Definitions

• What is a domain transfer lock?

  If your domain is under a domain transfer lock, you will be unable to transfer it. If your domain is transfer locked, it could be due to the following factors: Registrar Lock: This is an internal lock that we, your domain registrar, place on your domains in an effort to keep them from being transferred or moved to another account by anyone other than the owner. Recent Transfer: Newly transferred domains also cannot be transferred within 60 days of the original transfer, which puts them under a transfer lock. This also cannot be adjusted and is a part of ICANN policy. Note: If you are setting any kind of transfer lock within your Dynadot account, this is referring to the first type of domain transfer lock listed above, Registrar Lock. How do I unlock my domain? How do I set my default transfer lock setting? How do I set or change the default domain transfer lock of a smart domain folder? What are the steps involved in the domain transfer process?

• What is a gccTLD?

  A gccTLD is a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) that is considered generic due to its branding and usage. That's what gccTLD stands for, generic country code top-level domain. gccTLDs are seen by search engines such as Google as generic instead of country-targeted for search. Basically, the top-level domain (TLD) is technically a ccTLD, but it is used and branded as a gTLD, so it's officially a gccTLD! An example of this would be Montenegro's .ME domain, which is branded for personal use, blog use, and it's even used by businesses such as About.me. Obviously the .ME domain is open for registration to anyone, but this alone does not give it it's gccTLD status (many ccTLDs are not restricted) - instead it's the way it is branded and used that gives it this status. And it's not alone... Here is the full list of gccTLDs that Dynadot supports: .BZ - Belize .CC - Cocos Islands .CO - Colombia .EU - European Union .FM - Federated States of Micronesia .IO - British Indian Ocean Territory .LA - Laos .ME - Montengro .SC - Seychelles .TV - Tuvalu .WS - Samoa See more info on gccTLDs from Google

• What is a name collision?

  According to ICANN, "a name collision occurs when an attempt to resolve a name used in a private name space (e.g. under a non-delegated Top-Level Domain, or a short, unqualified name) results in a query to the public Domain Name System (DNS). When the administrative boundaries of private and public namespaces overlap, name resolution may yield unintended or harmful results. Name collisions are not new. The introduction of any new domain name into the DNS, whether a generic TLD, country code TLD or second-level domain name, creates the potential for name collision. However, queries for un-delegated TLDs at the root level of the DNS have received renewed attention because certain applied-for new TLD strings could be identical to name labels used in private networks. A secure, stable and resilient Internet is ICANN's number one priority. Therefore, we've made a commitment to the Internet community to launch a substantial effort to mitigate and manage name collision occurrence." You may have noticed that many of the new TLD Registries have recently been releasing their domain name collisions. This is being done after working with ICANN to deal with any potential issues that could arise from these domain names. Keep an eye on our blog for any upcoming announcements on name collision releases.

• What is a third-level domain?

  A third-level domain is the section of a domain name that is to the left of the dot of a second-level domain (SLD) that is considered a domain extension. For example, .CO.UK is a country code second-level domain (ccSLD) under the .UK country code top-level domain (ccTLD). The .UK registry supports domain registration under .CO.UK with ".CO.UK" serving as the domain extension. For example, we own Dynadot.CO.UK, so our third-level domain is "dynadot". Please note that a third-level domain is different than a subdomain.

• What is an internationalized top-level domain (IDN TLD)?

  An internationalized top-level domain (IDN TLD) is a top-level domain (TLD) that uses characters other than A-Z from the English alphabet (also known as non-ASCII characters). IDN TLDs allow for characters to the right of the dot to be from the Arabic alphabet, be Chinese characters, or even simply have the proper accent marks. For example, .닷컴 is the equivalent of .COM in Korean and .संगठन is the equivalent of .ORG for Hindi speakers. IDN TLDs are different from Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) because they are to the right of the dot in a domain name. IDNs are to the left of the dot. Both ASCII and non-ASCII TLDs support IDNs. See a list of which TLDs support IDNs and search for one on our IDN search page. In addition to IDN TLDs, there are also IDN ccTLDs. What internationalized domain extensions in other languages do you offer?What is punycode?

