We now support any-time domain renewals for people who have domain credits. This applies to all domain types which we allow credit purchases for (.co.uk, .me.uk and .org.uk. .com, .net, .org, .info, .name and .biz). Essentially this allows you to add extra years to your domain name’s expiry, up to the limit that the registry enforces (it will take the appropriate number of credits to do this).
To set this up, log in to your control panel, in manage domain names, click “Renewal” and it will show you the expiry date and offer the year ranges you can renew for (but ONLY if you have credits of the applicable type). If you don’t have any domain name credits, click here to log in find out more about buying domain name credits.
Whilst other domain registrars already offer a similar service most won’t actually renew it until the domain name has expired. With our system, the domain never expires.
Please note: As with normal registrations and renewals, this isn’t refundable because it cannot be undone once you commit to it.
Sounds great! One question, though:
How does this effect the renewal date?
e.g. If I register a domain on January 1st 2010 for a year, I need to renew it on January 1st 2011.
If six months later on June 1st 2010 I decide to add an extra year using the system above, when do I then have to renew the domain next?
On June 1st 2011, a year on from when I added the extra year?
Or January 1st 2012, as if I’d initially registered the domain for 2 years?
Using the example you give, the renewal would be January 1st 2012. The system adds extra years to your renewal, not from the date you use the credits, but from the initial registration date.
Cheers
Matt
Quick query, is the renewal with the registry or just held in your system and automatically applied when necessary? I.e. If I renew a domain now will the whois record show the new renewal date?
Jon,
It goes straight to the registry (it’s an immediate renewal). WHOIS typically updates within a few minutes (just because WHOIS services often cache their responses).
Hope that helps,
Matt