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Indicates a new section and type of information in the domain name hierarchy. Consider a street address: Just as each address has more than one set of information, (personal or corporate name, street number, and city/state/zipcode), so too does a domain name. And just like the line breaks in an address indicate the introduction of new sets of information that further specify location, the dots in a domain name indicate new sets of information on its location on the internet. For instance, the dot in mydomainname.com separates the top level domain, .COM, from the second level of the domain, mydomainname, and indicates that the .COM is a more fundamental level of the hierarchy, than the second level of the domain, mydomainname.

A 128-bit encryption means there are tens of thousands of possible keys that could fit into the lock that holds your account information with us, but only one that works for each session. This level of encryption is so powerful that it is listed by the U.S. government as a federal munition— meaning that it can only be used and downloaded by citizens and permanent resident of the U.S. and Canada. We use a minimum of 128-bit encryption to ensure the safety of your credit card transactions on our website.

You can add funds to your Name.com account to pay for all of your Name.com purchases. Many of our customers keep a constant balance of funds in their account to conveniently cover their transactions. You can add funds to your account by clicking on Account Credit, located on your Account Dashboard page.

The main contact person for a domain name registered with Name.com. If the administrative contact differs from the registrant, we will assume that the administrative contact controls the management responsibilities for the domain. Name.com will contact the administrative contact if any domain issues arise. Administrative contacts can renew domain names, change nameservers, and edit contact information.

A service offered by Name.com that will automatically bill your credit card for services. For example, you can set all or some of your domains to be renewed automatically. For services with automatic billing enabled, we will bill your credit card periodically and you will not have to manually renew it at the expiration time. Automatic billing can be put in place for all your Name.com services.

A backorder is an order placed on an expired domain name that is owned by another person. If the owner does not renew the domain before or within the 77 day deletion process, it will be dropped and go up for bid among registrars. If you’ve placed a backorder on the expired domain, we’ll bid on it for you and try to obtain it. If we’re successful, you become the new owner of the domain. If not, you’ll be refunded within 1-3 business days.

The contact person responsible for all domain billing information. We will get in touch with the billing contact for any issues or discrepancies about the credit card used to register the domain.

The removal of a domain name and its record from Name.com's database. A deleted domain name is not functional and will become available, after a 30-day redemption period, for any party to register on a first-come, first-served basis. A domain name may be deleted for various reasons, including certain violations related to payment or expiration of its registration period. After a domain has been deleted and enters the redemption period, the domain can be removed from the redemption period and reinstated to active status by the original registrant for a central registry-levied fee of $120.00 ($150.00 for .CN domains).

The set of rules agreed upon by the registrant, as a part of our registration agreement, and used in connection with a dispute between you and any party other than us (the registrar) over the registration and use of an internet domain name registered by you. See our dispute policy, for more information.

A condition in which a domain cannot be transferred and DNS changes cannot be made. A customer may choose to lock a domain to ensure that no unauthorized changes may be made to it.
To learn how to lock/unlock a domain, please see our detailed instructions in the Name.com Knowledge Base.

A domain name is a way to identify strings of administrative authority, such as websites, within the internet. Each domain name corresponds to a numeric IP (Internet Protocol) address. An IP address takes the form of 4 groups of numbers, each between 0 and 255, separated by periods. Domain names allow internet users to type in a name, such as Name.com, to identify a numeric address such as 38.97.225.253. The purpose of a domain name is to allow people to connect to the internet, find websites, and send emails without having to memorize the long string of numerical addresses that computers use to locate each other on the internet.

The distributed database of alphabetic and numeric information used by computers and users to find each other on the internet. In sum, the DNS is a network of computers, data files, software, and people. DNS is essential for most internet systems since it is responsible for translating domain names to numerical IP addresses.

The act of securing a unique domain name for a specific period of time.
To learn how to register a domain, please see our detailed instructions in the Name.com Knowledge Base.

A service that allows you to create an email address with your domain name that will forward all emails it receives to a pre-existing email account. For instance, if your domain name is mycooldomain.com, you can create an email address entitled dude@mycooldomain.com that forwards to your personal email account, john@doe.com. You can also use dude@mycooldomain.com rather than john@doe.com as your return email address. This process can establish a unique and memorable identity for you and for your internet contacts.
To learn how to setup email forwarding, please see our detailed instructions in the Name.com Knowledge Base.

A secure method of sending sensitive information on the internet. For example, when you register with Name.com, your credit card information is protected using a minimum of 128-bit encryption to protect your information from unauthorized access.

