Introduction
For several years now, PlanetHoster has been an ICANN-accredited domain name registrar. This means that when you buy a domain name from PlanetHoster, you are not dealing with a third party, but rather with a company that has been granted the right to register domain names by ICANN, the only authority in this field. Furthermore, we have set up interfaces on our website that will make it much easier for you when it comes to domain name transactions.
The registration process is very simple, although potentially different depending on the domain extension chosen.
Step 1: Choose Your Domain
Note: If you are interested in transferring a domain, we invite you to go down to the appendix.
It is likely that you already have a good idea in mind of the name you want to give to your domain. Often, it is the name of your company or the description of the service you offer. But what about the extension? Different extensions can have different impacts on your website. A national extension, such as .fr, does not carry the same meaning as a .com. Also, a .tech will not have the same ramifications as a .xyz. Obviously, we at PlanetHoster cannot make such a choice for you. We can however help you with our online tools.
Note: Here is an interesting article on this subject on our blog: How to Choose the Best Domain Name for Your Online Store?
- When you go to our main page at https://www.planethoster.com/en/Domain-Names, one of the first things you will see is the dialog box for entering a domain name.
- As you can see, PlanetHoster’s website offers you various possibilities at different prices, depending on whether you want to add the same domain with a different extension, or if you prefer to change your extension.
Step 2: Nameservers Configuration
The DNS nameserver is a directory that links the domain name you purchase to the IP address of the server where it is hosted.
In order to properly configure your domain, you must enter the DNS servers to which the domain should point (how). It is highly recommended to point to the DNS servers of PlanetHoster. Of course, you can also enter your own custom DNS servers if the domain is to point to an external DNS service.
Once this step is completed, your domain name should now be functional. Step 3 is optional and is reserved for advanced users who wish to make changes to their DNS zone.
Note: Once the name servers are configured, allow a minimum of 24 hours before the domain is usable.
Note: To validate the DNS configuration (nameserver) of your domain name, it is possible to consult the DNS-Lookup.
Step 3: Modifications of the DNS Zone (Optional)
It may happen that you wish to host your e-mails elsewhere, or that modifications to the DNS zone of your domain are necessary to add A records, for example.
We offer the possibility to change your DNS zone. However, this option is reserved for experienced users, since you could break vital functions of your hosting.
Our goal here is to give you a global view of things, so we won’t go into the details of how to do it. However, you should know that the management of DNS zones can be done in two ways, depending on where your domain is hosted.
Hosting at Planet Hoster
You have to use your hosting panel (N0C or cPanel) to change these values.
External Hosting
In this case, you need to use the my.planethoster.net interface. Just go to the section Domain management and then access the domain details. This will allow you to use the tools for DNS zone modifications (how).
Note: If you need to change your DNS zone, we strongly advise you not to delete the existing entries.
Appendix : Transfer of a Domain
You may wish to transfer a domain from an external source to PlanetHoster. The steps required to accomplish this may vary depending on the type of domain extension you have, but in most cases it involves providing PlanetHoster with a transfer code so that we can proceed.
The procedure to transfer a domain name at PlanetHoster (how) consists, in short, of the following:
- You can request the domain name registrar to send you the transfer code.
- Once the transfer code is submitted, the primary contact for the domain will receive an email requesting to authorize the transfer. This may take a few days, depending on the original registrar.
- Once the transfer is authorized by email, the PlanetHoster team can formalize the transfer, which is done over the next few days.
Note: The transfer of a domain name is only possible if you have owned it with another registrar for at least 60 days.
Note: It is recommended to register PlanetHoster DNS before the domain name transfer. This way you will be able to use your PlanetHoster service during the registrar transfer.
Attention! Make sure the domain name is not locked at your old registrar before attempting to complete the transfer.