anonymous web hosting? or other tips

[regentrude]

Normally, when you purchase a domain name, the name of the domain owner is registered and public information.

Does anybody know a way around this?

I want to establish a web presence for certain artistic pursuits of mine, and I do not wish this to be linked to my actual name. I am not doing anything illegal, immoral, or embarrassing, but it is not information I wish to have connected with my professional persona (I am a physics professor).

I would prefer my own website over a blog, but if blog is the only way, that would be fine.

Thanks.

 

[meena]

Usually there is a privacy option when you buy a domain. It's like getting an unlisted phone number. Typically you do have to pay for this option.

[maize]

Normally, when you purchase a domain name, the name of the domain owner is registered and public information.

Does anybody know a way around this?

I want to establish a web presence for certain artistic pursuits of mine, and I do not wish this to be linked to my actual name. I am not doing anything illegal, immoral, or embarrassing, but it is not information I wish to have connected with my professional persona (I am a physics professor).

I would prefer my own website over a blog, but if blog is the only way, that would be fine.

Thanks.

 

Yes, the hosting service usually has an option to make a domain private for an extra fee.

[meena]

This is just one example: https://www.godaddy.com/domainaddon/private-registration.aspx

 

Click on the FAQ tab mid-page to read how it works.

[regentrude]

Oh, thanks - I had no idea.

We have several pages, but this just never came up :)

Edited July 2, 2016 by regentrude

[lailasmum]

You can usually just check a box to keep details private as long as you are not a business.

[Lanny]

I use Name.com for my Registrar.  Recently, I registered a new Domain Name, and it has local reference and I am using WHOIS PRIVACY on that Domain Name. The information on my other domain names is publicly available in the WHOIS.  Suggestion:   Send an email to Name.com Support and ask them if they can give you a code for FREE WHOIS Privacy. That will save you a few dollars the first year. And, I usually look on RetailMeNot and get a discount code there, before I register a new name or Renew an existing name.  Takes 2 minutes and you might save a dollar or so. Sometimes more. The registration of a NEW (not previously registered) domain name usually costs less than a Renewal.  Most of the $ you pay to the Registrar they then forward to their upstream...  I have had no problems with Name.com    After I registered the new domain name, a month or two ago, immediately after I did that, I went back with the code Name.com gave me for free WHOIS Privacy.   The most important TLDs are:.COM  .NET and .ORG   I would try to get a .COM as those are the most valuable if one ever tries to sell them.  

 

ETA: I reread the first post again and picked up on the web site or blog.  It doesn't matter, whether you are going to use the domain name for a static web site or blog or whatever.  The registration process is the same. 

 

ETA #2:  I suggest paying for hosting and not using free hosting. Paying gives one total control. 

 

ETA #3   THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I CAN SUGGEST TO YOU.  NEVER NEVER NEVER BUY YOUR DOMAIN NAME AND YOUR WEB HOSTING FROM THE SAME COMPANY.  WebHostingTalk has many sad threads about people who have done that and lost their domain name and everything. ALSO, NEVER GO FOR WEB  HOSTING THAT INCLUDES A  "FREE" DOMAIN NAME

Edited July 2, 2016 by Lanny

[regentrude]

I use Name.com for my Registrar.  Recently, I registered a new Domain Name, and it has local reference and I am using WHOIS PRIVACY on that Domain Name. The information on my other domain names is publicly available in the WHOIS.  Suggestion:   Send an email to Name.com Support and ask them if they can give you a code for FREE WHOIS Privacy. That will save you a few dollars the first year. And, I usually look on RetailMeNot and get a discount code there, before I register a new name or Renew an existing name.  Takes 2 minutes and you might save a dollar or so. Sometimes more. The registration of a NEW (not previously registered) domain name usually costs less than a Renewal.  Most of the $ you pay to the Registrar they then forward to their upstream...  I have had no problems with Name.com    After I registered the new domain name, a month or two ago, immediately after I did that, I went back with the code Name.com gave me for free WHOIS Privacy.   The most important TLDs are:.COM  .NET and .ORG   I would try to get a .COM as those are the most valuable if one ever tries to sell them.  

