JDWeb Consulting FAQ
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Frequently Asked Questions (Updated)
This FAQ is dedicated to clients of JDWeb Solutions during 2004-2007. It addresses questions about renewing and transferring domain names and more. If you have a new webmaster or company handling your website, please be sure to direct the person to this very pertinent information.
Q. My domain name has expired! Help! What do I do?
Q. How do I renew my domain name?
Q. Do I have to setup my own JOKER account to renew my domain name?
Q. How much does it cost to renew my domain name?
Q. Should I setup my own free JOKER account, and is it hard or easy?
Q. How do I setup my own free JOKER account to access my domain name(s)?
Q. Why don't you seem to like or use GoDaddy?
Q. Are there other content management systems (CMS) other than NetMinistry?
Q. Please send FTP information.
Q. How do I update my website without FTP information?
Q. Who can update my website for me? Don't I need to be a webmaster?
Q. But I don't want to update the website myself!
Q. I'd like to purchase a new domain name. How do I do that?
Q. Can I have e-mail with my domain name? Is that possible?
Q. My domain name has expired! Help! What do I do?
A. If your domain name has recently expired, it's not too late to renew it! See the steps in the next question on how to renew your expired domain name. You have approximately 30-days to renew your domain name after it expires.
Additional Notes:
*Even after 30-days there are still steps that can be taken to renew your domain
name. If you don't know how long it's been expired, no worries, still try
the steps below to renew your domain name, and you will be informed if the
domain name has entered into what's called "redemption status."
Redemption status normally takes place 60-days after a domain name expires and
there's an FAQ below on exactly what redemption status is and what to do if your
domain name is in currently in or pending redemption status.
*Also note that if it's been way beyond 60-days; for example, your domain name expired last year some time and you never renewed it, it's actually possible for you to get the same domain name simply by re-registering it, as long as it's still available and no one else has taken the name.
Q. How do I renew my domain name?
A. Here are the quick steps to renew your domain name; it
only takes about 5-10 minutes to renew your domain name.
Notes: Anyone with a major credit card can renew a domain name. Also be
advised that you do *not* need to login to Joker's website to complete these
steps.
That's it! If your domain name had expired, your website should be back up in about 1-2 hours or less. Usually it takes affect in 15-minutes.
Q. Do I have to setup my own JOKER account to renew my domain name?
A. No, you do not. You do *not* need to login to the JOKER website to renew your domain name. Just go to the JOKER.COM website and click "Renew Domains" (complete step-by-step directions are listed above). Anyone with a major credit card can renew any domain name in the Joker system. Just be sure to follow the above steps.
Q. How much does it cost to renew my domain name?
A. It costs $12 USD. JOKER charges $12/year/domain name.
You can also renew your domain name for more than one year at a time, if desired. You may want to renew for multiple years if you know you plan to keep the domain name for a long time; that way you don't have to worry about renewing it every year. Sometimes people forget or their e-mail changes and they don't get the renewal notices or warnings to renew it, etc. So it's a good idea to renew for more than one year at a time when possible.
A. Anyone can administrate his or her domain name, if desired. This can be done at JOKER's website (JOKER is the registrar service we use for our client domain names). To do so, simply create your own (free) JOKER account and then you will be given a username and password to access your domain names at their website; in fact, you setup your own desired username and password. Just click the REGISTER link on their website and follow the directions.
Note: Please note that setting up a JOKER account is FREE of charge and costs you nothing!
A. The username &
password that we use to login to JOKER's website gives us access to literally hundreds of domain names
that have been setup for our clients. For obvious reasons we can't give
you that password because then you would have access to all of our client domain
names.
However, all
of our clients can very easily setup their own username and password if desired by creating
a free JOKER account to administrate all of their domain name(s) as desired (see
below on how to setup your own free account; also see above related question and
answer). Be assured, we do not own any of our client domain names, nor are
we trying to prevent anyone from
administrating and/or transferring their domain name(s). It is best for
you to show your new webmaster this information directly in the event he or she
is still insisting that we have a password to give you.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: There are some webmasters who may not have hundreds of
clients like us who actually do setup a
separate registrar account for each client. There are also some registrar companies who might
automatically create accounts for each owner on a registrar record. The registrar service we
use, JOKER, is setup in a way that allows professional companies like ours to
easily manage multiple client domain names with one centralized log-in/username &
password, and it does not automatically create username/passwords for each
domain name.