The condition in which a domain name registration lapses. At the expiration date, the domain record is still available, and the web site and email attached to a domain still function normally for a short period of time. If an expired domain registration is not renewed approximately 15-30 days after the expiration date, the domain name will be deleted from our database and from the Domain Name System (DNS), terminating the domain record and the functionality of the domain name's corresponding website and email service. After deletion, the domain name enters a 30-day redemption period in which the domain is held by the registry, and the domain's website and email are unavailable for use. Once the redemption period ends, the domain becomes available again for registration on a first come, first served basis.
You may rescue a domain from the redemption period by paying the central registry, through us, a $120.00 fee ($150.00 for .CN domains). We do not set the price of this fee, and must abide by it if we retrieve domain names from the central registry's database.

The time at which a domain name registration expires. You can see this date by logging into your Name.com account and going to your Account Dashboard. The expiration dates are listed to the right of each domain.
You can also run a Whois query on your domain by visiting our whois lookup.
To extend the expiration date, simply renew your domain.

The final segment of a domain name used to further designate the location and identity of a domain. For instance, typing in www.name.com in your web browser tells your computer to go to a different place than if you typed www.name.net.

An acronym for File Transfer Protocol. FTP is used to transfer files between computers on the internet. You can use FTP to exchange files between computer accounts, to transfer files between an account and a computer, or to access software archives on the internet.

An electronic set of instructions that tells a user's computer where a domain and its accompanying resources, such as its website, are located. A host record will direct a user's computer through the Domain Name System (DNS) to a certain set of servers, identified by their IP address and on which a domain and its resources are located. For instance, if the resources of your domain, mycooldomain.com, were located at the following IP address, 38.97.225.253, and you wanted to link your domain to those resources, you would create a host record that pointed mycooldomain.com to 38.97.225.253. After doing so, anyone who typed in mycooldomain.com to their web browser would have their computer directed to the nameservers corresponding to the IP address 38.97.225.253 which contained your resources.
For more information, see our detailed instructions on how to add a new host/DNS (MX, A, TXT, CNAME, etc.) record in the Name.com Knowledge Base.

Typically the contact person at your web hosting provider.

HTTP, short for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, is the set of rules for transferring hypertext documents on the internet.

The acronym for the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, which globally coordinates DNS root, IP addressing, and other internet protocol resources. Please see ICANN's website for more information.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a non-profit corporation that was formed to assume responsibility for IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, domain name system management, and root server system management functions previously performed under U.S. government contract by IANA, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, and other entities. Please see ICANN's website for more information.
A customer should register their domain name with an ICANN accredited registrar to ensure regularized and regulated service.

The sale or transfer of a domain from one customer within Name.com's database to the account of another customer within Name.com's database. You may use our internal transfer service to quickly transfer the ownership of a domain from your account to the account of another party listed in our database. If a monetary transaction accompanies the sale and transfer of a domain, it should be handled wholly on your part and without our intervention.
To learn how to initiate an internal transfer, please see our detailed instructions in the Name.com Knowledge Base.

A unique numeric label used to identify computers in a Domain Name System (DNS) network. For example, if you were to type Name.com’s IP address into your web browser, you would end up at our website. IP numbers are the numeric counterpart to domain names and are converted by computers from domain names in order to locate resources associated with domain names on the internet.

An entry in a Domain Name System (DNS) that routes mail to an email server or forwarding service. For example, you may choose to create a MX record that routes all mail sent to dude@mycooldomain.com to a certain IP address where your email services are located.
To learn how to add a MX record, please see our detailed instructions in the Name.com Knowledge Base.

A function that redirects all HTTP (web) requests for your domain name to a destination, without acknowledging the redirection on a user's browser. For example, if you forward your domain "mydomain.com" to "yourdomain.com," any web requests for "mydomain.com" will be directed to "yourdomain.com," without broadcasting the redirection.
To learn how to enable URL forwarding, please see our detailed instructions in the Name.com Knowledge Base.

The computer network that has both the software and the data required to translate domain names to Internet Protocol (IP) numbers, and thus to help route users and their data to the correct website or location on the web. Your web hosting agents will most likely ask you to use their nameservers as a part of their services for your website. Name.com provides free nameserver registration and DNS services when you purchase a domain name with us.
To learn how to change your nameservers, please see our detailed instructions in the Name.com Knowledge Base.

Registration of a domain name without the immediate creation of a corresponding web site. A registered domain using our nameservers that does not have a corresponding website will direct users to a personalized parking page when its URL is entered into a web browser. To use our parking pages, make sure your nameservers are set to ns1.name.com and ns2.name.com.

