Many have used WontonGold to get started with their own domain name on the Internet. To make this process as easy as possible, this page explains how it works.

Before looking into details, let's explain what a domain name is. It is basically just a name, intended as the last part of names in the Domain Name System. That system is used when you are looking for computers, for example because they occurred in a URL. To support a URL like http://wontongold.com you would have to register wontongold.com as a domain name.

Ownership of domain names is for a duration of some years, namely the amount you paid for. The prices range around $15 per domain per year. During that period you can setup names in DNS, change them, and so on. When the period is about to end, you will be warned and get a chance to renew for additional years. If a domain is long expired, it is freed up for registration by others.

Below, we will first introduce some general knowledge; if you are already knowledgeable in this area, you can skip to the step by step instructions right now.

Who plays a part in a domain name registration?

• You, the owner of the domain. Structures exist to make sure that you can always be traced back if anything special happens to the domain. To support situations where this happens, you surrender personal information (which will be published in a whois database). Most processes are automated, so your email address is an important one -- be sure to maintain that address with care.
• WontonGold and Tucows co-operate to get your domain name registered with the central domain name databases.
• Top-level domain registers such as VeriSign for .com domains and Afilias for .info maintain the autoritative databases with information about domains under one or more top-level domains; they keep it in whois databases that are filled with (some of the) information that you entered when signing on.
• Hosting providers service your website, mail service and overall domain name. This can take several forms, ranging from simple redirections to another place to complete and dedicated storage for your domain. These providers usually apply virtual hosting to service hundreds of customers on the same computer, which is not a problem under normal circumstances.

What technical systems are involved?

• Whois is a simple database containing mainly contact information about the domain; there is one which is central for a top-level domain such as .com which points to the registrar who registered the domain; for our service you would find Tucows. Registrars keep their own whois database with your contact information. This is publicly accessible, but you may not fake your identity according to the rules that all registrars use.
• Domain Name System or DNS for short, is a collection of name servers, which are systems that answers questions like "where can I locate the host for www.openfortress.com?" It is a lightning-fast, hierarchical system. You start looking at the root name servers, which quickly point you to the .com name servers, which in turn point you to the openfortress.com name servers, which is likely to be able to point out where the server for the requested name is located; the latter name server is yours to control. You can point to the one you want to use.
• Servers are looked up in DNS (they are referenced by something called an IP number) and they are setup to deliver a particular service. For example, deliver web pages, receive email and possibly more. This is usually provided by the hosting provider, as well as name servers that point to these web/mail/... servers.

Links below are all popups directed into the same window. This should help you read on here while testing the links.

1. Think of a name. If it is taken, which happens quite often, you can try another name. If one is taken under .com you may be able to find a .net or .org name that is free but looks the same except for the last part. The common prefix www. is not part of the domain name to register.
2. Register the name. The menu to the left allows you to do this, You will receive an email to confirm your registration.
3. Pay for the domain. At the end of the registration process you can pay for your order with the digital gold currency of your choice. You will receive a second email when your payment is accepted.
4. Wait a few days. Your payment will be processed, your domain will be registered and the name servers you registered will be pointed at. While waiting, you could track progress of your registration.
5. Find suitable hosting. There are many providers of free or low-cost hosting on the Internet.
6. Set the name server. Some hosting providers call this `transfer your domain to us'. Confusing, because a transfer is a different kind of operation. To have your domain's name servers registered in whois, and consequently pointed at from the global name servers, you should enter them in the domain name editing tool. Click on name servers and change the list that is there to whatever your hosting provider specified as name servers. You can do this as soon as your payment is accepted; if you know the name servers before you register, you can already enter the proper name servers when you register the domain with us.
• ZoneEdit is a free, independent name service that we setup by default because it is an excellent starting point for dns services on the internet.
7. Wait a few days. It takes 1 or 2 days to have a change to the name servers for your domain sink in. Luckily, any future changes can be made fast, because that only involves the name servers under your control (or under control of your hosting provider).
8. Surf, mail, etc. At some point, your domain will instantly resolve. When that happens, it has gone global. Enjoy!
9. Renew in time. That is, if you decide to continue using the domain name. You are notified 60, 30 and a few days before your domain expires. Be sure to pay in time; after the expiration date your domain goes down and recovery can be expensive if it has been down for too long. More importantly, you risk that someone overtakes your domain. Renewals simply append a year to the registration period, so there is no need to defer renewals to the latest moment.

If you are uncertain whether your domain is functioning, use the Domain Name Tracker to see the progress of your registration.

If you are curious about the currently registered information for your domain, use the Domain Name Query to read it out, or use a commandline whois utility.

If your payment is not accepted within a few days according to the tracker, something has gone wrong. Contact us if that happens, for example by replying to the registration email. Always mention your domain name if you do so!

If your website stopped responding, if it shows the wrong pages, or if mail does not fall through, your hosting provider is probably encountering problems. Contact them; we will not be able to help you.