Setting Name Servers for Your Domain Names

When you register a domain name with us. we set it up on our parked name servers so a temporary page displays when visitors go to your website. After you determine which hosting provider to use, you can change your domain name's name servers to remove the parked page and activate your domain name.

   If you registered your domain name with another provider, you can still purchase a hosting account with      us, use our Off-site DNS services, or use our Cash Parking® or Quick Content services. If you do any of   those, you must give your domain name registrar our name server information.

Login problems to Control Panel ?
Verify the username/password the APT COM sent you by e-mail; pay attention to letter "l" (el) often confused with "1" (number one). Some users using Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 have login problems and the browser return "page not found" or "error on page" trying to access to the Control Panel; in this case, please verify our checks and instructions.

When the modifications work through the Panel ?
When you create an account, it works immediately. All the services are set up on the real time.

How do you build a Website with APT COM ?
APT COM provides two different ways for you to build your Website: FrontPage and FTP. You can build and upload your site with Microsoft FrontPage, or build your site with any site creation tool you want and upload it with FTP.

What is Domain Forwarding ?
Domain Forwarding enables you to use your domain name to point to your current personal or business Website, without incurring the costs normally associated with Web hosting.

How does Domain Forwarding work ?

If you have a free personal Web page with your current Internet Service Provider or another form of free web site your web address for that site probably looks something like this:
http://www.aptctg.com/Domain-Forword-System.html (Coming Soon this link).

With APT COM's Domain Forwarding you can point your domain name to the above Web site. All someone has to do is type in your domain name (that you registered with APT COM) in the address window of their browser, it will then forward them directly to your current Web site.

Note: If you change ISPs you can then change your domain forwarding to point to your new Web site address at your new ISP, with no confusion to your clients because your domain name stays the same.

More instructions will follow once you have registered your domain name with APT COM.

To see how it works, click on the link: APT COM

I've lost my username and password. What can I do now ?
If you need to receive your username and password again, please contact out Technical Staff

Can I make changes to my mailbox ?
Yes, all modifications can be done 24 hours a day through Domain Control Panel. Log in and click on the POP3 Emails link to access your account. From there, you can modify mailbox names, change passwords and purchase additional mailboxes.

Can I sign up for APT COM's POP3 Email accounts if my domain name lists DNS as authoritative that don't belong to APT COM ?
No, your domain name must list APT COM's DNS (Domain Name Servers) as authoritative in order to sign up for APT COM's POP3 Email accounts. To sign up for APT COM's POP3 Email accounts, please to log into Domain Control Panel . Once you have logged in, click on the POP3 Emails link to sign up.

How do I set up email forwarding ?
To automatically re-send incoming mail to another address, please log into your email account at Domain Control Panel . Once you have logged in, click on the Email forwarding (Alias Emails) link on the left-hand navigation bar. You will reach a screen with several options for customizing your mailbox including forwarding information.

What is a DNS (Domain Name Server) ?
A DNS (Domain Name Server) is a computer connected to the Internet that is responsible for distributing your domain name's zone file information, which translates your domain name into an IP address and specifies the mail server(s) responsible for email distribution for your domain name.

What is the purpose of having a set of DNS listed as authoritative for my domain name ?
Listing a DNS (Domain Name Server) as authoritative for your domain name (which is done automatically during the APT COM domain name registration process) is a requirement for domain names to function and be accessible on the Internet. If a set of authoritative DNS is not specified for your domain name, that name will have no meaning on the Internet. In other words, a visitor attempting to connect to your domain name will receive an error message, since no DNS could be found to assist in the translation of your domain name into an IP address.

In the event that you contract a hosting company or ISP to maintain a Web site on the Internet for you, that company may request that you change the Domain Name Servers responsible for your domain name to Domain Name Servers that are administered by that company. They would then become responsible for specifying IP address information for your domain name, the mail servers responsible for email distribution for the domain name and other necessary zone file information.

Please check with your hosting company before specifying or changing DNS information to ensure that the DNS that are going to be responsible for your domain name have been configured to "recognize" and respond for your domain name.

