I recently signed up for a web host package from ipage. My directories were wiped clean so I dropped the hosting package but kept the rights to my domain. Does anyone know how I would go about accessing that domain once I set up web hosting? There are no files on the site, but I do own the rights to it. I want to set up my own hosting from my computer to test if it works. Any advice or resources provided would be greatly appreciated.
Chosen Answer:
You have to have paid hosting. You can use ANY hosting site and point the named servers to it via your Domain Manager. If you transfer the domain name to the new hosting site so you can pay for both hosting and name on renewal, then you will have to do that again through the Domain Manager.
Tutorial: Move a Website to a New Server – The Seamless Way: http://www.elated.com/articles/move-website-to-new-server-the-seamless-way/
URL redirection: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL_redirection
CNAME Setup Instructions for Popular Registrars: http://www.coffeecup.com/help/articles/how-to-set-up-and-test-a-cname-domain-with-s-drive/
Useful Tools/Info:
How to Register Your Own Domain Name: http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/registerdomain.shtml
How to Buy a Domain Name: http://www.webdeveloper.com/management/manage_buying_domains.html
15 Tools For Finding a Perfect Domain Name: http://slodive.com/design/tools-for-finding-a-perfect-domain-name/
Web Design Tips: http://www.webweaver.nu/html-tips/
http://hapedit.free.fr/tools.php
Webmaster Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.thesitewizard.com/faqs/
Ron
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on: 14th September 11
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You go thru the registrar to make changes to the domain name.
If you don’t know who the registrar is – you should have gotten an email, then check http://betterwhois.com and this info will be somewhere on the lookup for your domain.
As “Smelly Cat” says you must configure the domain to use the server where you have the web site. If you are going to have the web site in your system then you need to have a static IP address; you probably must pay your ISP a little extra to have a static IP address. It must be static because you must put the IP address in the registrar’s configuration for the domain.
Determine who the registrar is if you don’t know. You need to know the userid and password associated with the account. Ensure that the information in the regisry is corect; that it has your name, address, phone number, email address and such. Be sure to turn off the option to allow changes without your permission; I forget what it is called but there is something that allows otehr people to transfer a domain name to themsleves. It is strange but true. Be sure to have a valid email address iin the account that you monitor in case some thing happens.
OK, not as hard as it sounds – if iPage registered the domain for you, then they should allow you either to:
either, configure the DNS settings yourself
or, allow you to move the domain registration to a service that allows this.
To move the domain away, they will issue a release code which you give to your chosen service – personally I use 1and1 internet and GoDaddy…
Once you have access to the DNS settings there are a few ways in which you can ‘point’ your domain at a server:
1. nameserver – the nameserver of your chosen hosting service this ‘tells’ a visitor that xyz.com domain lives on a particular server – both the ‘www’ part of the domain and the email records are then accessed on your host server. If you are planning to do your own hosting, then I think nameserver settings are no use to you as you won’t have one…
2. IP address ‘pointing’, you can merely add your PC IP address into the DNS settings as the destination of your domain. You will then need to configure your server accordingly – but that’s another question (about which I know very very little). I do know however, that I can’t do this with my internet provider because my IP is not fixed and therefore I would have to keep changing the DNS every few days!
I have recently built a small site (getting bigger every day) telling people how to build and host sites for free:
http://www.free-webs.co.cc
…and I have also written a short article about the domain registration services and hosting services that I use. I would highly recommend webhostingpad as an unlimited hosting package – nowhere near as expensive as you might think… and also 000webhost who give you a free cpanel hosting (naturally it’s a bit limited – but is is FREE!!) – that has to be better than having the headache of hosting your own site? If you still want to go down this route, then I think you will want to set up ‘apache’ server on a linux OS – this seems to be a more popular choice than using a windows OS, although you can presumably set up apache in a windows environment too.
Anyway – I hope some of what I have said has been of use to you – the link to the article I mentioned is below:
You have to have paid hosting. You can use ANY hosting site and point the named servers to it via your Domain Manager. If you transfer the domain name to the new hosting site so you can pay for both hosting and name on renewal, then you will have to do that again through the Domain Manager.
Tutorial: Move a Website to a New Server – The Seamless Way: http://www.elated.com/articles/move-website-to-new-server-the-seamless-way/
URL redirection: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL_redirection
CNAME Setup Instructions for Popular Registrars: http://www.coffeecup.com/help/articles/how-to-set-up-and-test-a-cname-domain-with-s-drive/
Useful Tools/Info:
How to Register Your Own Domain Name: http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/registerdomain.shtml
How to Buy a Domain Name: http://www.webdeveloper.com/management/manage_buying_domains.html
15 Tools For Finding a Perfect Domain Name: http://slodive.com/design/tools-for-finding-a-perfect-domain-name/
Web Design Tips: http://www.webweaver.nu/html-tips/
http://hapedit.free.fr/tools.php
Webmaster Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.thesitewizard.com/faqs/
Ron
Hello,
You have to first set up nameservers with your domain name in order to connect the server with your specific domain name.
After that you can start doing all of your various other things.
Thanks
If you want to setup your own computer to host your site you should use: http://www.zoneedit.com/dynamicDNS.html
Simply change the DNS of your domain and you are ready to go.