F.A.Q.

Yes, you can upgrade to any of our packages. Please contact sales for details.

Yes, you can click here to start the order process.

Yes you can, and we will be happy to tranfer it to our servers for free, just select the hosting package you want and complete the sign up process.

You will receive an email from us asking you to either upgrade your account or purchase more bandwidth. You will have 10 days to respond to the email or your site may be terminated until the next calendar month when bandwidth totals are reset.

Bandwith is the monthly transfer of data you are allowed.

This is the set amount of files (measured in megabytes) that you can store on your server space.

We have a guaranteed 99.9% uptime on our servers which is maintained for our clients. Our servers are some of the most advanced in the world and they ensure that your data is both safe and reliable.

Depending on your package,HTML, Java, Flash, Swish, Perl, PHP, CGI, SSI and JavaScript, ASP/ASP.NET, CFML (BlueDragon or ColdFusion MX). Others are available on request. You can ask to have special files or programs uploaded to our servers, and most often we will comply. A small fee may apply.

Visa and MasterCard

You can use any ICANN, InterNIC or Nominet accredited domain extension with our server. (All common ones will work - .com, .biz, .net, .org, .us, .ca, .uk, .info, etc.)

Visit our contact us section, there are many ways we can get in touch.

If you do not need any of our hosting plans, feel free to take advantage of our Free Parking. You can park your domain names indefinitely on our servers at no extra cost, as long as you maintain ownership of your domain.

Yes, simply specify that you are requesting a transfer and NOT a new domain. You should keep the service with your current provider while waiting for your registrar to complete the transfer process. This can take from 3-5 days.

Yes, we can host any foreign extension. We will help you register these names when possible. Otherwise, we will provide you with the information that you need to register the name yourself.

Probably not. Most registrars, including Network Solutions, Register.com, and OpenSRS, don't charge you to do DNS Modifications.

Absolutely not! If you use one of our hosting packages, the least we can do is transfer your domain DNS to our servers for you!

Yes, we now register domain names for as low as $14.95 US/year! We also take care of any modifications on your already existing domain (i.e. transferring your existing domain to our servers). By paying for the name yourself, you are assured of complete title and ownership of it.

It is important to choose a domain that will reflect the intent and purpose of your website or business. Try to keep it short and simple. Your domain name will be one of the ways people recognize or evaluate the site for their interests when they are searching via Google, Yahoo, or other search engines.

Here are a few recommendations:

1. Use your key search words in your domain name for example we use "web hosting" in our domain.
2. Try to avoid including confusing words such as: to, too, two, and 2 or for, four, The problem with these types of names is when you try to verbally tell some one your domain name
3. Try to avoid using hyphens/dashes "-" if possible. They are legal, but again can be confusing.
4. If you can try to pick a name that is close to the start of the alphabet as these will often be displayed at the top of any alphabetical lists, which is one of the reasons why we chose "Aftershock Web Design" as it is often at the top of sorted lists.
5. Try to avoid using the letter "O" or zero "0" when it is not part of a word so not to be confusing.
6. Try to avoid using the letter "l" or number "1" when it is not part of a word so not to be confusing
   
   

Most registrars give you a username and password so you can go to their site, login and make the necessary DNS modifications (change hosts). You'll need to enter in our nameserver information as follows:

• Primary IP: 66.210.12.1
  Primary Hostname: NS1.OURWEBHOST.COM
• Secondary IP: 66.210.12.4
  Secondary Hostname:NS4.OURWEBHOST.COM
  

Before registering a domain name you will first have to do a "Whois" search to see if the requested domain name is available. You can do this right from our website . If you need more detailed information about the ownership of the domain name we suggest the following our whois page.

Of course! It will take between 24-48 hours for DNS Propagation. DNS Propagation is the process by which the computers on the Internet update their records (DNS tables) to reflect new site name(s). When this is complete, your name can be accessed and recognized on the Internet.

If there are no trademark disputes, your secured domain name will be yours for as long as you maintain the yearly registration fees with Aftershock Web Design.

A domain name consists of two or more words separated by a period. The last word (the far right) is called a "top-level domain". Here are some common top-level domains and their use:

• .COM - Used for commercial entities. It is the most popular top-level domain. Anyone can register a .com domain.
• .NET - Originally used for networking organizations such as Internet Service Providers and backbone providers. Today, anyone can register a .net domain.
• .ORG - Designed for miscellaneous organizations, including non-profit groups. Today, anyone can register a .org domain.
• .EDU - Four-year, accredited colleges and universities.

