This article covers basic information about domains. If you are looking for basic information about DNS, go to the article DNS – Manual.
You will learn in this article:
Domains
Domains are addresses of services on the Internet. Their main purpose is to make them easy for people to read and remember. Through DNS, these words are then translated into codes and numeric addresses that computers understand better.
More information about DNS can be found in the article DNS – Manual.
A domain usually consists of a name and an extension (often referred to as TLD from Top Level Domain). For example, for the domain wedos.cz, the name is wedos and the extension is cz.
Higher-level domains, sometimes called subdomains, have more names separated by dots, for example client.wedos.com. If you have a registered domain, you are automatically entitled to manage all its subdomains. You can manage subdomains using DNS according to the guide DNS – Subdomains, or directly in Webhosting according to the guide Webhosting – Subdomains.
The management of different extensions is handled by registries, for example CZ.NIC ⧉. These registries have contracts with registrars, for example WEDOS. Whenever you order a domain from a registrar, the registrar connects to the registry and handles the necessary steps for you.
You can register a domain for a period of 1–10 years. During this period and even in a certain stage of expiration, you can renew the registration, but for a maximum of 10 years.
If you are not satisfied with the terms of your current registrar, you can change it by transferring the domain to another registrar that offers the given extension. The transfer is usually charged by extending the domain by 1 year (the exception is CZ domains, where the transfer is free of charge).
Domain registration
With WEDOS, you can register any domain listed in our constantly expanding price list ⧉. We offer national (ccTLD) domains CZ, PL, SK, and EU, as well as a wide selection of generic (gTLD, nTLD) domains.
For a detailed domain order procedure, see the guide Domains – Registration of a new service.
Domain renewal
When you renew a domain, you extend its rental with the registry for at least another 1 year. We inform you about the upcoming domain expiration by email with a request to pay for the selected period.
We do not send the payment request email if the domain is nearing its end, or if you have these notifications turned off. However, regardless of these settings, the registry may contact you regarding the domain expiration.
Detailed instructions for domain renewal can be found in the guide Services – Renewals.
Domains that you do not renew will expire. Expiration is governed by the rules of the specific registry. Detailed information can be found in the article Services – Expiration.
Change of registrar (transfer) of a domain
A change of registrar means a change of the company through which you register the domain. It is not a change of the domain owner.
For CZ domains, you change the registrar completely free of charge. For all other extensions, you also extend the domain by 1 year (the renewal is already at our prices) – you add 365 days to the original expiration date (validity) of the domain.
Detailed instructions for domain transfers can be found in the article Domains – Transfer.
Change of domain owner
The domain owner is the person or company listed in the registry as the domain holder. It may differ from the customer account in which the domain is located (e.g. the administrator), as well as from the subscriber (the person listed in billing).
By changing the domain owner, you do not change the customer account or billing details.
Detailed instructions for changing a domain owner can be found in the article Domains – Change of owner.
Additional services
The current overview of additional services for domains can be found on the product page Domains – Additional services.
Domain contacts
A domain contact contains information about a person or company, such as name (company name), address, email, and phone contact. Each such contact is maintained for a specific domain registry (e.g. CZ.NIC).
The unique identifier of such a contact is its ID, which you can enter during registration and sometimes also during a domain transfer within the given registry. Under one contact, you can therefore have multiple domains, which makes managing personal or company data easier.
The system creates a domain contact automatically during domain registration (sometimes transfer), when you fill in the owner details manually. You can also create a contact manually according to the guide Domains – New domain contact.
Registries of generic domains require contact verification, which takes place via a link in an email. Domain contacts that are not verified within 15 days may be blocked by the registry.
You can edit your existing domain contact except for the ID and the person's name or company name. Registries consider a change of name or company name to be a change of owner. More detailed information about editing domain contacts can be found in the article Domains – Edit contact.
Glossary
- AUTH-ID: Authorization password of a domain or domain contact. Some registries (CZ.NIC) allow it to be requested from anywhere, others only through the registrar. It is used to authorize a domain or contact transfer and other actions. See the instructions for requesting it in Domains – Authorization password.
- ccTLD: Country Code TLD, i.e. a national domain (specific to a particular country and usually managed by the registry assigned to it).
- DNS: Domain Name System. It is used to direct a domain to services on the Internet and for other settings. More information see DNS – Manual.
- DNSSEC: Technology for verifying the origin of data in DNS records. It prevents the insertion of fake DNS records. More information see Domains – DNSSEC.
- Domain: A human-readable name for numeric addressing (IP addresses) used by computers.
- Expiration: The end of the period for which the domain is registered, usually the beginning of the grace period.
- gTLD: Generic TLD, e.g. COM, NET, ORG, INFO. It does not belong to a specific country, but rather defines a purpose (com = commercial, org = international organization, …)
- ICANN: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. A non-profit organization responsible for the DNS namespace, distribution of large blocks of IP addresses, etc. It delegates authority for managing individual TLDs to other entities (registries).
- IDN: Internationalized Domain Names. Domains containing special characters from alphabets, for example diacritics.
- Contact: A set of information about a natural or legal person kept by the registry.
- Owner: A natural or legal person listed in the registry as the domain holder. See the instructions for changing the owner in Domains – Change of owner.
- nTLD: New generic TLD, e.g. ONLINE, WEBSITE. They expand the gTLD offer.
- Renewal: Renewal of the registration of a generic domain in a later stage of the grace period charged according to the price list.
- Grace period: A certain time after expiration during which domains are, with a few exceptions, suspended, but can be renewed by paying the registration fee or by restore.
- Transfer: Change of the domain registrar. See the transfer instructions in Domains – Transfer.
- Registry: The main database of domain names, their holders, and other data. The registry manages a specific TLD (extension), e.g. the company CZ.NIC for the Czech national domain CZ.
- Registrar: A domain registrar enables domain registration and management for end customers (owners). One of the registrars is WEDOS Internet, a.s.
- Restore: See Renewal.
- Subdomain: A higher-level domain, for example order.wedos.com. You do not register subdomains; you create them in DNS or directly on hosting.
- TLD: Top Level Domain. The highest-level domain, e.g. CZ.
- Domain level: The number of parts of a domain name separated by dots. For example, com is a 1st-level domain, wedos.com is a 2nd-level domain, and kb.wedos.com is a 3rd-level domain.
- WHOIS: A registry service that provides information about domains, their contacts, name servers, and other related data.