So I’m setting up a host for my message boards which are moving to phpBB (at long last). With the hosting plan, I get a free domain registration that I don’t need for the forums (I’ll be running them off a subdomain of an existing site).
I plan to use this domain for my generic personal website.The only problem is that I can’t decide what domain name I should register. The starting point is draknek.xyz, but I don’t particularly like any of the choices:
Pros: Loads of techy sites use .org; it sounds best when spoken.
Cons: .org is the least bastardized TLD and generally used for non-profit organisations
Other
Pros: If someone can convince me to use a domain that isn’t draknek, it will be a good one
Cons: The lack of my chosen online moniker
Most people I ask have either said “draknek.org sounds best - go for that”, or “don’t use draknek.org - that makes you sound like an organisation”. Of course, I was leaning towards .org before I started asking people.
To resolve this dilemna, I call upon the opinion of the Dopers, relying on the diversity of opinion found here to help me make a decision.
So, please help me out - and thank you.
(Please don’t die, please don’t die…)
If the .com is available (and you want people to find your site), get it. Nobody remembers to type .net or .org, and those extensions are considered the backwoods of the Internet.
Still, you expect to have some readers, don’t you? Else why do it?
I’d suggest sticking with .com, but if you really want to be different, take a look at the .us designation if you’re feeling patriotic. Or what about .nu (Niue)? One of my favorite essayists has been using that for several years, and he seems happy with it. (www.denbeste.nu).
I agree with the dot coms out there. That seems to be the one that people can remember the best. What doesn’t sound good to you? Draknek.com sounds perfectly good to me.
And what I say is, that it’s unwise to discuss obtaining possible future domain names directly online, because there are people who will search for such discussions with Google, register the domain names you planned on, and then when you try to get it–it’s redirected to their page, where (surprise!) for a fee they are willing to transfer it. This mostly happens with business plans and website aspirations that are discussed beforehand online, but it’s possible it could happen with personal names and sites also.
So if you are sharp, you ask “should I go .com, .org or .net?” but you don’t directly discuss the exact name you are planning on nailing down.
~
Well yes, but mostly close friends. My point was that the small readership I expect will be able to remember a non-standard domain.
I can’t exactly pin my finger on it - I think it’s the double ‘k’ sound of nek dot com
DougC: That’s an interesting point I hadn’t considered. In this case, though, my problem is more how the specific domain sounds than a general case of .com vs .net vs .org - normally, I’d choose .com straight away. Thanks for pointing it out, though. I’ll remember it the next time I’m in this situation.
And thankfully the StraightDope boards aren’t indexed by Google.