September 2010 Archives

Our news digest for September 2010 covering the latest from the web applications and services recommended in our apps for domains directory:

• Big Cartel

  Congrats to Big Cartel on 100,000 stores!

• bit.ly

  How shortened URLs in bit.ly Pro work with custom domains after the introduction of Twitter's own t.co URL shortener.

• Blogger

  • Super simple Blogger theme - we <3 it.
  • You can now customize your blog background image.

• Gmail

  • Turn off Gmail's conversation view
  • 5 tips for using the new Priority Inbox

• Zenbe

  Email service Zenbe will be shutting down in October - here are 3 email hosting alternatives.

• Vanilla Forums

  Check out the new Vanilla 2 forum dashboard.

All customers of iWantMyname can easily configure their domain names for hosted web applications and services using our simple domains for apps setup.

Over the last few weeks we experienced some issues with our DNS manager. The result was that a small number of our customers could not update DNS records properly. For this we sincerely apologize. First our back end played up, later it was a problem with the user interface after we changed our website form framework. We should stress that the continuity of the DNS service was maintained at all times.

Changing our website forms also resulted in some of your support inquiries not reaching us. So if you did not receive an email response to a support request within 24 hours, please re-submit your message. Again, we are sorry for this problem and the delay in getting back to you!

We take our responsibilities to our customers very seriously, so we have made some changes to set things straight. We've now released a new iteration of our DNS manager and also switched to a more scalable back end. As a result, all domain registrations will use the following nameservers hostnames from now on:

• ns1.iwantmyname.net
• ns2.iwantmyname.net
• ns3.iwantmyname.net
• ns4.iwantmyname.net

Existing domain names will be migrated to the new DNS infrastructure over the next few days without any service interruption.

Thank you very much for your support and patience whilst we experienced these growing pains. Responding to feedback from our customers is how we improve, so please feel free to yell at us on Twitter, drop us an email or leave feedback if you encounter any problems in the future.

We're big fans of domain hacks at iWantMyName and would like to share a list of geeky short domains using the Greenlandic domain extension with you today. The .GL domain suffix from Greenland is our newest ccTLD (country code top-level domain) available for registration and makes really cool domain hacks possible, with some of our staff favorites being bur.gl, don.gl, ille.gl, smug.gl, stran.gl, strug.gl or tog.gl.

List of .GL domain hacks

archan.gl, ban.gl, bedrag.gl, bog.gl, bo.gl, boondog.gl, be.gl, bo.gl, bu.gl, bun.gl, bur.gl, centrifu.gl, commin.gl, crin.gl, da.gl, dag.gl, di.gl, disentan.gl, dn.gl, don.gl, dra.gl, drag.gl, entan.gl, evan.gl, fig.gl, fina.gl, gag.gl, gug.gl, gur.gl, ha.gl, hag.gl, hi.gl, hig.gl, hornswo.gl, ille.gl, in.gl, intermin.gl, jan.gl, ji.gl, jig.gl, jo.gl, jog.gl, ju.gl, le.gl, man.gl, mig.gl, mon.gl, nig.gl, octan.gl, og.gl, on.gl, pentan.gl, pan.gl, quadran.gl, ra.gl, rag.gl, rectan.gl, reju.gl, rejug.gl, shin.gl, smu.gl, smug.gl, sni.gl, snu.gl, snig.gl, snug.gl, span.gl, squi.gl, squig.gl, stra.gl, strag.gl, stran.gl, stru.gl, strug.gl, swin.gl, tin.gl, tog.gl, twan.gl, ug.gl, un.gl, unmin.gl, untan.gl, wa.gl, wag.gl, wan.gl, wran.gl, wri.gl, wrig.gl

Found a cool web address you want to register for your personal site, blog or URL shortener? Buy your own domain hack or short domain today!

As you may know, we have an affiliate program that rewards you for each new client you refer to iWantMyName. You can now get an extra 5% lifetime commission bonus if you become a domain registrar affiliate in September 2010!

Apply today and earn a 15% lifetime commission if you are, for example:

1. Running a blog or started a new website
2. A small or boutique web hosting company
3. An app developer offering custom domain functionality to your users

This bonus offer is valid until Sep 30, 2010. Sign up and join the iWantMyName affiliate program now.

Last week Six Apart announced the shutdown of their free Vox.com blog service. One shortcoming of the system was the inability to use a custom domain name for a blog which means that users have no other choice than changing their web address should they decide to move to another service such as Six Apart's own TypePad, newcomer Posterous or Wordpress.com.

This shows again the importance of having control over your web address with a custom domain name. Similar to phone numbers, domains can be transferred between providers (registrars) and more importantly you can point them to any service of your liking.

So if you are a Vox.com user, before migrating your blog to another service you should think of buying your own domain name first.

Related articles:

• 5 Personal Domain Extensions Other Than .COM
• Your Usernames Do Not Belong To You
• 20 Website Hosting Alternatives To Your Geocities Page

Online branding goes well beyond domain names. Nevertheless, they are an integral part of brand building and should be secured early on in the branding process. Entrepreneur Loic Le Meur shares some useful advice in his video series on how to build your own brand:

More episodes can be found on BuildYourOwnBrand.tv, a great example for domain branding with a .TV web address.

We've got a few country code top-level domains on sale this month. So if you want to get your personal .ME domain, a geeky .IO web address or a domain hack using the .AT or .HN internet suffix now might be the right time to buy.

• .ME - Montenegrean domain and for personal sites - $12.90 USD
• .AT - Austria's country code extension - $12.90 USD
• .HN - The web address of Honduras - $49.00 USD
• .IO - Suffix of the British Indian Ocean Territory - $79.00 USD

Check if your desired name is still available with our domain search.

P.S. Want a free .ME domain?

Monthly news digest covering the latest information from the web services recommended in our apps for domains directory:

bit.ly Pro

• Simple Custom Domain Tweet Button With bit.ly Pro

Blogger

• New real-time web analytics for your blog - Introducing Blogger Stats

Gmail

• Drag and drop attachments to save them to your desktop (Google Chrome only)
• Access two Gmail accounts at once in the same browser - Switch between different Google accounts
• Email overload? Try Priority Inbox - Organizes your email inbox. Coming to Google Apps users soon!

Kickapps

• KickApps Introduces the First True "Social CMS" - Website publishing with tons of social features.

Posterous

• Timezones (finally) and Introducing help.posterous.com

SmugMug

• New SmugMug Homepage, Quick Share on Twitter and Facebook, Marketing tips

Tumblr

• Introducing: Tumblr Android App
• One BILLION Tumblr posts - WOW!

Customers of iWantMyname can easily configure hosted web apps and services with their own custom web address using our simple domain setup service.