Life of a Website Domain Name

Tdm · November 21, 2015, 08:30:50 PM

I am a Moderator on our Community Website which has been in operation for about 5 years and includes a Forum facilty for "Owners" of property on the Community.

The Website has an "Administator" (who originally set it up), and 2 Moderators - myself and one other. Unfortunately we have not been able to get hold of the Administrator for about 2-3 years now in order to rectify a few minor errors, but today everyone who has tried to log onto the site (castleharbourcommunity.com) which is open guests as well as owners - now gets the message "This domain name has expired".

I thought a domain name was permanent and didn't have a fixed life - but this appears not be be the case. Being unable to contact the Website Administrator who has all the Website priveledges I don't know how we can rectify this problem. It appears he has left the Island (or died!) and is not answering telephone calls or emails either directly or through the company he worked with and I have exhausted all attempts at contacting him.

We are presently trying to find another Website designer to take over administration of the site. Anyone on here had or is aware of this problem, and more importantly how to overcome it?

Thankyou in anticipation of your replies.
Have a go at logging onto the Website to see the message that is now coming up.
To repeat it - it is :- castleharbourcommunity.com.

Regards

Terry

MJKERR · November 21, 2015, 09:19:24 PM

A Domain Name is live for as long as the renewal period applies
Once a Domain Name expires it usually ends up suspended
What happens after that depends on the registrar
In this case it is a .com so will enter a grace then redemption period, after that can either be re-registered by someone else (common if it is popular) or it will expire

As the registrant cannot be contacted you sadly need to assume the Domain Name is now dead

.com Domain Names can be renewed in stages of 1 year up to 10 years
.uk Domain Names can be renewed in stages of 1 year, but it is usually 2 years (changed recently from 2 years to 1 years)

The only other advice I can give is to setup a new Domain Name and website, then put the word out that it is the website formerly known as, it often works
Example :
castle-harbour-community.com

As an aside, I have a few clients that have been renewing Domain Names / websites every year, but then suddenly decide not to renew, not realising they will lose the Domain Name
I had one such client that was with me for 9 years, and did not respond to the expiry notice
The Domain Name has now passed the expiry period and was re-registered by someone else
They threatened legal action, but my Professional Indemnity Insurance confirmed this was not even possible!
Equally, if a client cannot afford the renewal then I can place the Domain Name on hold, rather than them lose it, and then when they can afford it can then renew as normal

Mustermark · November 21, 2015, 09:49:03 PM

Terry, that website is registered through enom.com. Although the whois register shows that client transfer is disabled, enom may be prepared to work something out, as they would probably rather the expired domain was being paid for again (my websites cost a few dollares a year for the domain name and additional cost for hosting). It seems from the whois register that the domain registration runs for another year... I'm not sure if that means it has been paid for or if that is just the date on which enom will abandon it and potentially make it available again. It is possible that it is just the hosting that expired, but that is not what is indicated by your error massage. Might be worth contacting enom or their reseller to clarify what could be done. This phone number is listed: 1 (425) 274-4500 for enom, but it also shows this contact for their reseller:
Namecheap.com
http://www.enom.com
8939 S. Sepulveda Blvd. #110 - 732
Westchester , CA
+1.6613102107
support@namecheap.com

rhysapthomas · November 21, 2015, 09:53:34 PM

A whois query reports the following info your domain is currently registered by ENOM

However looking at the dates I wonder if they have picked up the domain when it expired with a view to resale

If you type your domain name into google it takes you to an ENOM site which does give options to renew but I would be very careful they may want far to much money to renew

Not really my field but be careful I think there are sharks in this field

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

Domain Name: CASTLEHARBOURCOMMUNITY.COM
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 48
Whois Server: whois.enom.com
Referral URL: http://www.enom.com
Name Server: DNS1.NAME-SERVICES.COM
Name Server: DNS2.NAME-SERVICES.COM
Name Server: DNS3.NAME-SERVICES.COM
Name Server: DNS4.NAME-SERVICES.COM
Name Server: DNS5.NAME-SERVICES.COM
Status: clientTransferProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Updated Date: 20-nov-2015
Creation Date: 19-nov-2008
Expiration Date: 19-nov-2016

MJKERR · November 21, 2015, 11:14:09 PM

eNom will not enter into any form of communication, other than the account holder
The Domain Name has expired so is now showing the holders details, unless it is renewed

Yet_Another · November 22, 2015, 12:04:56 PM

I feel for you, having had similar, but different experiences.