• What is a domain hack?

  A domain hack is a domain that combines the domain name with the top-level domain (TLD) to spell out a word or saying such as ComeWith.ME. There are many TLDs that can be used to create domain hacks. Most of our new TLDs can be used to create sayings as many of them are words such as .CAB or .HIPHOP. You can create domain hacks such as GrabA.CAB or Ilove.HIPHOP. Check out our list of domain hack TLDs or see our full list of TLDs to find more awesome domain hack opportunities! You can also see more examples in our domain hacks blog post.

• What is a second-level domain (SLD)?

  A second-level domain (SLD) is the section of a domain name that is to the left of the dot, while a top-level domain (TLD) is the section to the right of the dot, also known as the domain extension. For example, our domain name is dynadot.com, with "dynadot" being our SLD and ".com" being our TLD. This part of the domain is known as "second-level" due to the hierarchy of the Domain Name System (DNS). Sometimes an SLD can be considered part of the domain extension as some domain registries use an SLD to indicate the usage of the TLD. For example, the .UK registry offers .CO.UK for general/commercial use, .ORG.UK for non-profits, and .ME.UK for personal websites. These three examples are known as ccSLDs or country code second-level domains. Also please note that some registries do not allow direct registrations on the TLD. This was the case for .UK until direct registrations were opened in June of 2014. What is a third-level domain?What is a subdomain?

• What does your website snapshot tool do?

  Our website snapshot tool takes a current "snapshot" of your website's homepage. When it does this, it retrieves the page snapshot directly from the server that hosts your domain. The reason it does this is so that no caching or propagation issues affect the snapshot. If your website's snapshot looks different from what you're seeing in your browser, you may need to clear your cache or wait for your changes to propagate. Learn how to access our website snapshot tool from within your Dynadot account.

• What is the Insta-Reg tool?

  The Insta-Reg tool is the fastest way to register domain names in bulk. To find the Insta-Reg tool, please follow these steps: Sign in to your Dynadot account. Select "Insta-Reg" from the “Tools” drop-down menu. To register domain names using this tool, simply enter the names you would like to register into the search box in a comma or whitespace separated list. Make sure you have enough funds in your account to cover the registration costs by prepaying into your account. Clicking "Register Now" will near instantly register all of the domain names as long as they are available. If a domain is not available, you can add it to your watchlist and we will notify you when it becomes available. This tool will register domains in the list until your account balance becomes insufficient. The search tool has limitations that are subject to change at any time. The following TLDs are not supported by this tool at this time: .APP, .AT, .BE, .EU, .LT, .UK, and .PL. Domain registrations using this tool are on a first come first serve basis. Registrations using this tool can only be paid for with account balance to avoid payment processing delays during the bulk registration process. New accounts are unable to use this tool at this time. Keywords: Instant Registration

• What is domain parking?

  Parking a domain (otherwise known as domain parking) is a strategy used to hold onto a domain name while not using it for typical email or website services. This often means having a domain name point to a placeholder web page which tells visitors that this domain has already been taken. Uses of Domain Parking 1. Placeholder PageMost people use domain parking to provide a temporary page for visitors to see while they decide what to do with their domain. It is common to use domain parking for ‘coming soon’ or ‘in development’ pages to hold the domain while a website is under development. It also used to simply have a page while the owner holds onto their domain name. For-sale landing pages are also a form of parking a domain, which lets visitors know the domain is for sale. 2. Monetization Domain parking is also sometimes used as a monetization strategy by domain investors to earn money on popular domain names. These investors rely on a combination of type-in traffic going to the domain and on-page advertising on the parked domain to make money, typically through the pay-per-click advertising model. There are a variety of tactics used to earn money while utilizing domain parking. If you are interested in domain parking, Dynadot provides this service free of charge when you register or transfer a domain name to us. Setting it up is as easy as changing your DNS setting. You can also list your domain name for sale using our for-sale landing page to attract prospects if you’re looking to sell your domain.