Domain Name Query

Naseby

I would like to get a Domain Name purely for e-mail purposes and have been "googling" the subject but the more I read the more confused I am becoming. Could someone please tell me in simple terms what I need to do to get a domain name. I am about to change ISP's and I believe my ISP will host the domain name for free. I will check this next week but how do I go about "buying" a domain name? Would the company I buy the domain from register it and would that be all I have to do. I would also be grateful for any names of companies who provide this and what people thought about them. I have looked at simply.com, 123-reg and 1and1.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide
Naseby

isofa

You'll obviously have an ISP e-mail address regardless - something like [EMAIL="firstname.surname@isp.co.uk"]firstname.surname@isp.co.uk[/EMAIL]

There are several options, registering a domain with your ISP, will allow them to handle it and set all your e-mail to [EMAIL="you@yourdomainname.co.uk"]you@yourdomainname.co.uk[/EMAIL]
However this won't be the cheapest method.

You could register a domain name with a third party company such as www.123-reg.co.uk or many of the other companies, this will cost very little, probably under a £10 for 2 years and is incredibly simple to do. Then you can set-up details in their control panel (a web based utility provided by the company you register the domain with), to forward mail such as [EMAIL="you@yourdomainname.co.uk"]you@yourdomainname.co.uk[/EMAIL] to [EMAIL="firstname.surname@isp.co.uk"]firstname.surname@isp.co.uk[/EMAIL]
or even have "catch all forwarding" where [EMAIL="anyusername@youdomainname.co.uk"]anyusername@yourdomainname.co.uk[/EMAIL] will be forwarded directly to your ISP account.
The advantage of holding your domain name with a third party company, is mainly that if and when you move ISP, all you have to do is update the control panel to forward your domain name email to your new ISP e-mail.

Obviously you can point https://www.yourdomainname.co.uk to your webspace too.

Naseby

Thanks for that, it is becoming a bit clearer now. Can you just explain to me what you mean in your last sentence. Would I automatically have webspace? I only want to use this for e-mail. Sorry if this is a bit of a numpty question but this is the bit that is confusing me.
Thanks again

isofa

You'll probably get a chunk of free webspace with your ISP account, most do, you won't get any free when you register a domain, you'd have to pay extra for commercial space.

But you can easily "point" your domain name to your ISP webspace.

You don't have to have or use webspace to use the email forwarding on a domain. The https://www.yourdomain part can just link to nothing, a holding page, or any site or webspace you would like.

Naseby

Thanks for that. I think I am beginning to get the hang of it.

Thanks for taking the time to reply

isofa

You're welcome

Any of the companies you register a domain with will have lots of guides to read.

If you want the simplest, ask your ISP to do it for you, but it won't be the cheapest route!

Carl.

If you want to completely get away from ISP email and have your own domain then you could register for Google Apps, which provides email, calender,
documents, spreadsheets and even GTalk for your domain.

You get basic webspace too if you want to use that, or you can continue to use your existing webspace.

Email is 2GB storage per user, the default amount of users is 100, for free users, and it is accessible via pop (you can even check your ISP inbox using your Google Apps inbox, no adverts on the email unlike Hotmail and the like too.)

http://www.google.com/a/

Naseby

Thanks for that. I'll certainly take a look at it.
Naseby