Q. Should I setup my own free JOKER account, and is it hard or easy?
A. Setting up your own free JOKER account is very quick and easy, and once you set it up, you will have the full ability and access to manage & administrate your own domain name(s); e.g., update nameservers, MX records, setup URL forwards (redirects), aliases, ANAME records, CNAME records, etc. You can even UNLOCK your domain name and TRANSFER to another registrar service if preferred (please see our FAQ on why we do not use Godaddy as our preferred registrar). Setting up your own JOKER account will also allow you to e-mail yourself the "domain password" that is needed by many registrar services for you to successfully transfer your domain name to another registrar service.
Again, once you setup your own free JOKER account, you will then have your very own personal username and password that you can login to at www.joker.com to view and administrate your domain names (see steps below on how to setup your free JOKER account).
Whether you should create a JOKER account is really a matter of preference. Our average client doesn't set one up; they simply renew the domain name at Joker's website which can be done without having any password (see steps above on how to renew your domain name).
Q. How do I setup my own free JOKER account to access my domain name(s)?
A. Here's how:
Step 1:
Go to the JOKER website at www.joker.com and
click "NEW CUSTOMER REGISTRATION (this link appears underneath the login
box on the bottom left).
Step 2:
Enter in your e-mail address and Joker will then send you a temporary
password.
Step 3:
Then use this password to log into JOKER (follow the directions in the
e-mail that is sent to you). Then you will see all of your domain names
listed!
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you do *NOT* see your domain name(s) listed after
logging in, that means
you may have registered for your JOKER account using an e-mail address that we don't have
on file for you. If this is the case, do not panic, all we need is your
JOKER ID and we can easily assist with helping your domain names show up in your admin
panel, as we can update your e-mail address to match the one you are using for
your Joker account. If you do not know your Joker ID, again don't panic;
we can still help you but it may take a little longer as we'll need to see if we
can locate it for you.
A. There are four records on each domain name: OWNER, ADMINISTRATOR, TECHNICAL, and BILLING. Our client's name is always down as the OWNER and often the ADMINISTRATOR and BILLING contact too, but we usually list ourselves as the TECHNICAL contact. So yes, we can still assist you if we're still your technical contact in the event there is an emergency and you can not do whatever it is you want to do with your domain name. We'll be happy to assist.
Note: If you want to see what name(s) and e-mail address(es) is down for these four records, do a WHOIS search on JOKER's website.
Q. Why don't you seem to like or use
GoDaddy?
A. We've used JOKER.COM for over ten years. They were introduced to us by a
colleague in the industry and we find them very easy and reliable to
use. They are a European registrar
company but since most registrar companies nowadays have web-based applications
that interface and service clients all over the globe, it is not necessary to use a registrar
that is in our locale, nor the client's locale. And while JOKER is based in Europe, we've
never experienced problems communicating with them or navigating or using their
website, as their website and all correspondence is written in American English
language, not German.
With respect to GoDaddy, the CEO of GoDaddy is the same individual that ran the controversial commercials during the Superbowl one year with the nearly naked women to advertise his company. In addition, the CEO's blog often includes items of poor taste, so he is not an individual or company I'd personally like to support. I also am disgusted with the way GoDaddy's website and control panel to be extremely commercial, tricking many of its customers into buying extra services or products that are not necessary AT ALL, yet GoDaddy's causes people to believe the product(s) they are seeling is something you need or must have. We also find their control panel VERY gawdy and disorganized compared to JOKER. JOKER does not have ads or commercials. It's strictly domains and domain-related e-mail and very straight forward and easy to navigate.
However, if you want your domain name(s) to be purchased with GoDaddy or transferred over to them, your wish is our command!