The six-digit or longer case-sensitive code used to access your Name.com account, Google Workspace account, etc. Note: We advise that you use different passwords for each service.
To learn how to change the password for your Name.com account, please see our detailed instructions in the Name.com Knowledge Base.

A payment profile saves your credit card information within your Name.com account. After it’s enabled, you will no longer have to enter your credit card information for each purchase. Instead, you just check a box for the desired payment profile, and we will charge that credit card for your purchases.

The first server used for information about and the location of resources associated with a domain.

A 30-day period after a domain has expired and been deleted from our database. Deletion occurs anywhere from 1 to 45 days after expiration. During the redemption period, a domain is frozen in our database and cannot be accessed by any party (including us) for use, renewal, registration, or transfer. Furthermore, the web site and email attached to a domain name will not function during the redemption period. Once the 30-day redemption period has expired, the domain is once again available for registration (by any party) and use after a 5-day registry hold. The registrant can retrieve a domain name out of the redemption period only by paying a $120 ($150 for .CN domains) fee through us, to the central registry.

The owner of a domain name and the person ultimately responsible for domain issues.

The central storehouse and controlling body of domain names. There is a registry for each extension. For instance, Verisign Global Registry is the organization that controls all .COM domain names. We, as an ICANN accredited registrar, interact with the Verisign and other registries so we can register domain names for customers.

The process of extending the expiration date for a domain name from one to nine additional years.
For a very short period after your domain name expires, it is available for you to renew. During this period, we may charge a service fee of up to $20.00 to renew the domain, and after this time, your domain becomes unavailable as it enters the redemption period. Therefore, it is imperative that you renew your domain before the expiration date.
To learn how to renew your domain, please see our detailed instructions in the Name.com Knowledge Base.

The highest level of the Domain Name System (DNS).

That portion of the domain name appearing after the top-level domain. In a domain name, it appears immediately to the left of the top-level. For instance, the 'mydomainname' in mydomainname.com is the second level of the domain name.

The server that takes over if the primary goes down; the secondary nameserver also helps out in extreme load conditions.

The acronym for Secure Socket Layer. SSL is a method for hiding the information a web browser and a web server send to each other. An SSL-enhanced website, such as ours, uses SSL encryption to scramble confidential data, like credit card information, into an unintelligible string of seemingly random characters.

Creating a sub account will create a new user account with the same default contacts and default nameservers. The sub account will have default pricing and security settings. Sub accounts are good for those that want to register domain names for others and then move them into other accounts for their customers.
To learn how to create a sub account, please see our detailed instructions in the Name.com Knowledge Base.

The person responsible for technical matters relating to a domain. We may contact the technical contact concerning issues relating to a domain's nameservers, IP address, URL forwarding, email forwarding, or host/MX records.

Appears to the left of the second level of the domain name. For instance, “ben” in ben.name.com is the third level of the domain name. A third level domain is controlled by the nameservers used by a registrant.

The part of the domain name furthest to the right. For instance, the .COM in name.com is the top-level of the domain name.

The movement of a domain and its current registration term from one registrar to another.
For detailed instructions on how to transfer a domain to Name.com, please see our Name.com Knowledge Base.

A URL is a standard way of identifying things on the internet, such as a website, web page, file, or newsgroup. The first part of the URL, before the colon, indicates the method of access; for websites, this is designated by the letters HTTP. The part of the URL after the colon is interpreted through the access method. For instance, our URL is https://www.name.com/fr-fr. The first part indicates the method of access to our website, and the second part, including the slashes, indicates the name of the resource, our domain name, and the location of the resource—our website.

A function that redirects all HTTP (web) requests for your domain name to a destination. For example, if you forward your domain mycooldomain.com to Name.com, any web requests for mycooldomain.com will be redirected to Name.com.
To learn how to setup URL forwarding, please see our detailed instructions in the Name.com Knowledge Base.

The case sensitive code used in conjunction with your password to log in to your account with us.

The service, and its operators, that provide the software and hardware with which a website is generated; a web host also maintains the presence of the website on the internet. In short, a web host acts as a virtual construction and management company for your domain's website.

A tool used to look up registered domain names. Whois can provide the following data about a registered domain: registrant, administrative, technical, and billing contact information, including physical and email addresses and phone numbers; expiration date of the domain; nameservers used by the domain; the domain's current registrar; and the status of the domain.

A part of the total domain name space identified by the information on a specific nameserver. The nameserver has control of the zone—or the specific part of the domain name space—represented by that information.

A file with data describing a part of the DNS namespace. Zone files hold the data needed to resolve domain names to an Internet Protocol (IP) address.