Transferring our domain

[kimmer]

Okay, I'm totally lost. Our domain expires on 1/15/2010 and I'd like to transfer the registration to GoDaddy but not move the domain from our host (at this point anyhow). I went to GoDaddy and now I'm totally confused (especially since half the pages wouldn't work )

If I was reading correctly, I need to:

1. Unlock our domain (edited to add: I've verified that our domain is unlocked)
2. get an authorization code for .com (edited to add: in my control panel I clicked on this and got "Error! Auth Code is not available for domainname" )
3. have a valid domain admin contact

and then move forward?

The only thing I think I know is valid domain admin contact, because it's us. Or is that our hosting company?

I don't know how to unlock our domain, or get an authorization code. In fact, I don't know who actually "holds" the registration.  Okay finally found that info. Domain is registered with: DomainPeople

Any help would be appreciated.

Edited to add more information

[kimmer]

If you're reading ... I edited my original post to update some info.

[Xairbusdriver]

You should be able to get a lot of info by typing in your domain in the "WHOIS Lookup" search box of WhoIs.org.

You should be able to do the same thing but I never can remember what service to use/enter for the correct database.

[Highmac]

Kim, I've PM'd you.

[FLASH1296]

You may want to read:  "Take Control of Your Domain Names" (1.0).pdf

[Paddy]

Don't think you need to spend $10 to find out how to do this, Kimmer. There is lots of free info online and we're here to help too!

At the bottom of the FAQ page on domain transfers at DomainPeople:

QUOTE

How to I get my Authorization Code?
To obtain the Authorization Code for a specific domain, simply log in to the Account Manager select the domain and view the domain summary report. The Authorization Code will be included in the summary.

At GoDaddy, there is good info on their domain transfer page - I'd start there.

You can also look at this (link from GoDaddy): http://products.secureserver.net/products/...sferinsider.pdf - it explains it pretty clearly. Looks like it should be pretty easy, since your authorization code is on your account management page at DomainPeople. You do have the info you need to log in there, I hope?

[kimmer]

QUOTE(Paddy @ Nov 7 2009, 05:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Looks like it should be pretty easy, since your authorization code is on your account management page at DomainPeople. You do have the info you need to log in there, I hope?

Nope. We didn't choose them. When we first got our domain, our hosting company handled the domain registration. Two years ago our hosting company decided to drop that service, and without letting anyone know ahead of time they moved all our registrations to some company, who eventually turned it all over to DomainPeople. I didn't want to set up an entire acct with these folks, I really don't have the time right now; but I guess I'll have to do so. Drats.

[Paddy]

It's situations like this that make it clear that the ONLY way to get a domain and maintain control over it is to register your own domain with a top level domain registrar, which is what I always advise people to do. That "free" domain that your hosting company may be offering you really isn't free and it can be a pain in the rear if you want to move elsewhere depending on what they did when they registered your domain for you. (Some  have been known to actually register the domain to the ISP, not YOU, others put the ISP as the technical contact, and then drag their feet when you want to transfer, since they have control over the approval and so on.)

That said, here's hoping that DomainPeople won't give you a hassle about getting access to your account and that the whole thing will be relatively painless.

Are you switching hosts as well?

[kimmer]

QUOTE(Paddy @ Nov 7 2009, 10:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That said, here's hoping that DomainPeople won't give you a hassle about getting access to your account and that the whole thing will be relatively painless.

Sure hope so as I don't have the time or energy to deal with much right now.

QUOTE

Are you switching hosts as well?

Not right now. Maybe after all is done and life is quiet again.

[jcarter]

When I first did this, I had not a clue, so I looked carefully on GoDaddy's site, and found their phone number. And the technician helped me thru it very nicely. I dont think it was a toll free #, but I didnt care at that point.
Jane

[RobW]

Jane, I've also used godaddy's phone tech support -- more than once for a couple of sites/domains that I have. Each time they were great--and took a lot of time to help me get things set up the way I wanted.

[jcarter]

Actually that is also the reason that I chose MacHighway, which used to be ItsAMac for my webhost. Phone support is critical for me.

[tacit]

QUOTE(kimmer @ Nov 7 2009, 06:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If I was reading correctly, I need to:
Unlock our domain (edited to add: I've verified that our domain is unlocked)
get an authorization code for .com (edited to add: in my control panel I clicked on this and got "Error! Auth Code is not available for domainname" )

You have to get the authorization code from whoever it is registered with now, not from who you're moving it to. In this case, that means getting the auth code from DomainPeople.

QUOTE(kimmer @ Nov 7 2009, 06:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

have a valid domain admin contact
and then move forward?