A. Yes, you do. All of our clients are the owner's of their own domain name. We put the client's name or company name, not ours. One exception is in the event we did not setup your domain name; for example, your domain name was originally registered or setup by ANOTHER webmaster or web company who put THEIR information down on your domain record and then it was still like that when you transferred the domain name to our registrar company.
Note: If the e-mail address on your ownership record is not correct, drop us an e-mail and this can be updated right away.
Q. Why is my domain name locked?
A. All registrar companies, including GoDaddy and JOKER, lock domain names to project you against another person or company taking or stealing the name from you. So it is a good thing that your domain name is locked. The only time you want to UNLOCK your domain name is when you are in the process of transferring it to a new registrar company. Only then should you ever UNLOCK your domain name.
A. It sounds like your webmaster creates websites using the traditional FTP protocol where he or she creates the website locally (and has .htm and .jpg files) that can be published online or saved to a cd-rom, containing all of the files created. We do not create our websites this way.
In contrast, most of our websites are built directly onto a web-based content management system that is not FTP-enabled where pages are dynamically created, so it's not possible to simply copy your files onto a cd-rom.
However, what we can send you, and what is much more valuable to you than simply having your HTML files & low-resolution JPG files on a cd-rom, is your original website template PSD file (i.e., Adobe PhotoShop) if one exists for your account. Then you can have any webmaster recreate your website using this professional industry-standard template file. Just let us know this is what you want. Rest assured, you own any and all pages that were created for you or by you on your website account.
Additional Note: The website content management system (CMS) that we used for many of our ministry accounts (i.e., NetMinistry aka ChurchForce, now known as Inspyre) does not have FTP capabilities to-date even though the company has informed us for a few years that they will be adding this capability. While not having FTP capability with CMS has been the standard for most CMS models in the past, the new trend is for these models to include FTP where clients can easily download their website (and republish it elsewhere if desired). We will begin recommending only companies that use these new CMS models when we begin our our new consulting service as the old model was simply too limiting for many situations where the client has valid reasons to relocate to a new environment.
A. Please have your webmaster give us a call so that we can explain how your website was setup. It is also explained in the above answer.
Q. Please send FTP information.
A. Again, most of our web accounts are built directly onto a CMS system that does not use the FTP protocol. There is literally no FTP info to give because it does not exist.
Q. How do I update my website if you can't give me FTP information?
A. Just log into your website control panel where you can quickly and easily update any page of your website.
Q. Are there other content management systems (CMS) other than NetMinistry?
A. Yes, there are literally thousands of content management systems out on the market. And you can find systems that specifically tailor to whatever it is you need: e.g., churches, nonprofits, daycare centers, real estate agents, etc.
Part of the consulting service we plan to begin in year 2010 will be examing your needs and locating these type of solutions for you. For example, if you are a daycare center, we would find the Top 5 CMS models on the web for daycares and recommend the one we think is best for your needs.
Q. Who can update my website for me? Don't I need to be a webmaster?
A. You can have whoever you want update your website, even non-webmasters. In fact, most of our clients update their own websites or have their secretary do the updates, because we've setup your website purposely so that it's easy to update. So no, you do not need to be a webmaster, nor does the person you desire to do your updates.
Note: Of course for more advanced procedures (e.g., creating flash), you may want to hire the assistance of a webmaster.
Q. But I don't want to update the website myself!
A. If you don't have a secretary available to assist you with updates, then you may want to consider hiring a webmaster or an assistant to help you with making updates. An intern or young person would be excellent for this. Have that person contact NetMinistry (aka Churchforce, now known as Insypre) directly if she or he has any problems or issues or questions with how to update your website that is created on their system. Most of our client websites were built onto NetMinistry's content management system prior to 2007. See above question and answer also.
A. We are no longer a full-time web design company as of July 2007; however, we do plan to reopen as a consulting firm some time in 2010. If you need to reach us, our same e-mail address(es) work at this time. However, it is not possible to guarantee a timely response since we are not open full-time. If we are currently assisting you with a project, this does not apply to you.
A.
Q. I'd like to purchase a new domain name. How do I do that?
A.
Q. Can I have e-mail with my domain name? Is that possible?
A.
I setup a free JOKER account but can not remember my password. What do I do?
To be continued!