I slept through it, domain died

[tangor]

But I'll get it back... just one of those things were I was ill for a bit, missed the canned notice of renewal and BAM! "Domain Expired Parked At ..."

How often has that happened to you? For me, this is the third time in 12 years. I really need to find a better method of managing renewals!

<exit slapping forehead>

[jecasc]

You could sign up with a service that automatically renews your domain registrations every year.

[tangor]

Ya, could do that, but that requires funds available... and for some sites that changes year on year. :)

This is among the duh, dummy, dunce, didn't remember kind of things.

The BIZ stuff is handled differently (tax reasons). This presentation of my stupidity is intended to be a reminder to all here who have domains (or horde them) to take a quick look to see what's up for renewal so you don't wet pants for having an Alzheimer moment.

[Staffa]

You could have a calender showing one month at the time (and with the tiniest of file size) pop up at start-up of your PC showing you, a few days in advance, what needs to be done by...

When you renew a domain, note it for next year with a few days advance notice (just in case you miss it that day) ;o)

[davezan]

It could've been worse. I actually let a domain inadvertently drop.

David (braces for cover...)

[Marshall]

Does your email program have a reminder feature like Outlook does? If so, flag the reminder email when it comes in to alert you when it is due. I found it to be real handy.

Marshall

[Webwork]

I feel your pain.

No. Wait. That's my pain I feel.

[buckworks]

This situation is why I advocate keeping domains registered at least a couple of years into the future, and important domains even longer. Break the habit of running too close to the renewal deadlines or depending on someone else's automated processes.

Nightmare scenario: an important domain expires while the registrant was incapacitated (or worse). A website which could have been a valuable legacy could be lost forever.

[Marshall]

Nightmare scenario: an important domain expires while the registrant was incapacitated

This happened to a client of mine, a non-profit musical theater company. A patron was paying for their domain and died. A company bought up the domain then wanted the theater company to $10,000.00 to get it back. Needless to say, they didn't.

Marshall

[IanTurner]

There should be a 42 (or similar) day redemption period at your registrar during which you can get your domain back.

[creative craig]

Its happened to me once or twice in the last 10 years :)

[buckworks]

redemption period at your registrar during which you can get your domain back

What if it's not "you" but "your executors"?

Is 42 days long enough for them to figure out your stuff? What damage would be caused if a productive site were offline for those 42 days?

[piatkow]

What if it's not "you" but "your executors"?

42 Days? It took longer than that to get probate granted on my mother's will last year. (UK)

Executors need prompt instructions of what requires attention and up to date passwords for everything (memo to self: take my own advice!) How many of us have a sealed envelope in a safe place with all relevant ids and passwords?

The bring to mind a lot of questions about procedures for handling an estate which don't take these things into account. Lodging passwords in a bank would be a problem as they would want probate before releasing them even if you had left instructions to release them in the event of death.

[robho]

As mentioned above, it's best to keep all your important domains registered many years into the future. With the continual annual increases in prices it saves money as well.

My main domains are registered for 7-10 years ahead.

Domains I may get around to developing are a couple of years ahead, if I end up selling one of them the extra year or two is in the price (also makes a sale slightly more likely as they know they can't wait for me to drop it).

Domains I would prefer to sell, very unlikely to develop, are more likely to be renewed a bit nearer the expiry date (so that I choose to renew, or drop).

[incrediBILL]

Got all my domains on auto-renew or paid in advance, no excuses, no BS, just do it.

If finances are an issue, perhaps you should dump those domains because they aren't making you any money in the first place, not anything worth worrying about anyway, sheesh.

it's best to keep all your important domains registered many years into the future.

I have one domain that people wanted so badly at one time that they kept emailing and asking to buy it almost continuously. The best offer they ever made was $5K, and I think they even tried to hijack it once. I knew they all had it on back order so I paid 20 years in advance just to make them quit asking and also so I'd never let it lapse and lose it by accident.

That domain comes up for renewal in 2016!

Got another similar domain that I had to people trying to get that renews in '14, it was only a 15 year future buy :)

Another one renews in '17 from it's purchase in '05, but that too was a special case.

Only did those way out multi-year purchase on 3 domains. I don't go usually go crazy with multi-year purchases unless I know I'm never letting it go and want to really make sure I don't forget to renew it, and as mentioned above it stops people from asking if you want to sell it. My typical renewal is 2 years just to save on time and a little money.

What if it's not "you" but "your executors"?

Forget the domain name, your server bill will probably not be paid, the account will be dead, your site will vanish, the SE positions and traffic all lost. By the time the executors figure it all out the whole thing will be worthless unless you plan in advance to keep it running in your extended absense.

FWIW, as I recently learned with an extended serious illness and lengthy hospital stays, you should have your entire life and business, let alone domain names and hosting accounts, set up for perpetual billing to cover your sudden and unplanned inability to attend to such matters. I already had everything on auto-pilot so there were no surprises for me. If I hadn't been setup for everything to perpetually pay the bills, I'm sure someone would've turned the lights off sometime last summer! ;)

[piatkow]

By the time the executors figure it all out the whole thing will be worthless unless you plan in advance to keep it running in your extended absense.

If others depend on the site or the business/organisation that it represents then such planning is essential. I have seen problems in the past where a webmaster for a community organisation has gone AWOL due to illness and the unmaintainable site which was in his name happily auto renewed.

[Essex_boy]

I lost adult.tv yes it hurts

[bhartzer]

If the domain is valuable enough to you, then why not register it for a few years? My most valuable domain I've registered for 10 years in the future.

If it's really valuable to you, you could always register it for 100 years, some registrars allow that.

[vik_c]

I knew they all had it on back order so I paid 20 years in advance just to make them quit asking and also so I'd never let it lapse and lose it by accident.

Isn't 10 years the maximum period? I know NSI offers a 100 year registration but even there, it's only a maximum of 10 years at any point of time. Which registrar is this?