Domain transfer advice thread

[Melooon]

I think given the recent Namecheap drama a few people will be thinking of transferring domains, and it seemed like a good idea to start a thread for it.

I've actually been trying to transfer off namecheap for a few months now for other reasons, but I've run into so many issues that I've been scared to move the big boys (melonland.net, tamanotchi.world) off.

Essentially from what I can telll anyway, the process involved these steps:

• You unlock your domain on your old dns (namecheap)
• On your new host you then transfer your domain to them.
• You then have to pay for the domain on the new host again??
• Then on the old host you do something to approve the transfer?
• You when wait for the domain to transfer, this can happen at any random time (one of mine took over a week!)
• When it transfers over you will have had all your DNS setting reset, so you will need to set those up again.
• Your domain show now be transferred.

My big issue here is, from the time I start the transfer to the time its complete.. on my test domain things just broke for like 3 weeks. First the transfer took AGES, then when it was done nameservers just didn't work, then finally I did get it going. But that amount of downtime is unacceptable for a real website.

I did e-mail my host for help and they gave me a few facts:

Generally, nameservers will not change for a transfer, before or after the move, and you have to specifically change the nameservers after a transfer. - This then means that if the DNS Zone at the old location remains active

However in reality, I think namecheap just deleted the DNS records for my domain during/after the transfer, so things just stopped working on the test.

One work around would be to setup a free digital ocean account, move your DNS records there and set it as a nameserver, then transfer the domain so it keeps using the DNS records on digital ocean. Then move the nameservers to your new host of you want.

ANYWAY, normally Im pretty good at this server stuff   But if its confusing me this much, it might really freak out more novice people. So this is a thread for figuring things out together  

Maybe @Dan Q knows 

[mrparker]

One thing I would recommend when moving registrars is to move your domain records to a different nameserver - specifically one not tied to any particular registrar.

I've been able to transfer domains throughout the years really quick cause of this - it makes it super easy.

If you are with a hosting provider, I would recommend checking that first if you need to look for a nameserver provider, chances are higher if they also offer domain registration that they might have something like that.

If not, look into Hetzner - they recently launched an offering for hosted name servers. It's free and it's great especially if you are already a customer of theirs.

For more info, look here: https://www.hetzner.com/dns/

For domain registrars, try looking into Hostinger - it's personally what I want to use in the future honestly. It's based in the EU and also offers hosting packages, if you want. Prices are good, and competitive with most US-based registrars, like namecheap.

https://hostinger.com

If you're crazy (or just do it for a living) - create your own nameservers. I know nameservers basically just run BIND - just make sure to configure it in a way where it's not running like a reverse dns server and only serves records for your domains - otherwise people can use them to conduct DNS amplification attacks.

https://bind.isc.org/

A general rule of thumb is, if you're looking to transfer a domain, make sure your DNS isn't with them too - it's a hassle to move off of them cause you'll have to recreate records a lot of the time. Switch to a different provider and do it once, and leave the registrar to just handle registrar things.

Same for any other service - your email, hosting, etc.

[snufkin]

That's why it was down? How rotten. I still have a year left on my Namecheap :/ as soon as that's up, I'm outta here. The pricing on Hostinger looks decent, but they advertise a whole website vibe coding service that skeeves me out. Maybe by the time I need to renew/transfer that trash will take itself out! Some folks on that Bluesky thread mentioned Porkbun, which looks cute except it's US based... Need to learn more about available registrars. Creating my own sounds like a fun project.

[mrparker]

I still have a year left on my Namecheap :/ as soon as that's up, I'm outta here. The pricing on Hostinger looks decent, but they advertise a whole website vibe coding service that skeeves me out. Maybe by the time I need to renew/transfer that trash will take itself out!

I personally ignore all the AI stuff, if it goes unused, they will stop supporting it I'm sure. The more people simply ignore it, the better.

Also, you don't need to wait until the renewal date to transfer - you can do it so as long as the domain hasn't been transferred/purchased within the last 60 days as far as I am aware. If you wait until the renewal date, you risk potentially losing your domain. You don't want to do that.

If you want more EU-based alternatives, check out this: https://european-alternatives.eu/category/domain-name-registrar
They have tons of alternatives listed for various types of services, so you'll be able to find alternatives easily.

Keep in mind some seem to be more expensive, but if you prefer it for one reason or another that's up to you! That's why the internet is the way it is. Let's work to keep it that way!

