HF PanelDocsv1.0.0

Domain names & SSL

Register new domain names, transfer yours in, buy a paid SSL certificate and manage the domains you bought — renewal, lock, nameservers and more.

Domain names & SSL lets you register new domain names, move your domains here, buy a paid SSL certificate, and keep your domains renewed — all billed with your hosting.

Where: Control Panel › Domains › Domain names & SSL

Note: this screen is only in the menu when your hosting provider sells domains. Otherwise it says "Domain sales are not available here."

If your hosting provider is testing the service, a notice says "Test mode: orders go to the registrar's test system and nothing is really registered."

The screen has these tabs: My domains, Register, Transfer, SSL certificates (when paid certificates are offered) and Orders. The Basket is always beside them.

Register a domain

  1. Click the Register tab.
  2. Under Find your domain, type a name, for example mybakery or mybakery.co.uk, and click Search.
  3. The results list the name in up to 8 domain endings, with the price for the First year and Then yearly. Each shows Available, Taken or Premium — contact us.
  4. Click Add on the domain you want. It goes into the basket.
  5. Check out (see below).

The Prices card lists every domain ending on sale with its yearly price to Register, Renew and Transfer, in your account's currency.

Tip: if a name shows Taken with "Yours? Use Transfer.", it can be transferred here from your current registrar.

You can search up to 30 times a minute.

Transfer a domain to us

  1. At your current registrar, unlock the domain and ask for the transfer code (also called EPP or auth code).
  2. Click the Transfer tab.
  3. Enter the Domain and the Transfer code.
  4. Click Add to basket, then check out.

A transfer adds one year to the domain. If the domain ending can't be transferred here, the form says so.

Buy an SSL certificate

Every website already gets a free certificate from AutoSSL (see SSL/TLS). A paid domain-validated certificate comes with a warranty and a site seal, lasts a year and renews with your billing.

  1. Click the SSL certificates tab.
  2. Choose a website in Choose a website….
  3. Click Add to basket, then check out.

After the order, the certificate authority checks the domain. A CNAME record is added to the DNS zone, or a file under /.well-known/pki-validation/, for you. The check usually passes within an hour; click Check now to ask again. Once issued, the certificate is installed by itself.

Your certificates lists each certificate with its State and Expires date. For organisation (OV) and extended (EV) certificates, contact your hosting provider.

Check out

The basket holds up to 10 items.

  1. For each new domain, choose how many years (1, 2, 3, 5 or 10). Transfers and certificates are for one year.
  2. For domains, fill in the Domain owner details. They are sent to the domain registry, as the rules for domain names require.
  3. Leave WHOIS privacy (hide my details where the registry allows) ticked to hide your details, where offered.
  4. Click Check out.

One invoice is made for the whole basket. If you have a card on file, it is charged and you get the invoice by email. Otherwise a notice says the invoice is ready, with a Pay now button to pay online or by bank transfer.

Owner field What to enter
First name, Last name the owner's name
Organisation (optional) the company, if a company owns the domain
Email the owner's email. The registry may send confirmations here.
Phone (+44.2071234567) the phone number in international format
Address, Town or city, Postcode, County / state (optional), Country the owner's postal address

Manage your domains

The My domains tab lists the domains bought here, with their state (for example active or expired) and expiry date.

Setting What it does
Renew now orders a renewal for one year now, at the price shown. Renewal on order shows when one is waiting.
Renew automatically renews the domain before it expires; the card on file is charged. When off, you get a reminder before it expires.
Locked against transfers / Unlocked a locked domain can't be transferred away. Click Lock or Unlock.
WHOIS privacy hides the owner's details in the public WHOIS, where offered
Nameservers 2 to 13 nameservers, one per line. Use ours puts the server's own nameservers back. Changes can take up to 24 hours to reach everyone.
Contacts changes the owner details. The registry may email the owner to confirm a new owner.
Transfer code shows the code to move the domain to another registrar
DNSSEC the domain's DS records as JSON, up to 8. [] switches DNSSEC off at the registry.
Refresh reads the domain's state from the registrar again (at most once a minute)

Some settings only appear when the registrar offers them.

Unlock a domain or show its transfer code

Both need your password:

  1. Click Unlock (or Transfer code).
  2. Enter Your password, to confirm.
  3. Click Unlock the domain (or Show the transfer code).

Important: the password is the account owner's password, also for a team member. Unlock the domain too before you start a transfer at the new registrar.

An expired domain

A domain in the registry's redemption period shows a notice. It can still be restored for a fee — contact support.

Orders

The Orders tab lists your last 20 orders with their Date, Order, Amount, State and Invoice. Click Pay on an unpaid one.