.co.za versus .com domains

Do you prefer a .co.za or .com domain for local websites?

  • .co.za

    Votes: 69 72.6%

  • .com

    Votes: 26 27.4%
  • Total voters
    95
Uniforum's process is one of the best I've seen.

It is simple and effective.

The problems I had is where other parties WANTED the system to fail because it is email based and not web based.
 
fusion01 said:
... if you want to deal with the nightmare that is Uniforum directly.
Click to expand...

I agree that Uniform could make the registration/update process more user-friendly for non-technical users, but personally I've not had any issues with them in the years I've been in this industry.

If your market is South Africa it's very obvious that you would use co.za - this makes sense from a usability as well as SEO perspective. Why did they have to run a survey for this?
 
+1 co.za/uniforum is in the stone age

This has been debated over and over again on certain mailing lists and although its not a great percent - people are finally voting with their feet. Yes im sure its not the main reason pple go for com :)

revve said:
I voted .com purely because of the APIs and modern management tools you get with them (web based registration and changes, etc). Managing and registering .co.za domains using the email submission system we are stuck with is a PITA, especially for people who have to register a large amount of domains. If ZADNA and Uniforum can catch up to the 21st century, I'll definately start using co.za as my first choice.
Click to expand...
 
Due to bandwidth being so expensive in this country a lot of people have opted to host overseas. I know with a lot of hosting companies when you signup they throw in a free domain registration (.com)
 
Sending the mails to register .co.za domains does become a bit of a pain when you need to register a lot. Simple solution I came up with was a php script that accepts the new domain from a form, auto-fills the detail and then send it off automatically. Works like magic.
 
hilton said:
Dunno about this. I've been registering domains with them for the last 15 years or so and whilst the process is certainly not automated it's normally pretty efficient. The secret is working out what works for them and then fit in.
Click to expand...
+1
 
stix said:
It sucks - but i have no issue with it bar the delays when updating DNS. Seriously how difficult is it to send an email?
Click to expand...

Not really hard, but I can see you dont really have much experience with hosting. Ever tried to move 3000 domains in a go?

hilton said:
Dunno about this. I've been registering domains with them for the last 15 years or so and whilst the process is certainly not automated it's normally pretty efficient. The secret is working out what works for them and then fit in.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if you only have a handful of domains.. its easy peezy, now move 3000 domains from ZA to the US or visa versa.

I see a lot of people think Uniforum is cool.. Im sure its easy to use them when you have less than 1000 domains. Now pretend you are a real ISP and you have thousands of domains. All that need their payments monitored (as you cant buy years at a time), that often need name server changes etc. Now of the thousands of domains you are moving around... add a handful of typo mistakes or allocation mistakes with the name servers... its becomes OMG.

Face it, Uniforum are lazy buggers too doff to implement a new system that they have being promising for the last 8 years. Its easy just sitting back and getting your ass buttered and not doing much work when you control the monopoly on the .co.za domain group.

Also, their support staff treat you as though you should be thankful that they are answering the phone.
 
Last edited:
I have no experience in registration of a domain name, but I do look to support sites which are proudly South African.

Maybe it is time for the registration and administration process to be reviewed and cleaned up?
 
w1z4rd said:
Not really hard, but I can see you dont really have much experience with hosting. Ever tried to move 3000 domains in a go?

Yeah, if you only have a handful of domains.. its easy peezy, now move 3000 domains from ZA to the US or visa versa.
Click to expand...

Simply write a script that will access the Update Form Generator on co.za, grab the result, change the name servers and send the update ticket. You can even write another script to access the reply mailbox and accept the ticket. The only problem, though, is that they may limit the number of "queries" you do... I know they limit you when doing a few dozen lookups. Would have been useful if they implemented a simple public API.

w1z4rd said:
Also, their support staff treat you as though you should be thankful that they are answering the phone.
Click to expand...

I agree with you there, I try to limit my contact with them to emails.
 
DarkStreet said:
Simply write a script that will access the Update Form Generator on co.za, grab the result, change the name servers and send the update ticket. You can even write another script to access the reply mailbox and accept the ticket. The only problem, though, is that they may limit the number of "queries" you do... I know they limit you when doing a few dozen lookups. Would have been useful if they implemented a simple public API.
Click to expand...

Yeah, there were stories from them for years about releasing a public API, also when you have many groups of name servers for hosting in different locations (jozi, capetown, greece, UK, Germany and the US)... things get difficult.

How hard is it to create a simple system where I can login, see the status of all my domains (account wise), and edit dns servers more easily... its really really easy. They just dont want to do the work.
 
Last edited:
Without a doubt I would go for a .com before a .co.za. So much easier registering and making changes to a .com.
 
Agreed, Uniform should catch up to the 21st century. Also, I would like to do international business. No one outside SA is gonna look at your .co.za domain.
 
I'd go with .com over .co.za for many reasons - one of them being that should I ever emigrate, I don't need to move my site to a different domain.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X