Edit: to become a registrar, it's a process, and it takes effort to ensure your platform is secure and safe. Learn more here: https://www.icann.org/en/contracted-parties/accredited-registrars/how-to-become-a-registrar

You have to have a company to become one, it's not available as far as I am aware to individuals.

[snufkin]

True! And that's good to know. I'll be getting regular income soon so maybe once that comes in, I'll have enough to pay all the fees. Thank you for the list of alternatives, as well; I'll take a look through those.

[sunnyp4rk]

I personally like using Porkbun as my domain registrar. The renewal price a lot cheaper than Namecheap's was for my old domain.

[Melooon]

So I'd been trying to figure out terminology more and there's a few things that most tutorials miss:

SO most people here know what a domain is "melonland.net", and a subdomain would be "forum". So in this case the forum is a subdomain of melonland.net e.g. "forum.melonland.net".

NEOCITIES:

Neocities allows supporters to set custom domains, but not custom subdomains. E.g. melonland.net is a neocities site, but I cannot make pixelsea (also a neocities site) a subdomain like "pixelsea.melonland.net", it would need its own domain to stay on neocities "pixelsea.net" etc. (I tested this, it does not work)

~~~

DOMAINS:

When you register a domain (with namecheap etc), you are essentially renting the rights to a domain from that registrar. The registrar in turn is allowed to rent the domain to you by a supreme domain authority known as ICANN, they basically decide what is a domain and who is allowed to own a domain. (They were part of the US government until 2016, and since then they have been an international organization more like the UN).

When you transfer a domain from one register to another, you are basically just transferring the authority to say who agrees to let you use that domain. Its a bit like you are renting a house, and you can decide if you want landlord A or landlord B to be your landlord.. which is really weird, but sure!

The important bit is that the domain registration has nothing really to do with DNS, DNS is a whole other unrelated thing. However it reallllyyy feels like its related, because most domain registration companies also give you free DNS stuff with your registration (this was the part that really confused me).

DNS:

SO when I host "melonland.net" there are actually two types of hosting. There is web hosting (the kind everyone knows) and DNS hosting. That DNS hosting is called a nameserver, and its essentially like web hosting except it serves a particular document that just includes words and ip addresses that your browser uses to figure out what IP is related to what domain name.

On a nameserver you have DNS Zones, these are boxes that your DNS records go into, and usually you will have one DNS Zone per domain. Some DNS hosts will give you unlimited zones (I think digital ocean does) however some will only give you one zone per server or registered domain you have with them. ~ This is important because if you want a nameserver to host domains that you did not register with them, like mrparker suggests, you need to make sure they will give you zones! - for example the forums webhost wont!!

Once you have a domain registered, and you have setup a nameserver, and you have your DNS Zone, then you put your DNS records into those zones. Those are your normal DNS records like A records and CNAMES that let you do things like www. and connecting your neocities site to your domain. ~ Most domain registration providers do all this automatically, however when you want to transfer it all gets messed up because that automatically provided stuff is not standard or interchangeable.

OOPH ok I think I understand now. The bit I was really getting mixed up on was the confusion between domain registration and nameservers.

What I don't understand still is how transferring effects renewal time, and if transferring a domain is supposed to cost extra or not, or when the best time to do it is 

[mrparker]

What I don't understand still is how transferring effects renewal time, and if transferring a domain is supposed to cost extra or not, or when the best time to do it is 

Transferring a domain will add a year, cause you're paying the renewal price - so if you purchased a domain this year, it will expire an additional year later, from the registration/renewal date (obviously closer to the renewal date you are, the less time gets "added" per se - you still get the full year regardless). You already paid your duties to ICANN for registering/renewing - why would they take that from you? Everything else is just the markup the registrar themselves charge for registration, on top of the fees for the privilege of owning a slice of a .TLD the owners of it put

As for pricing, it's usually it's quite the opposite - domain registrars sometimes to encourage transfers will lower the price or even make transfers in free for a year - it's usually cause people buy addon services, but you obviously don't have to (unless it's part of the terms of a sale to get a certain price - I don't usually see that). They just want the yearly revenue, cause at the end of the day they are a business - bonus points if addons are purchased (which a lot of people actually do purchase).

I personally don't see a point in waiting really unless you want to - maybe you just renewed or transferred a domain. But other than that, you are free to transfer any time as there are no hard limits.

ICANN for security reasons prevents transferring when a domain was purchased or renewed if I recall in the last 60 days, otherwise you're free to do whatever you want after that.