lunes, 30 de abril de 2012

goMobi v1.6 Now Available for All Users

goMobi v1.6 Now Available for All Users


goMobi v1.6 Now Available for All Users

Posted: 30 Apr 2012 05:52 AM PDT

As of this morning, the goMobi mobile website publishing service has been updated to v1.6. There’s nothing you need to do – all users of goMobi will automatically get the update.

There are quite a few small changes and additions to the goMobi service, but the overall experience remains very similar to what it was for those using the Site Builder. It remains very intuitive and existing sites will continue to work just fine.

That said, there are quite a few new features in version 1.6:

New Features:

  • Ability to upload icons to features – a much requested feature!
  • Option to add smartphone bookmark – upload a custom icon to be used when users create a shortcut to the goMobi site on their supported smartphone.
  • Live site preview – the site preview in the Site Builder now emulates the experience on a smartphone.
  • Keywords – improve SEO with meta keywords.
  • New icon set – added a new theme.
  • WordPress and Drupal redirection modules – available from the Advanced Feature or Finish page of the Site Builder.
  • Site sharing options added to Finish page – easily promote your new goMobi site on Facebook, Twitter, Email or by QR code.

Enhancements:

  • Improved Advanced Options - makes it easier for users to access advanced options when desired.
  • New site colour options - users can more completely customize the goMobi site to match the colour palette of their existing site.
  • WYSIWYG Editor added to Coupons - make rich, HTML coupons with images and text.
  • Email option added to Find Us feature - let visitors send you an email to the email address of your choice.
  • Additional language options added to Site Translation feature - more languages supported by the built-in translation feature.
  • Email and SMS options added to the Create Link feature - create a link that opens email or SMS on certain smartphones.
  • Additional Currencies added to mCommerce option - support for ten additional currencies.
  • Video feature limit - increased from four to eight.
  • Number of locations - increased from four to six.

 

sábado, 28 de abril de 2012

.COM.BR Added to OpenSRS

.COM.BR Added to OpenSRS


.COM.BR Added to OpenSRS

Posted: 27 Apr 2012 09:48 AM PDT

The flag of BrazilStarting today, resellers can add .COM.BR to the list of ccTLDs they can sell through OpenSRS.

Brazil is a big and growing market, so the addition of .COM.BR to the ever growing list of ccTLDs we offer is one we think will be of great interest to many of you. In fact, .BR is the most widely used domain for Portuguese language websites, outpacing even .COM in that regard. With a population of over 192 million people, Brazil represents a large market that is also quite technologically advanced.

.COM.BR domains do come with some specific requirements so to help you out with getting the extension added to your integration, we’ve prepared a special pull-out guide . It’s aimed mostly at those doing API integrations, but there’s some great information in there about some of the little things about .COM.BR that can sometimes be tricky. Download in PDF format.

Enabling .COM.BR in Search Results

.COM.BR is automatically enabled for all Resellers. Visit the Settings area for Domain Availability search in the Reseller Web Interface to enable .COM.BR domains in your search results.

Pricing

.COM.BR domains are priced at USD$22/domain year. You can see pricing for all the many TLDs we offer on our pricing page.

As always, our Reseller Support team is there if you have any questions about .COM.BR or any other extension we offer.

jueves, 5 de abril de 2012

Freedom to Connect

Freedom to Connect


Freedom to Connect

Posted: 05 Apr 2012 06:56 AM PDT

If you are at all interested in issues like Internet openness and net neutrality, then you’ll want to check out F2C: Freedom to Connect. It’s a fantastic two-day conference devoted to preserving and celebrating the essential properties of the Internet, coming up on May 21 and 22nd, in Washington, DC.

Read on to learn how to win a free pass to F2C or get a discount on your registration!

This year’s F2C conference features a very strong lineup of presenters and panelists. F2C: Freedom to Connect logoConfirmed keynote speakers include Vint Cerf, Michael Copps, Cory Doctorow, Benoît Felten, Rebecca MacKinnon, Eben Moglen, Mike Marcus and Aaron Swartz.

Here’s a good explanation of what F2C is all about:

The Internet is a success today because it is stupid, abundant and simple. In other words, its neutrality, its openness to rapidly developing technologies and its layered architecture are the reasons it has succeeded where others (e.g., ISDN, Interactive TV) failed.

The Internet's issues are under-represented in Washington DC policy circles. F2C: Freedom to Connect is designed to advocate for innovation, for creativity, for expression, for little-d democracy. The Freedom to Connect is about an Internet that supports human freedoms and personal security. These values, held by many of us whose consciousness has been shaped by the Internet, are not common on K Street or Capitol Hill or at the FCC.

