TheMessiBeast Posted June 5, 2014 Lately I've been ramping up my blog for the upcoming world cup, and was interested in buying the domain. These days blogger/Google doesn't let you buy the domain through them anymore (a couple of years ago I bought a different domain super easily for about 10$ a year), so I have to figure out where to buy a domain. I would very much like to continue using Blogger's platform to write/publish my posts, and I'm not completely sure how to do that. Does anyone have any recommendations? Do you use a particular domain registrar? Google's support provides this quick list: EasyDNS GoDaddy.com ix web hosting 1and1 Yahoo! Small Business No-IP I'm completely clueless in regards to this, and my first impulse would be to use GoDaddy just because I've heard the name before and they seem to be running a pretty slick operation. I'll still give it a few days before deciding anything, and any advice/insight would be greatly appreciated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pabosher Posted June 5, 2014 Any Idle Thumbs fan would know the only option is https://www.hover.com/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheMessiBeast Posted June 5, 2014 Good point! Do you know if I could continue using Blogger's publishing platform if I register with Hover? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BenLuke Posted June 5, 2014 http://www.hover.com/wizard Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coaxmetal Posted June 5, 2014 Good point! Do you know if I could continue using Blogger's publishing platform if I register with Hover? I'm not familiar with blogger at all, but my guess it is just requires you to set a CNAME for text records for your DNS, and using hover's dns tools is really easy. If it works as part of google apps or something, that's even easier, it can auto configure that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thrik Posted June 6, 2014 I've always found Dreamhost good as a pure registrar because they give you free WHOIS privacy and are lenient to the tune of about three months when it comes to billing — handy if you own multiple domains and an inconvenient renewal or three comes up. All registrars are heavily regulated and offer virtually the same features, so there's rarely much to it beyond how much you like dealing with them and the price. The WHOIS privacy is a notable exception that the most well-known vendors tend to (rip you off and) charge for. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Leego Posted June 6, 2014 The WHOIS privacy is a notable exception that the most well-known vendors tend to (rip you off and) charge for. It's crazy that this isn't on by default. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nachimir Posted June 6, 2014 LCN.com are very good, though do charge for privacy. I like them because they're really transparent and obvious about auto-renewal being on or off, and their settings pages for stuff are pretty well laid out. Unreccommedation: Avoid webfusion or 123-reg like a science-fictional plague (webfusion own 123-reg). They're shady as fuck, and seem to commit fraud with paypal to auto-renew things after you turn it off for domains you no longer want. Also, they only have a really limited window during which they allow you to turn auto-renew off, and it has a habit of mysteriously turning itself back on. I cancelled their ability to bill my paypal account, turned auto-renew off, then saw a payment go out several weeks later for a domain I didn't want. Somehow they had re-enabled the paypal subscription and taken money, and many other people online report the same (there was even a case where apparently they failed to get access, then managed it with the paypal account of a business partner that had never been billed in relation to that 123 account before). I opened a case with paypal, they refunded the money very quickly, and 123-reg locked down my account with them, saying there was a "reactiviation fee" that exactly matched the amount they'd tried to steal. Luckily, I had no other domains with them. There seeem to be a lot of poor fucks who end up with really important domains being held to ransom by 123-reg, because of one or two others they no longer wanted. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmuerte Posted June 6, 2014 I use gandi.net for all my domains. It's got gratis DNS, with complete zone access, and whois privacy. I moved to them from godaddy a while ago because they are terrible. DO NOT use godaddy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
James Posted June 6, 2014 I've always found Dreamhost good as a pure registrar because they give you free WHOIS privacy and are lenient to the tune of about three months when it comes to billing — handy if you own multiple domains and an inconvenient renewal or three comes up.Hover also offer free WHOIS privacy on TLDs that allow it (which isn't all of them, disappointingly). I have no idea about bill leniency, though. As for pointing it to Blogger or whatever, I'm pretty sure any decent registrar will give you all the necessary CNAME etc. access. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joewintergreen Posted June 7, 2014 I'm with Hover. I also have no idea about bill leniency but their support is excellent and their site/control panel thing is simple and easy and intuitive rather than the horrible clusterfuck I've come to expect from domain registrars and hosting providers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pkirkner Posted June 8, 2014 It sounds like all you need is a registrar with domain forwarding, not any sort of hosting. You should be able to do that with just about any registrar at minimal cost. I use hover for that purpose, and it's really easy. ...they are terrible. DO NOT use godaddy. Yup, I used them for years and switching to hover was an absolute breath of fresh air. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tabacco Posted June 8, 2014 Don't give GoDaddy money for anything, ever. They're a terrible company. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Berzee Posted June 10, 2014 I've been using Namecheap for years and never had any bad experiences. Or good experiences really. They're just kind of there, which is what I want in a registrar and so that probably counts as a good experience. =P They recently upgraded their website so it's not all old-lookin' and cluttered, but I kind of miss the old one. =T Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheMessiBeast Posted June 11, 2014 Thanks for all of the advice everyone! I've just registered with NameCheap and now I'm getting everything sorted (hopefully I'll get a proper new template looking good by tomorrow). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
antikewl Posted August 25, 2014 Is there a place where current sponsor/promo codes are listed? I was about to register a domain and couldn't remember the current hover.com promo code and I can't find my headphones. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Apelsin Posted August 25, 2014 How long do the thumbs offers usually last? Is it a week (Until next episode)? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
