When are free DNS changes nothing of the sort

[simonm]

Having purchased a few domains on what I thought was a reputable host - "compila". Have a look at their website - see the page "domains overview" top right and a list of what is included with each domain.

Free Domain Name Parking
Naming Authority Fees Paid
Free Website Redirection
Free Email Redirection
Free DNS changes
No Transfer out Fees

When I came to make some DNS changes and just failed totally to find the area to do this I emailed compila. Their response:

The "free dns changes" means generally that you can perform
registrar changes and not A, www, CNAME changes etc. There
is no facility for the latter changes unless you purchase a
hosting account.

Perhaps I am missing something, but to my mind free DNS changes means just that!

Now I've got that off my chest.

Simon

[wesleyw]

Domain Registration is not hosting. DNS records are a hosting service, not a registrar service. The reason you couldn't find the area to make DNS changes is because registrars do not host DNS records.


There are plenty of free DNS services, but if you have your domains hosted on a server the host should provide free DNS record management so they are usually not needed.

just google "free dns" and you will find plenty of free dns services.

[deepsand]

Quite right.

And, it never ceases to amaze me that so many use the net to provide online resources, yet never take the time to understand how it works.

As a result, far too many find themselves unable to access their Registrar and/or Host accounts, to name but one common problem.

[Orion]

all registrars offer free DNS service at the registrar level.. honestly if you can you're better to use it there... then if anything happens to your hosting you can login at the registrar make an ip address chance and in seconds have your site live on another server somewhere else.

[villageloop]

all registrars offer free DNS service at the registrar level.. honestly if you can you're better to use it there... then if anything happens to your hosting you can login at the registrar make an ip address chance and in seconds have your site live on another server somewhere else.

I know GoDaddy offers this and it makes it very easy to edit your settings if you are so inclined.
However, certain hosting services will automate their DNS setup for their accounts, so that you dont have to manually configure everything yourself. This can be real convenient. And if the hosting service lets you make changes to this yourself all the better.
It comes down to finding a good host.

[albaby]

Move to Godaddy to get this:

http://www.ajowebdesign.com/fs-capture.jpg

12 yr user of Godaddy

[NJ]

That reminds me of an incident in the late 90's when a client didn't want to pay the domain name registration charges on top of the web development charges. Our service had industry specific proprietary software to automate web sites. Our client found an ad for a "free" domain name with some company called "Blueberry Hill" and signed up.

Out of the blue I received a phone call from him asking if we were connected with "Blueberry Hill" Well, our company was International ---- Network - nothing like Blueberry Hill; so, my first thought was that he was joking around. Turns out that he was actually receiving hosting bills from that company, as well as ours. The small print price of the "free" domain name registration was purpetual web hosting on Blueberry Hill.

Deepsand, you have it right!!! This guy had his business to run and didn't want to spend time understanding anything "technical" about having a web site. What he didn't know did hurt him. I teach Web Marketing and Design and our first class is about the cost of web hosting and domain names and all the other ongoing charges. Every quarter I receive emails and phone calls from people wanting to skip those classes. No dice! I've had students tell me later that the first class more than paid for the whole course.

[deepsand]

Move to Godaddy to get this:

http://www.ajowebdesign.com/fs-capture.jpg

12 yr user of Godaddy

Why are you posting a link that re-directs to a loop at http://www.ajowebdesign.com/images/s...my-content.gif ?

And, what has this to do with this threads topic?

[jhilgeman]

I personally have used ZoneEdit.com for years and have been really pleased with the functionality.

Pros: Free for up to 5 domains (and pretty cheap after that if you need more). Very functional - almost as good as having full-blown direct access to your DNS records. Has some API functionality, too (in case you want to do some special programming). Pretty reliable service.

Cons: Pretty much no customer service, so you have to rely on their existing help pages (and any other general DNS knowledge) to manage your DNS records. It's still pretty easy to do, though.

[deepsand]

We provide full range of DNS tools free with / without domain registration. ... You can pay in US$ via PayPal.