Dynadot Help

Definitions

• What is a restricted TLD?

  A restricted TLD is a top-level domain (TLD) whose registration is limited to people or entities that satisfy certain criteria. Both generic TLDs (gTLDs) and country codes (ccTLDs) can have restrictions. It is up to the TLD's registry to implement restrictions and decide on the criteria for those restrictions. An example of a restricted gTLD is .NYC, which is the TLD for New York City and requires a valid New York City address from persons or entities who want to register .NYC. An example of a restricted ccTLD would be .US, the United States' domain. Registrants for .US must have a presence in the US. You can see which of the TLDs we support have restrictions on our TLD prices page under the "restrictions" column. Please note that some TLDs also have restrictions on what domain names you can register as well as restrictions on setting name servers. For example, .CN requires the registrant to submit documentation to register a domain name. CNNIC, the .CN registry, also reserves the right to delete domain names they find unacceptable. See our Service Agreement for more info.

• What is a domain registrar?

  Dynadot is a domain registrar. A domain registrar is a company that has a direct connection with central registries so they can offer domain registrations on various top-level domains (TLDs). For example, in order to offer registrations on .COM, a domain registrar has to be accredited with the central registry of that TLD - in this case, Verisign. Although it is not a requirement for a domain registrar to also be ICANN accredited, it is something we recommend when choosing a registrar. Dynadot is proud to be an ICANN accredited registrar. Getting accredited by ICANN requires the registrar to meet certain qualifications including security and financial ones. You can find out more about what Dynadot's ICANN accreditation means for you on our blog. Want to know more about the difference between a registry, a registrar, and a reseller? Check out our blog on The 3 R's of the Domain Industry.

• What is an Internationalized Domain Name (IDN)?

  Internationalized domain names (IDNs) are domain names that either: are written in languages/scripts using Latin letters with diacritics (accents marks such as é or ü) or do not use the Latin alphabet at all IDNs allow native speakers of non-Latin based scripts to access the Internet in their own language. Since Internet usage is rising around the world and the world is full of many different languages and scripts (Chinese being the most spoken language!), IDNs offer a great way to connect with your target market no matter what they speak! We support many domain extensions that offer IDNs in a variety of languages. To see a list and search for an IDN domain, visit our IDN page. We also support several IDN extensions in a variety of languages. See a list of our IDN extensions. Please note that IDNs are represented in punycode, which puts the IDN into the character set A-Z and 0-9, to connect with the domain name system (DNS).

• What is web hosting?

  Web hosting - or website hosting - is a service that allows individuals or organizations to make their website available on the World Wide Web. Web Hosting services typically offer server space that can be purchased or rented to host your website. There is a range of options from shared hosting, which offers space on a shared server, to hosting on dedicated servers. Dynadot offers one option for web hosting: Website Builder with built-in hosting, which offers customers a simple way to drag and drop their way to a beautiful website.

• What is Sunrise period?

  A Sunrise period takes place before a new top-level domain (nTLD) officially launches. It allows trademark holders an opportunity to apply for registration of their trademarked domain names before general registration of the new TLD is available to everyone. For example, a brand such as Google is able to secure "google", which is their trademark. Following a Sunrise period is usually a Landrush period. Then, some new TLDs have an Early Access Period before General Availability. Can I register domains through Dynadot during a new TLD's Sunrise period? What are the launch phases of a new TLD?

• What does it mean when a domain is in "Auction Lock" status?

  When a domain won in our Expired Domain Auctions is added to the winning bidder's account, the domain is put in "Auction Lock" status for about 15 days. While in this status, the domain cannot be unlocked, transferred to a different registrar, or moved into another Dynadot account. However, you can set the name servers for the domain. The Whois information will still show the registrant as "Pending Renewal or Deletion." At the end of the 15 days, the "Auction Lock" status will automatically be removed. NOTE: This is different than the "Buy Lock" that is placed on Marketplace domains. Inventory from our registrar partners may have a 60 day hold depending on registry transfer requirements. Dynadot is unable to override such restrictions.

• What is an IDN variant?

  An Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) variant is an alternative form of the domain name. The most common example is if you register a Chinese domain name. Chinese has two scripts for the same character, simplified and traditional. Someone may have already registered the simplifed version of a domain, preventing you from registering the traditional version. Unfortunately, due to the current design of Verisign, the central registry for .COM, .NET, .CC, and .TV, we cannot check if a variant exists ahead of time. We can only try to register the domain and if a variant exists, we get an error message (though sometimes you will see a variant error message in our search results if we received this error on that same domain name recently). Then we automatically give you an account credit for any domains we could not register.

• Why is my domain in "Buy Lock" status?

  When you purchase a domain through our Domain Marketplace, our system automatically places it in "Buy Lock" status for 30 days. The domain can still be used during this time, i.e. you can still set your name servers, DNS, etc. However, you will not be able to move the domain to another Dynadot account or transfer the domain to another domain registrar. The reason for this lock is to prevent fraud. This lock helps protect our sellers from not being compensated for their domain and then losing the domain because the buyer transferred it out. After the 30-day period has passed, the "Buy Lock" will automatically be removed. NOTE: This is different than the "Auction Lock" that is placed on Expired Auction domains.

• What is a top-level domain (TLD)?

  A top-level domain (TLD) is the part of a domain name to the right of the dot. For example, our domain name is dynadot.com and .com is our TLD. There are several types of top-level domains: generic, country, sponsored, and geographical. Generic TLDs or gTLDs include .COM, .NET, .ORG, and many more. These types of TLDs are available to everyone. Country code TLDs or ccTLDs are for specific countries. Each country is given their own code based on ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes (in most cases, there are a few exceptions). Some examples are .US for the United States, .UK for the United Kingdom, .DE for Germany, .CA for Canada, and .NL for the Netherlands. Some ccTLDs are restricted to residents of that country, while some are open to everyone. There are also some that are more popular within their home country, while others have been marketed for other uses - two examples of this are Montenegro's .ME, which is marketed for personal websites and Colombia's .CO, which is marketed as an alternative to .COM. These types of domains are sometimes called gccTLDs. See our full list of country code top-level domains. Sponsored TLDs (sTLDs) are specialized domain extensions that have a sponsor behind them that represents a specific community that the domain will serve. For example, .XXX is a sponsored TLD intended for adult sites. Geographic TLDs (geoTLDs) are part of a new group of TLDs that are being released for cities or geographic areas. Some examples include .NYC, .ASIA, .TOKYO, and more. See a full list of regional TLDs and city TLDs. You may have heard of the new TLDs as well. Starting in 2014, many new TLDs were released. We are continuing to launch new TLDs in 2016 and it could go into additional years. See what new TLDs launched in 2014 and launched in 2015. We offer almost 500 TLDs - see our full list of TLDs to find and register your perfect domain name today! What is a second-level domain (SLD)?What is a third-level domain?

• Who is ICANN and what do they do?

  ICANN is the acronym for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which is a non-profit organization that is in charge of maintaining and coordinating the Internet, namely the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and the Domain Name System (DNS). ICANN gives out accreditation to domain Registrars (including Dynadot!) and is in charge of managing the launch of the new gTLDs. Find out more about what Dynadot's ICANN accreditation means to you. Check out this video to find out more about what ICANN does:

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