar for a change of ownership. Why is my Confirmation Code not working for my domain transfer request? When transferring a .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, or .us domain to AITDomains, the customer must confirm the transfer with a confirmation code. This is a code that is generated by the system and emailed within approximately 24 hours of the transfer request submission to the administrative contact on the domain registration information (as per WHOIS data). The confirmation code will generally be a six or seven digit number - ensure that you have not added any spaces when you submit the code or you may receive an error. For .org, .info, .us, and .biz extensions, an authorization code (a.k.a. auth info, authorization key, auth code, or auth key) is also required. This is different from the confirmation code. These domain names are assigned a unique auth info code at the time of their creation/initial registration. The code is created by the original registrar and held with the current registrar. If you are transferring a .org, .info, .us, or .biz domain name TO AITDomains, you should be able to obtain your auth info code by contacting the losing registrar. If you are transferring a .org, .info, .us, or .biz domain name AWAY from AITDomains, the auth info code is your AITDomains username (if the domain was created by AITDomains.com), and may be provided to the admin contact by AIT staff. What is private registration, and how do I get it? Private Registration will use AITDomains' contact information to mask your personal contact information to protect your privacy. To set Private Registration for existing domains, simply login to your account, click on Account Information, select the Private Registration checkbox, and submit the modification. This will change all domains in a given account to Private Registration. New domains registered in the same account will need to be set for Private Registration during registration. To create different contact information, you must either create separate registrant accounts or become an Virtual Registrar. Violation of any AITDomains or AIT Acceptable Use Policy is prohibited, and accurate contact information for our database is still required at registration. Administration Who has access to modify a domain name or account? Only the registrant is authorized to request login information or modifications to an account/domain. But anyone with access to an account can modify that account’s contact information or the name server information for all the domains within that account. If the listed registrant is no longer an authorized contact of the company the domain name is registered to, the company must send to AIT (via fax to 910-321-1390) a signed, notarized letter on company letterhead requesting login information for the account. The company should include verifiable contact information to ensure AITDomains can communicate the new login information. How do I modify my account information? To modify your account information, log into your account and click on “Account Information” and then on “Update Contact Information.” Make the necessary changes and press submit. How do I modify my domain registration WhoIS information? The contact information for an account is the WhoIS information for all the registrations within that account. Updating the account information for your account, will update the domain registration owned by your account. Who do I list as the contacts on the registration? A domain name should generally be registered to the owner/president/CEO/chairman of the business/organization or to the business/organization itself. The business/organization should also be listed as the billing contact. The web master or IT person of the business should be listed as the administrator and/or technical contact. How do I set the auto-renewal option for my registrations? Log into your account and click on “Domain Management” then on “List Domains.” Indicate the domain you wish to auto-renew by clicking the radio button beside the domain name (right side). The credit card information you have on file will be used to pay for the domain name renewals. Keep in mind if you do not have default account payment information in your account, the auto-renewal will not take place. How can I avoid having to re-enter my credit card information all the time? You can provide default account payment information for your account. To do this, click on “Payment History” and then “Add Payment Information.” How can I update my default account payment information? To update your default account payment information, log on to your account and click on “Payment History” and then on “Modify Payment Information” What does the registration lock feature do? The registration lock prevents anyone from transferring your account or modifying it in any way (DNS modification, renewals, etc.) without your knowledge. How can I lock/unlock my domain name registration? Log into your account click on “Domain Management” and then on “Lock/Unlock Domains.” Pick the domain name you wish to lock from the drop down box and click on “Search.” You will be able to Lock/Unlock the domain name at the next page. Can I change the expiration date of my registrations so they expire at the same time? Yes. This is done through domain synchronization. Log into your account click on “Domain Management” then on “Synchronization.” Indicate the domain names you wish to synchronize by clicking on the radio button beside the domain name (left side). Specify the desired date, provide payment information and submit.. Remember that you can only synchronize domain names to expire on the same date by moving the expiration date FORWARD, not backward. Also, the synchronization service applies only for .COM & .NET domain names. For instance: If you have four domain names that expire on January 1, February 2, March 23 and April 10 you will be able to synchronize your domain names to expire on April 10. Name Server Modification Who has access to modify a domain name or account? Only the registrant is authorized to request for login information or modifications to an account/domain. But anyone with access to