DynDNS Domain Registration How-To

Before you begin creating your online presence, please create an account. Once your account has been created and confirmed, please log in and visit our Add Zone Services Wizard. This how-to guide will help you to complete the Add Zone Services Wizard to create a new domain registration, or transfer an existing registration into our systems.

Step 1: Selecting a Domain Name and Services

The first item in the Add Zone Services Wizard is the Domain Name field. Please enter your desired domain name into this field, including the Top-Level Domain (TLD), such as 'domain.com' or 'domain.net'. You can view a list of Available TLDs for registration that we offer. (Do not enter 'www.' when choosing a domain name.)

Once you have chosen a domain name, select Register this domain through DynDNS under the Domain Registration section to create the desired domain through our company. (If your domain already exists with another registrar, please select Transfer this domain to DynDNS' registrar and see our Domain Transfers article for more information.) You will then need to choose an option for Domain Name Services, such as Custom DNS, Secondary DNS, or third-party/self-provided DNS, and whether you wish to use any of our E-mail services. (Unless you already have plans for third-party DNS or will be providing your own DNS, you should choose Yes, I need primary DNS for this domain to select our Custom DNS service.)

When you have made your decisions, the system will check to see if your desired domain name is available. If the domain name is unavailable, you will be returned to the previous screen and notified that the registration already exists. If the domain name you wish to create is not available, try registering the domain in another TLD; for example, if 'domain.com' is taken, 'domain.net' or 'domain.org' may still be available. (If you are transferring the domain, this step will check to ensure the domain exists, and check its lock status.)

Step 2: Service Length and Configuration

The next screen allows you to configure the services you will be purchasing, including the length of registration and any DNS services you have chosen.

First, select the length of the domain's registration under Service Period. The Service Period includes any DNS or mail services you are purchasing along with the registration; for example, selecting two years of domain registration will also purchase two years of Custom DNS service and two years of MailHop Forward service.

You may then opt to enable the Lock Domain feature. This prevents the registration from being transferred while the lock is enabled as another measure of protection against transfer fraud. You can learn more about domain transfer scams in our Domain Scams article. This user-lock may be disabled or re-enabled at any time.

By default, your domain's WHOIS information — the Administrative, Billing, Technical and Owner/Registrant contacts for a domain — is publicly available to any interested party using a WHOIS query tool. If you are concerned about privacy issues, you should consider purchasing Secret Registration, which replaces your domain's WHOIS information with the Secret Registration contact information.

If you have chosen to use our Custom DNS, Secondary DNS, or any MailHop services, you will be asked to configure some portions of these services at this time, such as the user interface for Custom DNS.

Step 3: WHOIS Contact Information

Once you have chosen the service period, Secret Registration, and the default settings for certain services, click the Next button to continue to the Set Contacts page. The Set Contacts page will require you to enter information for your domain's WHOIS data. If you already have domains registered with us, you will be able to select existing contacts for each of the Owner/Registrant, Administrative, Billing and Technical roles. The information entered here will appear in WHOIS for your domain. (If you have chosen to use Secret Registration, this contact information will be hidden from WHOIS, but is still required for our files.)

If you choose to create a new contact, you will be brought to the Add New Contact screen, which asks for the following information:

Contact Nickname
The title of this contact in the Contact Manager. You can reuse the same contact information for multiple roles across multiple domains.
First and Last Name
The first and last name of the individual responsible for this role. If the role is held by a position at a company rather than a person, such as Hostmaster or Webmaster, you may enter the position title instead of the individual's name.
Organization
An optional field for the name of the company or other entity to which the domain belongs.
Website
An optional field for the primary website of the company or other entity to which the domain belongs.
E-Mail Address
The primary e-mail address for this contact. The Administrative contact e-mail is particularly important, as most registration-related mail — transfer confirmations, authcodes, expiration notices, and so on — are sent to the Administrative e-mail on file.
Phone and Fax
The primary phone and fax number of this contact, including area code and country code.
DUNS Number
The Data Universal Numbering System number of the contact's company, if applicable.
Address, City, State/Province, Zip/Postal Code, Country
This information should correspond to the contact's primary mailing address. This may be a personal residence, the primary shipping address for a company, a post office box, etc.

Step 4: Nameserver Delegation

Once all contacts have been selected, you may continue to the Nameservers screen. You will need to enter the nameservers responsible for your domain's DNS services on this page. More information on nameserver delegation can be found in our Domain Registration article. If you have chosen Custom DNS, the nameserver list will already be filled for you, so you may simply click Next to continue.

If you are using third-party DNS, you will need to enter the nameservers given to you by your DNS provider. If you wish to provide your own DNS for the domain, or you are using Secondary DNS, you should delegate the domain to our 'ns2.mydyndns.org' through 'ns5.mydyndns.org' servers to 'park' it, then change the delegation later after you have created Glue Records for the new nameservers.

Step 5: Service Configuration

After the Nameservers screen, you will be asked to configure additional settings for DNS or mail services you are also purchasing.

Step 6: Checkout

When you have finished, your selections will be added to your Shopping Cart, configured and ready for purchase. You may then continue purchasing additional services, or you can proceed through Checkout to complete registration. At the end of the Checkout process and the order has been paid, it may take up to 24-72 hours (depending on the TLD) for your new registration to become available. Congratulations on creating your new domain!