What is a primary and secondary Domain Name Server ?
Domain Name Servers (DNS) typically function in pairs; one server, called the Primary Server, will be responsible for updating the second DNS with relevant information about their domain names. The Secondary Server is dependent on the Primary Server for information. The relationship between the servers is established and maintained by the DNS administrator. As a result, when specifying a set of authoritative DNS in Domain Manager, it does not make a difference what order you specify the related entries.

May I use Mail Server for outgoing mail ?
If you wish to connect to another provider, you can use a domain incoming mail server, but you have also use the outgoing mail server of the provider by which you are connecting to. In this way you prevent spamming.

Is your hosting FrontPage enabled ?
Yes, we support publishing via FrontPage 98, 2000 and 2002, and FrontPage 98 and 2000 extensions. New FrontPage 2002 extensions are incompatible. We are considering implementing 2002 extensions if there is enough demand.

Does your hosting support databases ?
Yes, MySQL Rel. 3.23.49.

Do you provide FTP access ?
Yes, but only for uploading your pages to your Website. We do not provide an FTP site for your domain.

What is POP email ?
POP Email Accounts are "real" email accounts which store your messages on a server, just like your ISP stores your email for you.

Can I have more than one POP email address ?
Yes! You can purchase additional POP email addresses in your personal Control Panel.

What is the storage limit for POP accounts ?
Each POP email account can store a maximum of 50 megs.

What is a Catch-all ?
Catch-all delivers all email sent to your domain to your POP accounts, regardless of what name it is addressed to. So even if someone misspells your name, you don't lose the email. The only time it doesn't send email to your POP account is if the message is addressed to one of your Email Forwarding accounts, or another POP Account you have purchased.

What is an Auto-responder ?
You can use an autoresponder to automatically send a message back to the sender of any message you receive. Some examples of how you can use an autoresponder are acknowledging that you received messages or informing people that you are on vacation and won't be reading your email for a couple of days.

What is Webmail ?
Webmail allows you to send and receive email using your Web browser. This means that you can access your email from anywhere with an Internet connection. If you've ever used Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail or any other Webmail service, this is the same kind of service.

What is Email Forwarding ?
A domain name allows you to have a simple and easy-to-remember email address that directly relates to you or your company. When you register a domain with APT COM we give you one Email Forwarding account to use with your domain name..

How does Email Forwarding work ?

Your email address right now probably looks something like this: [email protected] or [email protected] (not very personal and hard to remember).

By registering your domain name with APT COM your e-mail address can look like this: [email protected] (professional/personal looking, easy to remember and it's yours for life!)

All email sent to addresses that you set up (through your personal Control Panel) using your domain name such as "[email protected]" is then forwarded securely to your current email address that you have with your ISP.

You send and receive your email the same way you do now.

How do I change the DNS information listed as authoritative for my domain name ?
Often Web hosting companies and ISPs will request that you change the DNS information for your domain name so that they can manage and make necessary zone file modifications for your domain name (for example, connecting your domain name to a Web site they may be hosting for you, or setting your domain name's mail routing options).

In the event that your Web hosting company or Internet Service Provider has requested that you change the DNS (Domain Name Server) information currently listed as authoritative for your domain name, you will need to make the changes using domain Control Panel to submit your changes directly to the registry.  Once the information is submitted to the registry, please allow 24-72 hours (standard Internet propagation time) for the update to be completed:

Domain Control Panel can be accessed here.

Once you have logged in to Control Panel using your user name and password (typically established during the registration process), click the Modify DNS (Dns parameters) link on the main screen.  You will need to be prepared with the names of the DNS that you would like listed as authoritative for your domain name.  This information is typically provided by your ISP, Web hosting company or network administrator.  Click the appropriate button to edit or add the entries, then enter the name of the DNS you intend to have listed as authoritative for your domain name.

My ISP/Web hosting company asked me to have Register.com "release" my domain name. What does this mean ?
When an ISP or Web hosting company tells you that APT COM needs to "release" your domain name in order for them to point it to your Web site or configure it for email, this basically means that you (the administrative contact listed for the domain name) need to change the DNS (Domain Name Server) information listed as authoritative for your domain name.