I just did a quick google and found this :

http://www.thesitewizard.com/domain/reclaim-website-from-bad-web-designer-host.shtml

The bottom line does seem to be either get control back through the original admin, or start again.

Tdm · November 22, 2015, 03:10:21 PM

Just like to say a big thankyou to all of you who replied with advice.

Will study the replies and let my wife decide what she wants to do as
she is the President of our Complex and ultimately responsible for everything that goes on.

Will keep you posted on how things progress.

MJKERR · November 22, 2015, 03:20:59 PM

My advice to prevent this happening in the future, and I always recommend for organisations, etc

Setup the account so that two people are responsible for the website
One person is the main contact, and deals with day to day operations
The other is a deputy, receives copies of all contact, and deals with the website when the main contact is unavailable
Many providers (including myself) can support this

Equally, do not use an eMail address associated with the Domain Name, unless you are sure the Domain Name will not be allowed to expire
There is well known company that forgot to renew their Domain Name, using an eMail address associated with that eMail address, and it cost them a fortune to get that Domain Name back!

Mr Sprue · November 22, 2015, 06:01:13 PM

For what its worth it looks as if you will have to probably register a new domain name. Something I do is register my names with 123-reg.co.uk, Once the set term for the domain name is paid for I then park them there which is absolutely free.

I then point them to a host I am using, the reason for doing this is a: You have the freedom to switch host's when you want and get the best deals b: The host cannot charge you transfer fees or hold onto to your name c: Your domain name stays here in the UK in one place!

Hope that advice helps you.

Graham Walters · November 22, 2015, 09:48:09 PM

Quote from: Tdm on November 22, 2015, 03:10:21 PM
Just like to say a big thankyou to all of you who replied with advice.

Will study the replies and let my wife decide what she wants to do as
she is the President of our Complex and ultimately responsible for everything that goes on.

Will keep you posted on how things progress.

First thing to do is see if you have any e-mail addresses for members, that can start the ball rolling, you can even set up a Facebook page, most communities now have one, so a notice on there about a new startup may be a good idea.

I've had a few customers domains lapse, simply because they have not paid the invoices I've sent them for re-newal, a far as I know these domians tend to get sold off to domain re-sellers hoping to make a lot of money on them.

One way around it is to create a new Domain with a different TLD, so you lose the .com but gain a .net, then it's down to Google and other search engines to pick it up and index it, you simple add in the rich snippet, ( the google descripton) that this is the site formally known as ......, this may bring back members, then the word spreads naturally with a bit of encouragement from members.

Tdm · November 23, 2015, 04:51:14 PM

Thanks once again for your further replies.
I am currently in contact with "NAMECHEAP" and below is a copy of their reply just received.

I am a little confused when they say the domain may be reactivated....but I can't manage it...
Does that mean that Users such as my self and all other owners who are registered as Users will be able to log onto and use the website again, but there will be no "Administrator" in charge of the site who will have all the priveledges associated with an Administrator - such as setting up new Moderators, and assigning Moderator priveledges?

?

NAMECHEAP's latest reply :-

We have procedure that is called Renewal of Domain for Non-registrant. We can contact the domain holder at the email address associated with the corresponding Namecheap account and if we receive no objections regarding domain reactivation from them within 24 hours, we will be able to proceed with the reactivation.

You will need to create an account with us and deposit the amount necessary for domain reactivation ($10.87). Please note that the domain name will not be moved into your new account. It will remain in the current account and you will not be able to manage the domain after renewal. Unfortunately, we will not be able to provide you with the access to the domain through this procedure, it will only allow the domain reactivation.

