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Domain registrations & transfers

How registering a domain with us works, how to bring one in, and how to move one away. Your domain is yours: we make it easy to take it wherever you like.

Registering a domain

Search for a name at names.splashnodes.com or in the checkout, add it to your basket and give the owner’s details. We register it through Spaceship, Inc., an ICANN-accredited registrar, with you as the registrant (the legal owner). Most names are live within minutes.

• WHOIS privacy is included free wherever the extension supports it, to keep your contact details out of public lookups. Some registries, such as Nominet for .uk, set their own rules for what is shown.
• DNS is managed for you on our nameservers, and you can edit every record in the domain manager.
• Owner details must be accurate. The registrar may email the owner to confirm the address; if it isn’t confirmed, the registry can suspend the domain.
• Some extensions have a minimum registration (for example, .ai is two years). The checkout shows this before you pay.

Renewals and expiry

Domains renew automatically at the end of each registration period unless you switch auto-renew off in the domain manager. A renewal is charged at the renewal price for that extension on the day it renews, which we show in your account and in the reminder email we send before it renews. If a domain isn’t renewed it expires: it stops working, and after a short grace period it may be deleted and become available to anyone. Recovering an expired domain isn’t always possible and can carry a registry charge, so keep auto-renew on for names you rely on.

Transferring a domain to us

1. At your current provider, unlock the domain and ask for its transfer code (also called an authorisation or EPP code).
2. Start the transfer at Transfer a domain with the domain name and the code.
3. Approve the email your current provider may send. Most transfers finish within 5–7 days, and a transfer normally adds a year to the registration.

For .uk domains there’s no code: ask your current provider to change the domain’s IPS tag to ours, and contact us so we can take it in.

Transferring a domain away

You can move a domain you registered with us to another provider at any time, and we never charge to release it. Everything is in the domain manager: open the domain at names.splashnodes.com, then Registration → Transfer to another provider.

1. Check it can move yet. Registries don’t let most domains move for 60 days after they’re registered or transferred in. The domain manager shows the date.
2. Unlock it. Domains are locked by default so nobody can move them without you.
3. Get the transfer code and give it to your new provider.
4. Start the transfer at your new provider. They usually charge for a year there, and the move takes up to 5–7 days.

.uk domains move differently: ask your new provider for their IPS tag and send it to us from the same section. We change the tag, usually the same working day, and the move is then instant.

Keeping things working while it moves: your DNS stays with us during the transfer, so your website and email carry on. If your new provider uses its own nameservers, copy your records across first (DNS records → Download zone file). When the transfer completes we take the domain off your account and it stops renewing with us.

Why a transfer might be refused

• It’s within 60 days of being registered or transferred.
• It’s still locked, or the code has been mistyped or has expired.
• The domain has expired, is suspended, or is subject to a dispute, court order or registry hold.
• The owner’s details don’t match what the new provider asks for.

If you’re stuck, contact us and we’ll help.

Fees

The full terms are in our Terms & Conditions (section 6, Domains, DNS and hosting).