an account can modify that account’s contact information or the name server information for all the domains within that account. What are name servers and why do I need them? Put simply, name servers are what ties a domain name to an IP address. You can obtain name servers from your hosting provider. Name server information would look something like: Name Server Host Name Name Server IP Address ns0.some-company.com 216.117.191.20 ns1.some-company.com 216.117.191.22 When putting in name server information within our system, you will not need to put the name server IP address. How do I modify the DNS information for my domain name? Log into your account click on “Domain Management” then on “List Domains.” Indicate the domain you wish modify by clicking the radio button beside the domain name (left side) and click on “Modify Nameservers.” Can I modify the DNS information for more than one domain name at a time? Yes. Log into your account click on “Domain Management” then on “List Domains.” Indicate the domain names that you wish to modify by clicking the radio button beside the domain names (left side). How do I register a name server? You can register a name server with us at no cost if the domain name that is used for that name server is registered with us. For example, if you have some-company.com registered with us, you can register name servers with that host name through us. To register a name server, log into your account and click on “Domain Management” then on “NameServer Mgmt.” Put in the name server host name and IP address and submit. The system will attempt to register the name servers with all the registries we work with (.COM, .NET, .ORG, .INFO, .BIZ, and .US). How do I modify a name server's host name or IP address? To modify a name server you have registered, log into your account and click on “Domain Management” then on “NameServer Mgmt.” Click on the name server in question make the necessary changes and press submit. How do I delete a name server? To delete a name server you have registered, log into your account and click on “Domain Management” then on “NameServer Mgmt.” Click on the radio button beside the name server (left side) in question and then on “Delete Nameserver.” Domain Status Codes What are Domain Status Codes and what do they mean? OK: This is the nominal status value for a domain object at all times, whether or not the domain has pending operations or prohibitions. When the status is OK the domain can be transferred. Active: The domain can be modified and appears in a zone file. This is the nominal status for a domain object once it has been published in a zone. When the status is Active the domain can be transferred. Pending Transfer: A transfer request has been received for the domain, and completion of the request is pending. The domain cannot be renewed, deleted, or updated while in this state. Server Hold: The domain will not be published in a zone for DNS resolution. This status is placed on the domain by the registry. Names without at least two nameservers may be placed on Hold status; in this case submit nameserver data through your registrar. Client Hold: The domain will not be published in a zone for DNS resolution. This status is placed on the domain by the registrar. Names without at least two nameservers may be placed on Hold status; in this case submit nameserver data through your registrar. Server Lock: The domain cannot be transferred, renewed, deleted, or updated. This status is placed on the domain by the registry. Hierarchical and associated objects cannot not be added or removed from the domain object. The registry must remove Server Lock status to modify the domain. Client Lock/Transfer/Update/Delete Prohibited: The domain cannot be transferred, updated, or deleted. This status is placed on the domain by the registrar. An update command may be used to change the status value. Hierarchical and associated objects cannot not be added or removed from the domain object. The registrar must remove Client Lock status to modify the domain. You can typically change the Client Lock status through your registrar's account management interface. The domain can be renewed and will be included in the zone. Client Lock is used to prevent unauthorized transfers and often enabled by registrars by default. Domain names involved in disputes may be locked, subject to registry policies. Redemption Period: Registry sets this status when a registrar requests that the domain name be deleted from the registry and the domain has been registered for more than 5 calendar days (if the delete request is received within 5 days of initial domain registration it will instead be deleted immediately). The domain will not be included in the zone. The domain can not be modified or purged; it can only be restored. Any other registrar requests to modify or otherwise update the domain will be rejected. A domain will be held in this status for a maximum of 30 calendar days. Pending Restore: Registry sets this status after a registrar requests restoration of a domain that is in Redemption Period status. The domain will be included in the zone. Registrar requests to modify or otherwise update the domain will be rejected. The domain will be held in this status while the registry waits for the registrar to provide required restoration documentation. If the registrar fails to provide documentation to the registry within 7 calendar days to confirm the restoration request, the domain will revert to Redemption Period status. The domain status will be set to Active only if the registrar provides documentation to the registry within 7 calendar days to confirm the restoration request. Pending Delete: Registry sets this status after a domain has been set in Redemption Period status and the domain has not been restored by the registrar. The domain will not be included in the zone. Once in this status all registrar requests to modify or otherwise update the domain will be rejected. The domain will be purged and dropped from the registry database after being in this status for 5 calendar days. Once deletion occurs, the domain is available to be registered by anyone on a first come, first serve basis.