Detours Music Website Construction

Frequently Asked Questions regarding websites

1. What is a domain name?
2. How long is a domain name registered for?
3. How long does registering a domain name take?
4. How can I check for a successful registration?
5. When can I begin using my domain name for websites and e mails?
6. What are web hosting accounts and URL masking?

What is a domain name?

A domain name is your unique ID on the internet. It is your personal internet address which people from all around the world use in order to access your web site. It can be anything you want it to be as long as no one else has already used it, e.g. your company name such as www.puddingandchips.co.uk, or www.cooldude.com. The most appropriate domain name for an individual setting up their own personal website would be www.yourname.com, or www.yourname.co.uk etc. Obviously, the shorter the domain name, the easier it will be for people to remember how to access your website. Choosing your domain name is certainly an important decision, and it makes sense to think seriously about it for a while. It helps to write a few versions on paper and see how they look, before making that final decision.

Back to Top

How long does registering a domain name take?

At Detours Music we register domain names for our customers, online through the web host we use for our own website. Although there are some very cheap domain name registration service companies out there, we are very happy with the service we have received from our web host. Your domain name would then be registered directly with the appropriate registrars and secured for you on the same day that we receive your order, and fully completed within 48 hours under normal circumstances. However we cannot guarantee that the domain name will be yours until the registration process is fully completed. If the same domain name has been applied for by someone else, even a second earlier, then that domain name will be registered to them.

Back to Top

How can I check for a successful registration?

The worldwide domain name database is updated on a daily basis. There is a New Registrations List that successful registrations are added to on the same day that they were submitted. Your domain name will still appear as available for up to 48 hours during the interim period, but if anyone else was to attempt to register it after you then they would be unsuccessful.

Back to Top

When can I begin using my domain name for websites and e mails?

The Internet consists of an astonishingly high number of networks, all of which feed into each other. A process called 'propagation' spreads new information about domain names across the net as each constituent network updates its records. This process is performed by all major ISPs at different times. Therefore it may take up to five days between registering your domain name and it becoming universally accessible, and although your domain name appears as registered on the worldwide domain name database within 48 hours, you cannot yet send or receive email using that domain name nor begin uploading data to a website. You cannot use your new name for e mail or a web-site until propagation is complete.

Back to Top

What are web hosting accounts and URL masking?

A web hosting account is something that you need if you wish to have a website. It is an annual account, and what you are basically doing is buying space on the internet. Prices differ for the amount of space you choose to purchase. Again, we will send reminder e mails before the account is due to expire. However, if you really do not wish to purchase a web hosting account, you can instead have your website included within Detours Music's own web space, at a smaller cost, or you may already have some free web space provided by your ISP (Internet Service Provider). We would then use a service known as Web forwarding. This facility points your domain to any web space of your choice. When you point your domain to the URL (Universe Resource Locator, i.e. internet address) of your web space, your visitors will see the contents of your web space when they arrive at your domain. URL masking keeps your domain name at the address bar of your visitors' browser. They will not know that your web site is not hosted with your domain.

In all honesty the absolute majority of our customers choose to have a web hosting account because they feel that they then have their own true website.

Back to Top