Do I need to change my DNS information if I contract Web hosting from another company ?
Often Web hosting companies and ISPs will request that you change the DNS information for your domain name so that they can manage and make necessary zone file modifications for your domain name (for example connecting your domain name to a Web site they may be hosting for you or setting your domain name's mail routing options).

In the event that your Web hosting company or ISP directs you to change the DNS listed as authoritative for your domain name to DNS that they administer, the IP address and other zone file related functionality of Control Panel is no longer relevant or accessible.  The administrator of the new DNS will need to create the necessary zone file entries for your domain name using their own systems. Zone file modifications through Control Panel (such as IP Address and MX Record modifications) can only be made when the domain name lists APT COM's DNS as authoritative for the domain name.

Your Web hosting or ISP company may provide you with the following two options:

Option 1:  Update the authoritative DNS listed with the registry for your domain name to Name Servers that they manage so that they can administer your zone file entries using their internal systems.

Option 2:  Allow APT COM's DNS to remain authoritative for your domain name and simply edit the IP address of your domain name using Control Panel, so that your domain translates to the IP address of the computer that is hosting your Web site.

Note: Although this option is a quicker means of connecting your domain name to the Web Server that is hosting your Web site, Option 1 may be preferable to your Web host or ISP, since it will be able to create and manage the exact zone file settings for your domain name without requiring you to make the changes through APT COM's Control Panel.

How long does it take for changes to DNS information submitted through Domain Manager to take effect ?
DNS changes take up to 72 hours for your DNS changes to be effective across the Internet.

I have changed the authoritative DNS for my domain name to DNS administered by a company other than APT COM. Where can I go to make changes to IP addresses, Domain Aliases, MX records or SOA information ?
To make any changes to your IP addresses, Domain Aliases, MX records or SOA information after you have changed the DNS servers listed as authoritative for your domain name from APT COM's DNS to another company's DNS, you must contact the new DNS administrators, since they are now responsible for creating and managing the zone file for your domain name.

Why do I have different domain Control Panel functionality available for different domain names registered through APT COM ?

• If you are able to edit DNS (Domain Name Server) for a domain name, but have no access to IP addresses (A records), Domain Aliases (CNAME records), MX records, the domain name uses APT COM as its registrar, but the Domain Name Servers listed as authoritative for the domain name are administered through a different organization.  Therefore, APT COM cannot apply changes to the zone file information for the domain name.  The DNS administrator of your domain name must make these changes for you.
• If you are able to edit IP addresses (A records), Domain Aliases (CNAME records), MX records for a domain name, but not DNS information, APT COM's Domain Name Servers are listed as authoritative for the domain name, and APT COM offer the functionality to change your DNS information.  You must make these changes with the Control Panel of your domain name.

How do I renew my domain name registration ?
Don't wait for your registration to expire -- you can renew your domain name registration at any time during the current term by logging into domain Control Panel, located here and clicking on the Renewal link.

If you choose to use Renewal in a workgroup, any domain names available for renewal will be listed on the first screen along with instructions on how to renew them.  If one of your domain names is not listed, that means it is not available for renewal at this time.  For example, if the maximum renewal term length for the domain has already been reached or if APT COM is not the registrar of the domain name, it would not be listed on this screen.

Renewal link allows you to renew one, some or all of your domain names.  You have the choice of using the credit card and other payment forms for the registration renewal.

When you have finished renewing your domain name registration, an invoice will be sent to you via the email address currently set for your domain name.

Can I unsubscribe from receiving renewal notification emails ?
If you do not wish to receive renewal or expiration notifications for your domain name(s), go in your domain Control Panel or in your Workgroup account and click on Renewals.

Which is Homepage's name ?
Homepage's file name can be: welcome.htm, welcome.html, index.htm, index.html, default.htm, default.html. The files are seeking according to its order: if you have index.htm file, you can't see default.htm. After chosing Homepage's name, please just check if there are files with one of the others name.