Buying domains

Posted by: SE_Sport_Driver

Buying domains - 05/03/2005 20:02

Does anyone here buy domain names frequently? I hate doing it because if anyone does a "whois" on your site, they get your home phone number and address... should I just fib on the info? What is an alternative?
Posted by: SE_Sport_Driver

Re: Buying domains - 05/03/2005 20:05

Forgot to add that my wife is a teacher, and I had have any info with my last name available publicly. It's already too late for a lot of the stuff I do, but I hate to add to the list of stuff you can find if you google my last name.
Posted by: tman

Re: Buying domains - 05/03/2005 20:08

Buy it off Go Daddy then and use their domains by proxy service.
Posted by: SE_Sport_Driver

Re: Buying domains - 05/03/2005 20:18

Wow, great prices too!
Posted by: SE_Sport_Driver

Re: Buying domains - 05/03/2005 22:13

Thanks again. I ended up going with their hosting too.

I know that some hosting companies offer forums/BBS as part of the deal... looks like theirs doesn't. That's my next search! UBBthreads is pricey (and probably way more than i need).
Posted by: JBjorgen

Re: Buying domains - 06/03/2005 02:21

Try phpBB. I don't like it out of the box, but if you're diligent, you can hack it to be just about anything you want.
Posted by: FireFox31

Re: Buying domains - 06/03/2005 04:13

phpBB can also be hacked easier than you want to know. The other day I watched a script kiddie take down a forum I'm familiar with (and that thousands love to death). He used a simple vulnerability (though the code isn't there anymore) which involved modifying your login cookie to make you admin. It was sad to see it happen and to watch a kid romp through a community.

Apparently phpBB is highly targeted because it's highly popular. So if you use it, make sure to stay up on patches and vulnerabilities.
Posted by: ricin

Re: Buying domains - 06/03/2005 04:52

There are a few good modified versions as well. Like this.
Posted by: loren

Re: Buying domains - 06/03/2005 07:49

Quote:
phpBB can also be hacked easier than you want to know.
SO true. The little hosting biz my buddy and I run gets nailed daily thanks to PHPBB (and MovableType, but that's another story). Our server was comprimised because of it on two occasions. You have to keep it up to date or it's toast.
Posted by: andym

Re: Buying domains - 06/03/2005 12:22

A machine I used to admin got all it's sites completely hammered thanks to a phpBB hack. Luckily I'd handed over the running of it a couple of days before so I didn't have to stay up late to fix it.
Posted by: SE_Sport_Driver

Re: Buying domains - 06/03/2005 13:41

Yikes. I wanted something that was as little hassle as possible..

But all of this may be for nothing. It's a long story, but I think I may have bit the big one here and might have to call GoDaddy.com for a refund. I'd still like them to do domains for me, so I'll offer to transfer domains from another company. But the one I just purchased may have no value for me anymore... It's a long story and I'm hoping that it's not true! :|
Posted by: Dignan

Re: Buying domains - 06/03/2005 15:34

Sorry to hear that. When you are up and running, I'd also recommend phpBB. It has been open to attacks, but what isn't these days? IMO, it's the best free solution out there, and there are plenty of things you can do with it. Plus it's incredibly easy to control it and modify it to get it exactly how you want. When I first got my website, I went with Infopop hosting services back before they bought WWWThreads. Their admin page was very confusing and poorly layed out. Not so with phpBB. I was also able to format my phpBB to look like it belonged in my site, not like exact same board as every other one out there only with different colors.
Posted by: hybrid8

Re: Buying domains - 07/03/2005 13:46

I've been with plenty of registrars and I would currently recommend namecheap.com over GoDaddy without reservation. GoDaddy is plastered with their own ads and their control panel is cluttered.

For forum software, I can only recommend Invision Power Board. They just have a lot more possibility going for them than anyone else. And a stable platform with a very nice admin control panel. I'm still running the older version - which is quite good. The new 2.x offers a lot more. It's not free, but it's bargain (one-time price, not subscription). They also offer forum hosting without you needing to buy the forum software at all - different pricing plan obviously.

And lastly, for web hosting there are a ton of choices. I have received great service for the past twwo years on a number of domains from ICDSOFT.com. They have server farms in both the US and Hong Kong - I have domains on both. Webmasters.com is supposed to be quite good and just the other day I checked out a buddy's host that was extremely reasonably prriced and also had a terrific number of features with greatt admin interface (can't recall what it is now - will try to find out)

Bruno
Posted by: robricc

Re: Buying domains - 07/03/2005 14:03

Quote:
I've been with plenty of registrars and I would currently recommend namecheap.com

I am also using namecheap for my nearly 50 domains. Great price for year-to-year billing. I didn't chime-in here before because of the Whois blocking needed. I'm pretty sure they have it, but I never added it to any of my accounts so I don't know what info it actually blocks.
Posted by: Ladmo

Re: Buying domains - 07/03/2005 14:51

I too, use godaddy and the proxy service. Best deal going for the price, and I have only had to use their customer service twice (both by my own error!) and they were polite, and responsive, and kind when they told me to be more careful!

For the hosting I went with a local hosting for my email and site hosting. Nothing fancy, but I didn't need fancy. And for 10.00 US a month, it was a good deal for me.
Posted by: SE_Sport_Driver

Re: Buying domains - 07/03/2005 15:25

I'm not too happy w. GoDaddy.com... Here is what I just sent them in their satisfaction survey and in an email. Maybe you had better luck than I did..

Quote:
I had made a mistake registering my domain when I placed my order over the weekend. I know this is my fault and not the fault of GoDaddy.com. All I wanted to do was keep my 12 month hosting and my additional domain privacy service but be refunded my $4 domain registration fee after paying an additional $8 dollar fee to transfer another domain I already own. Basically, I'd be replacing the domain that I bought over the weekend with one I already own (and would be transfering to you). By letting me do this, GoDaddy.com would still keep me as a customer for hosting, and the domain privacy in addition to gaining my domain that is currently hosted by another company. But, because "it's not possible to seperate your domain name with the hosting plan" I had to cancel my hosting through you, eat the $4 domain fee and $8 privacy fee. I've paid $12 for nothing I'll ever use and GoDaddy.com is only making $12 off of me instead of the full year of services and presumably future years of hosting... Makes no sense to me.
Posted by: hybrid8

Re: Buying domains - 07/03/2005 16:06

Their whois protection is good as far as I can tell. And I've received one year free blocking for each of my transfers and registrations.

Try looking up mypocket.com and see what you can find out from current records.

Bruno
Posted by: Dignan

Re: Buying domains - 07/03/2005 16:28

This is all I could get:

Registrant Contact:
WhoisGuard
WhoisGuard Protected ([email protected])
+1.6613102107
Fax: +1.6613102107
8939 S. Sepulveda Blvd
8939 S. Sepulveda Blvd
Westchester, CA 90045
US
Posted by: hybrid8

Re: Buying domains - 07/03/2005 16:50

I guess it works then.

Mainly I was tired of receiving spam to my tech/admin contact email. Which i've still got to change because I'm still getting some spam to it from old mailing lists I suppose.

Bruno