Why we changed domains

[JohnG]

You may have noticed we changed domains from .com to .org

This was done simply because Frank still has sole access to the .com domain and didn't get the notice to renew it (because it went to an old email address he no longer uses). Although it may still be renewed, in the meantime, I thought it best to move to a domain where renewal won't be an issue year to year.

Update your bookmarks. Thanks!

John

[gbrandwood]

Thanks for making the changes and keeping us going.

I don't post as much as I used to but I still check the board most days.

[KSagal]

yes,

Thank you John for updating us on this change, and doing the required maintenance to keep the site running.

[JohnG]

You're welcome... I would like to see this community continue as long as there are Segways running up and down the sidewalks!

[KSagal]

Is there a way to divert the .com traffic?

If there is not, is there a way to send a mass email to registered members a notice of the new domain?

[Bob.Kerns]

Originally Posted by KSagal

Is there a way to divert the .com traffic?

If there is not, is there a way to send a mass email to registered members a notice of the new domain?

I don't have any comment about a mass emailing, but regarding the .com traffic...

This is just a matter of getting the .com domain renewed. After the right money changes the right hands, there may be some technical steps required -- but probably not. (I can help sort that out if needed). If the current services weren't hyper-aggressive about deleting data, it should be just a matter of, pay the bill, and the right records get published to the .com servers, pointing at old domain servers with the important records -- the 'A' (address) and CNAME records for segwaychat.com, www.segwaychat.com, and forums.segwaychat.com.

Even if you have to redo it from scratch, it's pretty straightfoward. But you have to have access to the account.

If it doesn't get renewed within 75 days of December 2, anyone else can register it -- and point it at SegwayChat.org. Assuming John didn't change the server to only work with the SegwayChat.org name, that's all that would be needed.

Frank has 40 days to renew without penalty; after that it gets more expensive.

Or at least that's the theory, when the registrars follow the rules. I know of cases where the rules have not been followed. And there are companies out there dedicated to snapping up interesting expired domain names, and holding them hostage, so there's no guarantee any of us would end up with it!

Some domain pirates have been known to park porn sites there, to further encourage you to pay the ransom. I've been involved in one such case (a family history site!), but was not successful in doing anything about it! (Though eventually, down the road, the pirate did not renew).

I would guess it's probably just a matter of logistics. I doubt he's had to touch it since the last time he renewed, 4 years ago! And if it gets renewed by the end of the year, all should be well.

[eJM]

Anyone familiar with the admin control panel of a vBulletin forum (the software this site uses), they can send email to all or a portion of the members of the site. I would think the administrators would do that, at the very least for those of us that have visited within the last X number of days. That is just one of the many options available.

I kept trying to visit the site at the old domain and kept getting a server not found error. I visit almost every day and tonight I decided to do some googling to see if anyone had posted in a blog or another forum about the site being down. Since Segway Chat's SEO is so poor, it took some searching - I shoulda just kept it simple and used only "segway chat." It's funny that the only direct link to the site is to the calendar with 2 birthdays on it.

The original dot com is still showing as registered to Frank. The registrar is Tucows, which is a pretty decent company. If Frank asked them to, he could probably get them to place an .htaccess file on the root of the domain that does a permanent or temporary redirect straight to the new domain.

I wonder how many others are still waiting for someone to get their stuff together and fix the site's problem, whatever it is? I couldn't imagine doing something like this to my forum members.

Jim

[Bob.Kerns]

Originally Posted by eJM

The original dot com is still showing as registered to Frank. The registrar is Tucows, which is a pretty decent company. If Frank asked them to, he could probably get them to place an .htaccess file on the root of the domain that does a permanent or temporary redirect straight to the new domain.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't actually accomplish anything. In order for a redirect to work -- your browser has to actually first contact the old address. The current situation prevents that from happening -- the browsers are being told the domain doesn't even exist.

(When you talk about putting an .htaccess file "on the root of the domain", there's a confusion of terminology here. You're talking about configuring the server for HTTP service on the domain. The problem here lies with the DNS service that is used to locate the server. When the browser contacts whatever domain server your computer is configured to use (typically supplied by your ISP), it, in turn, asks the .com servers where to find the domain. They are responding that the domain does not exist (NXDOMAIN). That is, the domain name itself is gone. That has to be turned back on by TuCows (or the domain transferred to another registrar, who then inform the .com servers what domain name servers supply the actual server location.

They'll do that -- for the price of a domain renewal, which is what it is.)

The only way to to fix this is to renew the domain name. I have no idea of what Frank's situation is or what the holdup would be, but if it's technical knowledge that's needed, I can help. But TuCows's support will be in a better position to do so.

Originally Posted by eJM

I wonder how many others are still waiting for someone to get their stuff together and fix the site's problem, whatever it is? I couldn't imagine doing something like this to my forum members.

Jim

Agreed. I've posted the new location where I can, but that doesn't help very much. We've seen what, four people post since? I don't think any of them have been clued in by me. I may have directed some readers here, but with no traffic to respond to, well, we've dropped far below critical mass.

ANY disruption in service puts a dent in a site's reputation. A long enough one will basically kill it.

Where we stand on that is hard to predict, but certainly, the longer it goes unaddressed, the more the damage.

[eJM]

Originally Posted by Bob.Kerns

Unfortunately, that wouldn't actually accomplish anything. In order for a redirect to work -- your browser has to actually first contact the old address. The current situation prevents that from happening -- the browsers are being told the domain doesn't even exist.

(When you talk about putting an .htaccess file "on the root of the domain", there's a confusion of terminology here. You're talking about configuring the server for HTTP service on the domain. The problem here lies with the DNS service that is used to locate the server. When the browser contacts whatever domain server your computer is configured to use (typically supplied by your ISP), it, in turn, asks the .com servers where to find the domain. They are responding that the domain does not exist (NXDOMAIN). That is, the domain name itself is gone. That has to be turned back on by TuCows (or the domain transferred to another registrar, who then inform the .com servers what domain name servers supply the actual server location.

They'll do that -- for the price of a domain renewal, which is what it is.)

The only way to to fix this is to renew the domain name. I have no idea of what Frank's situation is or what the holdup would be, but if it's technical knowledge that's needed, I can help. But TuCows's support will be in a better position to do so.

Yes, I understand the technology. I manage 2 different servers and dozens of domains for myself, another guy and our customers. I know when my domains are up for renewal, even before I get that first reminder from the registrar. I know that I have to keep all my various accounts updated with current addresses and other contact information. And I know that Tucows customer service is excellent. Paying the fees and getting things back to normal is an hours thing, not a days thing. Tucows didn't drop the ball, Frank and the administrators of SegwayChat did.

Jim

[Bob.Kerns]

Originally Posted by eJM

Paying the fees and getting things back to normal is an hours thing, not a days thing. Tucows didn't drop the ball, Frank and the administrators of SegwayChat did.

Jim

Yes. It's beyond my ability to speculate what the holdup is. As you say, hours. Or minutes, once you sit down to do it.