F2C: Freedom to Connect is about having access to the Internet as infrastructure. Infrastructures belong to — and enrich — the whole society in which they exist. They gain value — in a wide variety of ways, some of which are difficult to anticipate — when more members of society have access to them. F2C: Freedom to Connect especially honors those who build communications infrastructure for the Internet in their own communities, often overcoming resistance from incumbent cable and telephone companies to do so.

The phrase Freedom to Connect is now official US foreign policy, thanks to Secretary of State Clinton's Remarks on Internet Freedom in 2010. She said that Freedom to Connect is, "the idea that governments should not prevent people from connecting to the internet, to websites, or to each other. The freedom to connect is like the freedom of assembly, only in cyberspace." Her speech presaged the Internet-fueled assemblies from Alexandria, Egypt to Zuccotti Park.

Win a Free Pass, or Get 33% Off Registration

F2C meshes very nicely with our corporate ideals about how the Internet should work and how it needs to be protected and nurtured. Our mobile service Ting is a proud sponsor of the event and we have a couple of discount options for those of you who are looking to attend.

  • First up, we have a free pass to give away to one person. We simply ask that you email us and give us a short explanation on why you think you should attend. Act fast – we’ll have a look at the emails and choose a winner on April 11th.
  • For those who don’t get the free pass, we also have a discount code that you can use to get 33% off the registration fee. When you register, use promo code “TING33″.

The cost for the conference is $349 until April 16, after which the cost goes up a bit. That discount code will work until April 30.

For more information, and to register, visit the F2C: Freedom to Connect website.

sábado, 31 de marzo de 2012

Holiday Hours for Good Friday, April 6th, 2012

Holiday Hours for Good Friday, April 6th, 2012


Holiday Hours for Good Friday, April 6th, 2012

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 12:22 PM PDT

Our Toronto office will be closed on Friday, April 6, 2012, for Good Friday. While most OpenSRS staff will be off that day, Reseller Support will continue to be available 24/7 to assist you.

Here are the hours by department:

Department Dates and Hours
Technical Support Regular hours
Payments Email support: payments@opensrs.org
Compliance Closed Apr. 6
Service Bureau Closed Apr. 6

Please note that during this closure, there will be no orders or requests processed for the following TLD’s: (.at, .ch, .li, .dk, .com.mx).

miércoles, 28 de marzo de 2012

Change is Coming, Are You Informed?

Change is Coming, Are You Informed?


Change is Coming, Are You Informed?

Posted: 27 Mar 2012 12:49 PM PDT

Last week at WHD.global, Thorsten Einig, our Managing Director for Europe, gave a presentation titled, ”Change Means Opportunity – Key Domain Trends for Hosters in 2012″.

In the session, Thorsten mapped out some of the trends and changes coming to the domain industry in 2012, and provided some key insights and ideas for hosting companies looking to take advantage.

2012 is going to be a year of big change in our industry. The introduction of new generic Top-level Domains will have major impacts on everyone across the Internet, including hosters. Make sure you are well informed about what’s going on, and armed with a plan so you’ll be able to find the opportunity in a time of change.

Below you’ll find Thorsten’s slides from the session. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away in the comments – we’re happy to share our knowledge and insights gleaned from 15 years at the forefront of the domains industry.

jueves, 22 de marzo de 2012

WHD.global Session Notes – “Hosting after Megaupload.com: Risks, Opportunities and Chances”

WHD.global Session Notes – “Hosting after Megaupload.com: Risks, Opportunities and Chances”


WHD.global Session Notes – “Hosting after Megaupload.com: Risks, Opportunities and Chances”

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 08:26 AM PDT

Many of us OpenSRSers are in Rust, Germany this week for the WHD.global show. To give you a flavour of what this conference is all about, I’ve attended a few sessions and will provide some notes here.

Today I took in a very interesting session at WHD.global talking about the recent Megaupload case and the impacts on hosting companies.

The presenter was David Snead, an American attorney specializing in Internet business law and advice.

David took some time to explain the Megaupload case, and the indictment, specifically around what Megaupload is alleged to have done. You can read a very good article about the case from the New York Times, so I won’t go into details here.

David summarized the key learnings for hosting companies as it pertains to being the hosting providers for businesses like Megaupload.com. It’s very important, obviously, for hosters to ensure they are properly protected from any legal implications that might come as a result of being the provider to a company like Megaupload.com.

