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When you set up an account with us, your website domain name will appear in one of three forms. You may
change or upgrade at any time. For example, you could start with a simple website name and eventually
register your own permanent domain later. This page will outline the differences between each of the
three forms you may use.
Hosted Domain
The most obvious type of domain name is one that you have registered with an accredited Internet
registrar such as Register.com, NetworkSolutions or Dotster. We recommend
Register.com because of their
superior customer service and great domain management tools, however a complete list of registrars
can be found here. Registering your own domain name involves making sure that no one
else has already registered that name, submitting the necessary application, paying a fee and
arranging for website hosting services. We presume that you are considering us for your website
hosting needs if you are reading this, and we hope that you'll find our services attractive.
If you already have a registered domain name, and you are hosted with a different hosting company,
you need only sign up with us, and then change your DNS records to point
to our servers. This process is detailed here. If you do not have a
registered domain name, but are intend to get one, you should start by registering your desired
domain name, and then signing up with us. You may want to also read the DNS setup
information as well.
A hosted domain name will appear as www.mysite.com, where mysite
is your registered domain name. For example:
http://www.OrchidLover.com
Virtual Domain
If you do not want to register your own domain name, or you don't want to pay the annual fees that
are associated with owning your own domain name, another option is to set up a virtual domain name.
These are non-registered names that exist only on the Fat City servers, and are accessed through a
URL such as mysite.fatcity.com, where mysite is any name that you desire (as long
as no other customer at Fat City already has that name). For example, your virtual domain might be:
http://OrchidLover.fatcity.com
The advantages of a virtual domain are that you don't need to purchase anything, you don't need to
worry about DNS records, you don't need to worry about keeping your domain name from expiring, and
a multitude of other administrative issues. The main disadvantage is that it is not portable. In
other words, if you leave Fat City for another hosting service, your domain name obviously changes.
Virtual (and Members domain name, below) do not require, nor use, the "dot" notation -- simply select
a single word for your domain and use that.
Members Domain
The third option is to just use the Members website name that is provided to you free of charge
when you sign up with us. This has all the same advantages and disadvantages as the Virtual
Domain, but isolates you completely from any DNS changes that need to be made. In addition, it
can be made available virtually immediately after your order has been placed. You find this
style of website name used most commonly with large hosting services such as RoadRunner, GeoCities
and others. In this case, your domain name might appear as:
http://members.fatcity.com/OrchidLover
Which is best for me?
Members and Virtual domain names are provided for our customers for free. When you place your
order, specify a name and whether you prefer the Standard or Virtual style. If the name is
available, it will be assigned to you as long as you remain a customer of ours.
If you want to use a hosted domain name, specify your registered domain name when you sign up
and we will verify that the name is owned by you. Once the DNS record changes have been made and
have propagated around the network (typically a one to three day process, depending on how often the
other sites update their records), your domain name will become active. There is no charge to use
your own hosted domain name, but you must already have registered that domain name before you
sign up for service with us.
No matter which style you choose, you may begin setting up your website as soon as your
account has been activated. Then when any DNS changes are complete, you'll be ready for business!
If you have any questions about domain names, which is style best for you or your company, or
other issues not addressed here, please
E-mail us
and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
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