Having a valid domain admin contact means that your email address, not the email address of someone else like your ISP or the registrar, is listed in the "admin" section of the registration records.

You can find out a great deal about any domain name directly from your Mac, without going to any Web site. Since Mac OS is based on Unix, that means whois and a lot of other domain information tools are at your fingertips. All you have to do is open a Terminal window (the Terminal is in your Utilities folder, which is in your Applications folder) and type

whois domainname.com

So for example, if you type whois xeromag.com you'll get all the registration information about my Web site. If you type whois and your domain, you can instantly see who the admin contact is, who the registrar is, and so on.

[kimmer]

QUOTE(tacit @ Nov 8 2009, 08:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You have to get the authorization code from whoever it is registered with now, not from who you're moving it to. In this case, that means getting the auth code from DomainPeople.

That's what I was trying to do, sorry I wasn't clear. I was following the instructions from our hosting company (Hostway.com). I'll try to contact DomainPeople tomorrow or later this week.

QUOTE

Having a valid domain admin contact means that your email address, not the email address of someone else like your ISP or the registrar, is listed in the "admin" section of the registration records.

Well ... #@$%^&*( .... This is what comes up:

QUOTE

Registrant:
        WhoisProtector, Inc. (ourdomain.com)
        1 North State Street Suite 1250

        Chicago, IL 60602
        US

        Registrar: DomainPeople Inc.

        Domain Name: ourdomain.com
                Created on .............2004-01-15-13.26.52.000000
                Expires on .............2010-01-15-15.26.52.000000
                Record last updated on .2009-11-06-12.25.55.663000
                Status .................ACTIVE

        Administrative Contact:
                WhoisProtector, Inc.
                Dom Admin
                1 North State Street Suite 1250

                Chicago, IL
                60602, US
                +1.3129947654

                ourdomain.com@mail1.whoisprotector.com

        Technical Contact:
                WhoisProtector, Inc.
                Dom Admin
                1 North State Street Suite 1250

                Chicago, IL
                60602, US
                +1.3129947654

                ourdomain.com@mail1.whoisprotector.com

        Domain servers in listed order:
                a.dns.hostway.net
                b.dns.hostway.net

(ourdomain.com)

Register your domain name at http://www.domainpeople.com/

So I used the Terminal to query "whoisprotector.com" and this is what I found:

QUOTE

Registrant:
        DomainPeople, Inc. (whoisprotector.com)
        200-550 Burrard Street

        Vancouver, BC V6C 2B5
        CA

        Registrar: DomainPeople Inc.

        Domain Name: whoisprotector.com
                Created on .............2004-02-13-10.48.33.000000
                Expires on .............2016-02-13-13.48.35.000000
                Record last updated on .2007-11-28-17.00.19.870515
                Status .................ACTIVE

        Administrative Contact:
                DomainPeople, Inc.
                Dom Reg
                200-550 Burrard Street

                Vancouver, BC
                V6C 2B5, CA
                6046391680

                hostway-cdm@domainpeople.com

        Technical Contact:
                DomainPeople, Inc.
                Dom Reg
                200-550 Burrard Street

                Vancouver, BC
                V6C 2B5, CA
                6046391680

                hostway-cdm@domainpeople.com

        Domain servers in listed order:
                ns1.domainpeople.com
                ns2.domainpeople.com

(whoisprotector.com)

Register your domain name at http://www.domainpeople.com/

So now I'm not clear if we actually own our domain or not; and if we do, how do I clear up this admin contact? If we don't, how do we get it back from them? Personally, if it's a huge hassle -- maybe we'll get a different domain and let our current one go.

I really, really don't have time for this at this point in my life.

[Paddy]

Kimmer, this has nothing to do with domain ownership. Whoisprotector is one of the many private registration services you can add to a domain to hide the ownership of the domain from prying eyes - or spambots.

See: http://www.domainpeople.com/more-products/...-protector.html

Now, whether you requested this or not at some point, I don't know. Usually they ding you for more money for this service, though a few domain registrars offer it for "free." Some people feel that it doesn't help the legitimacy of your domain if you use private registration. However, the importance of that can depend a bit on what your web site is actually for, so it's really up to you. I use private registration for several of my sites, including the one that is my name.

If you got your domain name through your host originally, you should have an email trail of the info you'll need to log in and manage your account. It usually isn't the same info as the info you would use to login to your server, but since you did all of this at the same time, the info may be in that same set of emails. I always both print those emails and file them, and keep them in a mail folder called passwords. You may be able to find the account number on an invoice as well.

If you can't find that info, you can call them toll free and ask them what you can do: 1.877.734.3667