There are a number of key points for hosters:

  1. Understand jurisdiction: David points out that governments often try to extend jurisdiction outside traditional borders. In the case of Megaupload, the servers were in the USA, data travelled through other countries and employees of the company were found in seven different countries.
  2. Boot bad users: David suggests that hosters not be shy about firing bad customers. Once the hoster is aware that a customer is doing something that is outside of what the law allows (or even close), it’s important that the hoster act to remove that customer, or potentially face legal issues themselves.
  3. Have Terms of Service that work: the basis of being able to ensure customers are not participating in illegal activities is to have an effective and functional terms of service that is enforceable.
  4. Understand culture and how that plays into enforcement: David suggests that it is critical to understand the cultural customs and laws outside of the hoster’s own country and in any areas where the hosting company might reach. That means they need to be aware of things like gambling customs in certain countries and US states, anti-government and free-speech issues in some places, and of course intellectual property and copyright issues in many countries.

As you can see, there is a lot to consider here for hosters. The most important thing is that hosting companies make themselves aware of the current situation as it pertains to legal issues, and also that they seek out legal help and advice when required.

viernes, 16 de marzo de 2012

Exciting New Developments in ccTLDs

Exciting New Developments in ccTLDs


Exciting New Developments in ccTLDs

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 01:45 AM PDT

It's been a busy few months for ccTLDs at OpenSRS. With so much happening, we thought it would be a good time to provide an update on all the good news.

.FR domains: fully automated and available to EU residents

One of the fastest-growing ccTLDs in our offering over the past several months has been .FR, the ccTLD for France. As a result, we have just wrapped up a major overhaul of our integration that will make the extension much easier to sell.

A number of improvements are now live, including:

  • Full provisioning automation: Fulfillment time for .FR orders no longer takes several business days. Instead, names are registered immediately.
  • Automated data collection: When placing an order, it is no longer necessary to provide relevant additional information in the order notes. Instead, these are now all added via the order form directly.
  • Expanded registrant eligibility: now any person or company based in the .European Union can register a .FR name, making it a viable extension for any person or business in Europe.

These, along with some additional changes to .FR, are now live both in the test and live environments. Please be sure to consult our documentation for additional information.

Now live: dozens of new extensions that are easy to integrate

Late last year we announced the availability of many new ccTLDs via our acquisition of EPAG Domainservices GmbH. Since the announcement, we've been hard at work iterating on our offering and adding new features, including:

More automated ccTLDs, more information

We've refactored many of the extensions we rolled out last year to no longer be asynchronous. Instead, the vast majority of our extensions now return immediate responses, instead of having to regularly check an order's status. You can find out which extensions are fully automated using our new, handy ccTLD guide.

Even more extensions: .TW, .AG, .CO.IM

Taiwan, Antigua and Barbuda, and .CO.IM (a new addition to the several extensions we offer for the Isle of Man) are all new to OpenSRS this month. Like the other dozens of extensions we've introduced thus far, there are no additional data requirements.

Positioning a litany of ccTLDs

With the massive expansion of our ccTLD portfolio beginning late last year, we've now introduced 113 new second and third-level extensions – all from the same interface and API. We realize all these extensions aren't for everyone, so here's a look at how we recommend you approach them both internally and to your customers.

New European markets

The introduction of our new ccTLDs led to a number of new, popular European extensions. We recommend taking a look at .PL (Poland), .PT (Portugal), and .UA (Ukraine) at the very least.

The Americas

One of the regions we get asked to expand upon most these days is Central and South America. We're pleased to now carry several popular extensions from the region, including .PE (Peru), .PR (Puerto Rico), and .UY (Uruguay).

"Specialty" extensions

Historically, we've categorized extensions like .CO, .ME and .TV as "specialty" extensions – ones that have purposes beyond only serving their regional markets because of their unique branding and usage abilities. We've now added several names which we believe fit into this category, as they have great potential as unique extensions and do not have any additional residency or data requirements:

  • .IM (Isle of Man), .SO (Somalia), .LA (Laos), .AM (Armenia), .FM (Micronesia).

Other new regions

Several other regions and extensions also feature prominently in our list of ccTLDs, including .JP (Japan), .MY (Malaysia), .IL (Israel), .ZA (South Africa) and .NU (Niue). All of these have already proven popular among OpenSRS resellers and are worth checking out.

You can see a full list of all our new extensions by geographic region here.

Although there have been a lot of developments regarding ccTLDs recently, we believe this is only the tip of the iceberg! Keep an eye on this blog throughout the year as we continue to add more extensions to OpenSRS.

Seguidores