MJKERR · November 23, 2015, 05:05:41 PM

Quote from: Tdm on November 23, 2015, 04:51:14 PMI am a little confused when they say the domain may be reactivated....but I can't manage it...

This ensures it does not expire and is not lost
If you do not have access to the account then you can continue to view the website, but forum access may be limited
However, this would allow you to disable the forum, if you have admin access and post a message to visit a replacement website

They will forward the eMail you send them, but it will most likely be the same eMail address you already have for the registrant

davidinyork · November 23, 2015, 05:07:57 PM

Quote from: Tdm on November 23, 2015, 04:51:14 PM
Thanks once again for your further replies.
I am currently in contact with "NAMECHEAP" and below is a copy of their reply just received.

I am a little confused when they say the domain may be reactivated....but I can't manage it...
Does that mean that Users such as my self and all other owners who are registered as Users will be able to log onto and use the website again, but there will be no "Administrator" in charge of the site who will have all the priveledges associated with an Administrator - such as setting up new Moderators, and assigning Moderator priveledges??

NAMECHEAP's latest reply :-

We have procedure that is called Renewal of Domain for Non-registrant. We can contact the domain holder at the email address associated with the corresponding Namecheap account and if we receive no objections regarding domain reactivation from them within 24 hours, we will be able to proceed with the reactivation.

You will need to create an account with us and deposit the amount necessary for domain reactivation ($10.87). Please note that the domain name will not be moved into your new account. It will remain in the current account and you will not be able to manage the domain after renewal. Unfortunately, we will not be able to provide you with the access to the domain through this procedure, it will only allow the domain reactivation.

It just means it will be reactivated to how it was set up before, and you won't be able to change the configuration as you don't have control of the account. Fairly pointless, I would have thought!

You might well be best to just abandon it and set up a new site with a new URL. If you are in the UK, I would recommend a .uk domain name as that then comes under the control of the UK domain name registry (Nominet) who are much easier to deal with.

MikeDunn · November 23, 2015, 05:12:28 PM

David,

Abandoning it means they lose everything ... renewing it means they get everything back to normal.

Best bet surely is to renew & then have a new domain where the site etc migrate across to, before then running down the original & abandoning when all (site & users) are on the new system.

And no, he's not in the UK - I guess you don't pay too much attention to his posts about the Canary Isles

But using a UK registry would be a good idea.

Tdm · December 09, 2015, 08:01:20 PM

Further to my earlier posts regarding getting our Website up & running again,
I contacted NameCheap, and paid them the fee they asked for to re-activate
castleharbourcommunity.com.

They did so they said, and I allowed more than a few days for the domain name to be made available, but I am still not able to open the site - nothing at all happens when I try to access it, not even an error msg.

Below is the last reply I received from NameCheap, and I have had another I.T. expert over here who administers Websites to have a go but with no joy.

I know I will not be able to make any "administration" changes to the site, but it would be nice if I and other owners could at least access and use it again.

Can anyone suggest how this might be done, or have a go at bringing up the Website themselves?

"Dear Terry,

Thank you for coming back to us.

As we can see our default parking nameservers were set up.

We have reverted the nameservers to our default ones as it was before. Now they are the following:

dns1.registrar-servers.com
dns2.registrar-servers.com
dns3.registrar-servers.com
dns4.registrar-servers.com
dns5.registrar-servers.com

When the nameservers for a domain name has been changed, these changes are not accepted instantly all over the world. It may take up to 24 hours (in rare cases more) for local ISPs to update their DNS cache, so that everyone can see your website.

Since the caching time varies between ISPs, it takes time for DNS changes to be totally in effect. Unfortunately this process cannot be influenced or sped up because of its automated nature.

Also we would like to let you know that castleharbourcommunity.com domain redirects to the following URL: http://www.castleharbourcommunity.com/

Please let us know if you have any questions. We will be glad to help you.

------------------
Regards,
Natalia T.
Billing Department
Namecheap Group
http://www.namecheapgroup.com
"