Discuss mailing list

[Jeff Taylor <shdwdrgn AT sourpuss.net>]

subtitled "Oh my god this software sucks!"  ;-)

http://reg.oss/
http://reg.parody/

Registrations are tentatively open for .oss and .parody.  As I mentioned 
before, there are a LOT of domains which do not correspond to active 
registered members (http://www.opennicproject.org/members/) so if you 
are unable to access your domain, please send a private email to me with 
your domain name(s) and user name, and I will try to match up your 
information.

If you see any bugs, please report them immediately!  I will respond as 
I am able to.  Please don't try to break things, just let me know where 
the problem is.

Yes the current theme still sucks.  This is not a bug, its a feature. :-)

OK, with all that said, here is some basic information to help everyone 
get started...

* Your username and password is the account created from the opennic 
members page.
* There are different languages available (english, german, spanish) but 
the translations are not complete.  As we move forward, we will get more 
work done on those files and add more languages.
* When you log in, the left bar will show any domains you have 
registered, grouped by TLD.  Clicking a domain name will bring up the 
edit screen for that domain.
* Domain names are limited to characters [a-z][0-9] plus a hyphen "-", 
and must be between 3 and 32 characters in length.  You are limited to 
registering 5 new domains in each TLD within a 7-day period.

-- The edit screen is where all the action happens, and thus where much 
more explanation is needed...

* Javascript is required for warning messages.  If you do not have JS 
enabled, you will not be asked for confirmation before deleting domains 
and subdomains.
* 'Quit' will take you back to the screen where you can register a domain.
* 'Update' (or just hitting Enter in any text field) will save changes 
you make on the page.  If you quit without doing an update, your changes 
will be dropped.

* Domain types (self/simple/full) -- note you do not need to select 
these, the type will be automatically determined by the type of records 
you enter, but you can use these buttons to change an existing domain.
-- Self-hosting: You can enter NS and RP records, pointing to your own 
nameserver.  Note that NS records must be a FQDN, and cannot be an IP 
address.
-- Simple: NS2 will host your domain records.  This type has 
bare-minimum entries (A, AAAA, RP, and TXT) and will be fully contained 
within the TLD zone file.  Note that minimal subdomains are also available.
-- Full record: NS2 will host your domain record, but you can create a 
complete zone file including SOA and MX records.  Note two fields in the 
SOA record are disabled -- these are generated automatically by the 
software.

* The screen is laid out in the format of a domain zone file.  If you 
wish to add subdomains, type in the name in the box at the bottom.
* The 'release' button will DELETE your entire domain and make it 
available for others to register.  Use this if you accidentally register 
the wrong domain name or you no longer want a domain.
* The 'delete' buttons will remove a subdomain (including and 
sub-subdomains underneath it).
* The 'enabled' buttons will enable or disable a subdomain or an entire 
domain.  Anything that is disabled will not be included in the zone 
files advertised for your domain.
* For each domain or subdomain, there will be a drop-box listing the 
available record types you can enter.  These options change depending on 
what type of domain you are creating (for example, if you enter NS 
records, then you cannot enter an A record).

The software attempts to clean up your entries, but it still need more 
work.  If you enter a FQDN for an MX record, it will ensure there is a 
trailing period as required by the zone file, however it does not yet 
confirm that you entered a valid number in the first field for the MX 
record.  If your domain entries are invalid, your domain will not 
function, and in many cases will not even be added to the TLD zone.  One 
of the features I want to add to the software later is a button to 
validate your domain in real-time... something to point out any errors 
immediately so users don't have to try and guess where the problem is.  
General help within the interface is also in the works.

Domain expirations are not yet functional.  Once we get through with 
immediate bug fixes, I will try to get the expiration code working, 
which will send out automated email notices and remove any domains that 
do not get renewed.  Currently new domains are registered for one month 
(to filter out the folks who come in, register a bunch of new domains, 
and never come back), then renewals are for a 1-year period.

We want to make this software as friendly as possible, but at the moment 
we are still focusing on overall functionality.  If you have feature 
requests, feel free to mention them.  Much of the structure of this new 
code was driven by member requests for a registrar over the past few 
years... we may be slow at implementing, but we do pay attention to what 
has been asked.  Hopefully we can quickly clean up any problems with the 
new interface and jump back to making it work better overall.