 

ETA: I reread the first post again and picked up on the web site or blog.  It doesn't matter, whether you are going to use the domain name for a static web site or blog or whatever.  The registration process is the same. 

 

ETA #2:  I suggest paying for hosting and not using free hosting. Paying gives one total control. 

 

ETA #3   THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I CAN SUGGEST TO YOU.  NEVER NEVER NEVER BUY YOUR DOMAIN NAME AND YOUR WEB HOSTING FROM THE SAME COMPANY.  WebHostingTalk has many sad threads about people who have done that and lost their domain name and everything. ALSO, NEVER GO FOR WEB  HOSTING THAT INCLUDES A  "FREE" DOMAIN NAME

 

Thanks, Lanny, this is helpful.

[Lanny]

regentrude you are very welcome!    I have been using a small hosting company, since January 2015. Very good and extremely low cost. I have a "Reseller" account (I have multiple domains and each of them has it's own cPanel) that I pay USD$2 a month for. My sites are small and (unfortunately) don't have much traffic.  Previously, I had been with another provider, for about 13 years, and I paid them a lot more. The Support and Service from my current provider are at least as good as that of my previous provider, and probably much better.   Here's their URL:

http://buyshared.com/

 

I suggest that you first register a domain name (with Name.com or GoDaddy.com or another reputable Registrar), and then that you sign up with a hosting provider, possibly BuyShared.   If you want to run a WordPress blog, you can install WordPress (or some other platform) via the cPanel, or manually, and you will have absolute  TOTAL control over your domain name and your content.  If you want a static web site, you can also do that with WordPress or you can use something like Microsoft Expression Web 4, which is now Freeware, available for legal download and use, free.  It is very powerful, like Adobe Dreamweaver and has a "learning curve". I am still using Microsoft FrontPage 2000, which is totally obsolete, for my static web sites, and want/need to learn Microsoft Expression Web 4.  DD expressed an interest in our web sites and she is taking the Web Design course from TTUISD, as an Elective. She is our "expert" on current HTML, etc. and knows far more about that than I do.   

 

What you want to do isn't "Rocket Science" and there are lots of "How Tos" and "Tutorials" on the web. Just take it one step at a time and you will be fine. 

Edited July 2, 2016 by Lanny

[regentrude]

I suggest that you first register a domain name (with Name.com or GoDaddy.com or another reputable Registrar), and then that you sign up with a hosting provider, possibly BuyShared.   If you want to run a WordPress blog, you can install WordPress (or some other platform) via the cPanel, or manually, and you will have absolute  TOTAL control over your domain name and your content.  If you want a static web site, you can also do that with WordPress or you can use something like Microsoft Expression Web 4, which is now Freeware, available for legal download and use, free.  It is very powerful, like Adobe Dreamweaver and has a "learning curve". I am still using Microsoft FrontPage 2000, which is totally obsolete, for my static web sites, and want/need to learn Microsoft Expression Web 4.  

 

What you want to do isn't "Rocket Science" and there are lots of "How Tos" and "Tutorials" on the web. Just take it one step at a time and you will be fine. 

 

Thanks again, Lanny.

As it turned out, my provider offers the option of anonymous hosting for free, so all I had to do was purchase the domain name and add it to my account (and yes, I took care to rearrange my various web sites by moving them a level down, so that you cannot get from one to the other without knowing the adress)

 

Since I just need static pages without complicated features like online stores and inventory databases, I always prefer to write my own html/css code without using a tool. That way, the code is as sparse and transparent as possible, and easy to edit. Still a learning curve, especially since I have not worked much with style sheets before, but really not rocket science.

Edited July 4, 2016 by regentrude

[candicane]

I use a domain provider called NameSilo, the protection of WHOIS comes free, and their renewal fee (usually $9) is the cheapest I've seen thus far.