And we're back! After a move from Go Daddy to Hover

Some of you (Thanks Colin!) noticed that Doc’s Tech Notes was down for a couple of days. I know some of you may be wondering, how could you not know your own site is down. I blame it on Blogger. I use Blogger to host Doc’s Tech Notes as well as several other sites because of their hosting cost – FREE!

So why did Doc’s Tech Notes go down and why do I blame Blogger (cuz I can't believe it was actually my fault!)? Find out by hitting the link below.

Early last week, I changed domain name providers. I transferred the Doc’s Tech Notes domain name from Go Daddy to Hover at the recommendation of several podcasters. The change, I thought, went smoothly as I was able to view the site after what I thought was a smooth transition. This is where I blame Blogger. I was able to view Doc’s Tech Notes because I was using the original Blogger URL  (docstechnotes.blogspot.com) which was a bookmark I have used for about a year. Even though I have a custom URL, this original URL still works. Try it out for yourself.

So to me, the site was always active. To readers using the http://www.docstechnotes.com address, the site was unavailable. So when I discovered the site was down, I logged into Hover and found the issue. When I migrated the Doc’s Tech Notes domain, it transferred the old domain name servers (DNS) and was using those in lieu of the Hover DNS. That's a tip for those who may transfer their domain from Go Daddy to Hover. It is now fixed and Doc’s Tech Notes is back on the air. That's either a good thing or a bad thing depending on perspective.

So for those of you asking whether the change from Go Daddy to Hover was a smart move given this error, let me say emphatically, YES! Go Daddy had great prices on domains and you can get discount codes everywhere. Where they fail though is their interface. It is cumbersome, ugly and full of ways for you to purchase 10 to 20 other services you don't need. I liken it to Las Vegas. You can't go anywhere without running into either a time share salesman, stripper/escort cards or slot machines. And that's all stuff I don't want.

Hover has a clean interface and even though I had initial issues, Hover's fast and simple interface allowed me to identify the issue and correct it in a couple of minutes. If you want a domain, for about $10, Hover is the place to go. The few extra dollars are worth it when it comes to managing your domain. When my other domains become available, I'll be transferring those as well. I reserved 5 years for $50. So Doc’s Tech Notes shouldn't be available for 5 years without downtime. Right?