dotster Dotster changing

[crazyd]

I can't believe there's not any discussion about this here but it seems Dotster is trying to be primarily a hosting company from now going forward.

In fact, if you go to Dotster.com you have to register a domain or sign up for a hosting plan in order to open an account.

It seems obvious that they figure the way to make money is with hosting, and they've probably not been doing well with

just domain registrations.

The new customer interface is just a hosting control panel where your domains are listed. They did an alright job on the

domain listing design, but this move signals to me that Dotster intends to compete heavily in the very competitive hosting

market.

Also, I have the suspicion that Dotster is using OpenSRS and is therefore a Tucows registrar reseller.

:-#:

 

[Raider]

I haven't used them for so long or heard any mention of them, that I thought they were out of business.

 

[DomainsInc]

their transition is a mess and have caused many problems for me. not being able to renew certain domains, domains going missing from my account, not being able to retrive auth codes. these problems are all with an account that has not been switched to the new system yet but didn't start until all of this switching started.

 

[Theo]

Thanks for the heads up. Last used them in 2010 and have zero domains there.

 

[crazyd]

The future of Dotster remains to be seen...

 

[RTM.net]

I didn't realize there was such collective negative sentiment towards Dotster; I think I only have 1 domain there and may already have transferred it out. Not sure where they went wrong (if their situation is indeed as dire as this thread indicates) but guess that's just how market share can go over time.

 

[Mark Talbot]

Yes, I have never used Dotster.

And yes, I have watched many a company in the last 16 or so years that provided a core service, trend toward parallel selling hosting space (or some other online endeavor designed for revenue production), usually a few months before they fail or bail.

It is just a last ditch effort to churn some bucks where the main business model doesnt work on its own.

It isnt a prediction on my part,..it is just inevitable.

 

[crazyd]

I did some research and what you find is that Dotster is owned by EIG as of July 22, 2011, the same company that owns Hostmonster and Homestead, and many others. It appears that Dotster is using Tucow's OpenHRS service for domain registrars. Domain.com is an accredited registrar, so Dotster uses their accreditation for its registration service. Dotster used to be accredited, but apparently is no longer because it is no longer on the list of accredited registrars.

So if you look at the recent changes within Dotster as becoming more of a hosting outfit than a pure domain registration site, these changes may upset domainers such as myself who like to open new accounts without having to register a domain or purchase a monthly hosting plan, but it seems more clear that the company may not be undergoing a "last ditch effort" to stay alive, but rather the master company (EIG) may be trying to make Dotster more profitable and if they are not able to do so, they can absorb a loss because they are already (presumably) very profitable as a whole.

Who knows, maybe ultimately the Dotster name will become absorbed by Hostmonster or one of the others, e,g, I can see the slogan "Dotser is now Hostmonster". Time will tell. We just have so little information to go on right now.

One thing is for certain, Dotster needs to address the technical problems on their website such as management of domain names issues that are now apparently managed in an OpenHRS account at Tucows. Some people have had issues with not being able to manage their Dotster domains. Other issues exist as well.

 

[Raider]

They were one my Registrars when I won domains on their Namewinner platform, which had a great format as I remember.. And their PPC was pretty good as well, but the reg fees were pricey so I didn't keep my domains there for very long.

 

[crazyd]

Dotster still has the domain PUSH feature, I found out. You have to select the domain(s) and then click the "Modify Selected Domains" link at the bottom. Then the "Move domains" link. I didn't see it under the individual domain settings so that threw me off.

 

[amplify]

Back in 02ish, Dotster was my primary registrar because they were a local company.

 

[crazyd]

I guess we just keep our eyes open and see if the new Dotster platform works out

 

[crazyd]

UPDATE: I did a little experimentation, and it turns out you can create a new account without making any purchase. Just select a hosting plan, then enter that you are using an existing domain, and then delete the hosting plan from the shopping cart, and you will see just "Free domain services" in the shopping cart.

Correction: You may have to "register" a new domain, but you will delete that from the cart. Unless of course you want to really register it. It has to be an available name and it will become your account name. Choosing "existing domain" won't let you remove that "transfer" from the cart.

 

[crazyd]

UPDATE: I did a little experimentation, and it turns out you can create a new account without making any purchase. Just select a hosting plan, then enter that you are using an existing domain, and then delete the hosting plan from the shopping cart, and you will see just "Free domain services" in the shopping cart.

Wait, maybe not, the system asks for credit card or Paypal, and if you choose Paypal, you are to submit payment for $0 for "Future payments". So I didn't proceed through.

 

[crazyd]

Err, yes it can be done I found out. You can either choose new domain or use an existing domain, and then simply remove that item from the cart, along with any hosting plan, and if you put your credit card in, you can create a new account. Note that the system creates your username based on the domain name you choose (even if you deleted the domain from the cart). You just have to set your password via email link sent to you. But the point is, this can be done, you can create a new Dotster account (or Domain.com account) without paying for a hosting plan or a new domain or domain transfer.

Make sure to "downgrade" your account to a parking account if you are not getting hosting. This is done with the "Account Renewal" icon under Account Information in your control panel.

 

[adutopia.com]

I have several thousand domains with them and the new system has been a horror story. If you want to buy and sell domains two months ago i would have highly recommended them. Now i have nothing but negative things to say since they implemented there new system. I am looking at moving the domains.

 

[crazyd]

The domain management area "DomainCentral" is actually kinda cool. I like to have the total number of domains printed somewhere, though. In the back of my mind I keep thinking that once they get things ironed out, this might be a cool new registrar. Once you've moved your domains out, everything might be fixed and cool. I just can't make up my mind on this registrar yet.

 

[webadresim]

Dotster still has the domain PUSH feature, I found out. You have to select the domain(s) and then click the "Modify Selected Domains" link at the bottom. Then the "Move domains" link. I didn't see it under the individual domain settings so that threw me off.

Alternative method for push (working on Netfirms too because they using vDesk panel too):

1) Delete your domain from your panel with "Remove domain from account" option.

2) Now, any user can add domain to their account with "Add Existing Domain" option (top of domains list in Domain Central Section)

))


maybe funny but it is not joke ))

 

[crazyd]

Alternative method for push (working on Netfirms too because they using vDesk panel too):

1) Delete your domain from your panel with "Remove domain from account" option.

2) Now, any user can add domain to their account with "Add Existing Domain" option (top of domains list in Domain Central Section)

))


maybe funny but it is not joke ))

This would seem to me to be very RISKY. Deleting a domain from your Dotster/Domain.com account will put that domain into a general holding account most likely,
and since this registrar is involved in the aftermarket, it may keep the domain for themselves and put it up for sale. It is simple enough just to use the normal method for pushing domains. However keep in mind that you can only push from Dotster to Dotster, Domain.com to Domain.com, and subaccount to subaccount. You can open a ticket to have a domain pushed across from Dotster to Domain.com, etc, but the domain whois needs to be updated by them because the registrar provider changes in the whois otherwise the domain will be unmanageable after the push ("More Info") .

Stay away from this method of deleting your domain unless it's a domain not actually registered with Dotster/Domain.com and you are removing it from one account
and adding it to the other account for hosting management purposes.

 

[webadresim]

I guess they are can NOT sell my domain, if I deleted from my account too. Any domain, in your account or not, already on Dotster's hand. I think they can't do any mistake. Because they are Icann Registrar.