Country Codes

Other top-level domains include those for countries (.US for United States, .CA for Canada, .UK for the United Kingdom, .HK for Hong Kong, etc.), which are based on the International Standards Organization's 3166 standard for country abbreviations.

To the left of the top-level domain is what is called the "second-level domain." In sohostme.com, "sohostme" represents a second-level domain within the top-level domain of .com.

The only valid characters for a domain name are letters, numbers and a hyphen "-". Other special characters like the underscore "_" or an exclamation mark "!" are NOT permitted. Example: your name.com (not correct, no spaces allowed) Example: your-name.com (is correct) A domain name can be up to 72 characters long -- including the 4 characters used to identify the Top Level Domain (.NET, .COM, .ORG, or .EDU). Do not type the www. before your domain name when registering.

If you register a name in good faith, it does not belong to an internationally known company and you can show that you have a legitimate reason to use the name, you will probably be able to keep the name. This may not be the case if it can be shown that you purchased the name for the express purpose of re-selling it to a company with a legitimate claim to the name.

DNS stands for "Domain Name Server". It translates domain names into IP addresses that computers understand. For example, if someone wants to access our website (www.aftershockwebhosting.com), the DNS will translate the domain into the IP address 66.210.13.230, which will allow the computer to locate our web server.

A domain name tells people (and the computers they use) how to find your homepage on the Internet. Your hosting provider assigns each domain name to a numerical IP (Internet Protocol) address. People remember names better than numbers, but computers translate www.yourname.com into IP address numbers.

It stands for Univesal Resource Locator. Some people refer to it as a web address (although URL is not limited to the web). An example of a URL is http://www.aftershockwebhosting.com. Please note that a URL is a unique identifier. No two websites can have the same URL. This is the reason why you should register your domain name before someone else does.

Every computer on the Internet has a numeric address called IP-Address that is used to identify the location of the computer. An example of an IP address is 10.10.192.168. This kind of addressing system is cumbersome and hard to remember for humans. Having a domain name will eliminate the need to remember an IP address.

Registering a domain name for your business or organization is essential to your marketing efforts. A domain gives your business credibility and a unique identity on the World Wide Web.

Yes, you can use Outlook Express with your email. Actually, you can access your email from any email program that uses POP3 & SMTP such as Outlook, Thunderbird, Eudora and others.

Here are the steps for adding an email account to Outlook Express:

1. Open Outlook Express
2. Click on the "Tools" menu
3. Click on "Accounts..."
4. Click on the "Add" button
5. Click on "Mail..."
6. Enter your name for your "Display Name" for example: "John Doe"
   
7. Click "Next"
8. Enter your complete email address in the field "E-mail address" for example: john@mydomain.com
9. Click "Next"
10. Enter your "Incoming mail (POP3...) server" which will be the same as your domain name with one change. Change the www. to mail. for example www.mydomain.com to mail.mydomain.com
    
11. Enter your "Outgoing mail (SMTP) server", this will be the same as your other email accounts used in Outlook Express, so it is a good idea to know this this before you start. If you don't know your "Outgoing mail (SMTP) server", then you will need to contact your IPS ("Internet Service Provider").
    
12. Click "Next"
13. Enter your "Account name" which is your email address, for example: "john@mydomain.com"
14. Enter your "Password"
    
15. Click "Next"
16. Then click "Finish"

You should now be able to check your email from within Outlook Express.

To edit your account:

1. Complete steps 1-3 as shown above if not already done.
2. Click on the "Mail" tab
3. Click on the email account to edit
4. Click on the "Property" button
5. Then click on one of the tabs to edit that property.

1. Go to http://mail.[your domain name].com
   
2. Enter your full email address and password and press "Login"
3. Under the "Settings" menu click "My Spam Filtering"
1. Under the "Options" tab change to "Override spam settings for this account"
2. Click on the "Actions" tab and make any desired changes
3. Under the "Trusted Senders" tab you may add email addresses you know to be safe so they are not accidentally marked as spam
4. Press the "Save" button
4. Under the "Settings" menu click "My Content Filtering"
1. Press "Add Content Filter" to filter out some word or phrase that is always spam
5. There is always help available for any page by clicking on "? Help" in the upper right corner.