Step 1 of 8 12% Welcome to the Neighborhood So, you want a Domain of One’s Own (DoOO) account? We are glad you are here! Before you get started, we wanted to tell you a little bit about the platform. What exactly is a “Domain of One’s Own?” Yes, we know the name might seem unusual, but simply stated: Domain of One’s Own provides everyone in the UMW community with a free domain (a web address that YOU choose, like “www.yourname.com”) and web hosting (a place to store the files and data for your domain). Once you claim a domain through Domain of One’s Own, it is yours. You can do whatever you want with it, and even take it with you when you leave UMW. At other schools, you might find locked-down e-portfolio systems or other publishing platforms that limit your control. Here at UMW we love giving people agency over their digital identity. A Domain of One’s Own is one way we do that. If you aren’t familiar with how domains and web hosting work, we recommend reading “Getting to Know Your Webspace” to learn a little bit more about how it all works. Let’s get started! Tell us a about who you are so we can tell you a bit more about how you might want to use Domain of One’s Own: What is your main role at UMW?(Required)StudentFacultyStaffWhat can I do on Domain of One’s Own? Whether you are starting this account for a class assignment or for your own project here are some examples of what you can do: Build a website using WordPress This is far and away the most used application on DoOO. It allows you to easily write, share media, and with a few plugins layout your site just how you like it. Whether your are documenting your research, putting together your resume, or writing the next great American novel WordPress is a great place to start. In fact the majority of websites on the Internet are built using WordPress. Start a collection with Omeka Omeka is another publishing tool that is especially geared towards building robust online digital collections. Run that open source project you found or write code yourself! The way our server is set up gives you a lot of power to run your own code or hand code it (like it is 1995). If you are running your own code you’ll want to read our guide on the technical details of our servers to find out if it is compatible with our setup. What can I do on Domain of One’s Own? Whether you are starting this account to document your own scholarship or because you want to use it in the classroom here are some examples of what you can do: Build a website using WordPress This is far and away the most used application on DoOO. It allows you to easily write, share media, and with a few plugins layout your site just how you like it. In fact the majority of websites on the Internet are built using WordPress. Start a collection with Omeka Omeka is another publishing tool that is especially geared towards building robust online digital collections. Getting Support Before you create your account, we wanted to let you know where you can get support for Domain of One’s Own as a student. Get Help from Other Students Here at UMW we have the Digital Knowledge Center (DKC) to support you in a variety of digital projects, including Domain of One’s Own, which makes this the best place to go if you want help getting started or get stuck along the way. You can book a consultation with a student consultant on the Digital Knowledge Center website. Help Yourself Sometimes you want to read through a few guides before you reach out for help (or it is 2am and all the consultants are asleep). In our guides section of the site you’ll find a series of of articles around different aspects of using Domain of One’s Own including getting started with WordPress. Check it out to see if you can find your answer there!Getting Support Before you we get in to the details we wanted to let you know where you can get support for Domain of One’s Own as faculty or staff member. Consultation If you want to talk through the pedagogical uses for Domain of One’s Own in your class and the support the DKC can provide for your students, or you are interested in starting a domain to document your scholarly life, contact Digital Learning Support (DLS) by e-mailing dls@umw.edu and we can set up a consultation. Online Guides If you have a question that you want to try and answer yourself, or it is a time of day when no one is available to answer your questions, check out our guides. They include articles about various aspects of using Domain of One’s Own including getting started with WordPress. Choosing Your Domain Name Choosing your domain name is the first step in getting started on Domain of One’s Own. Your domain name is a unique web address that can be used to build out your own digital presence. As you make your choice, keep in mind that you cannot change your domain name once you sign up, so choose carefully! Here are a few considerations to keep in mind: This is your domain! Even if you are making it for a class, you’ll want to consider using something that is unique to you. Whether it is your name or something else, remember that this platform is for YOUR digital identity. If you are using it for a class, the DKC can show you how to set up a subdomain to use just for that class. So you shouldn’t include things like the class name in your URL choice. Your domain name (URL) must be available. The domain we purchase on your behalf is available from the publicly available pool of domains. If you attempt to pick an unavailable domain during sign-up the system will not let you proceed. If you want to do some research before you sign up, there are lots of domain availability tools out there to help you see if a domain is currently available. You must choose a top-level domain (TLD). What is a top-level domain? The TLD is the suffix (or ending part) of your domain name. On DoOO we allow you to choose from four TLDs: .com, .net, & .org Remember, you cannot change your domain name once you sign up! Choose a domain name that you feel you can live with during your time at UMW. We encourage you to make it personal to you rather than related to a class. You never know what you might use it for! If you would like further guidance on some best practices when selecting a domain you can review our Best Practices for Choosing a Domain Name guide. Choosing Your Domain Name Choosing your domain name is the first step in getting started on Domain of One’s Own. Your domain name is a unique web address that can be used to build out your own digital presence. As you make your choice, keep in mind that you cannot change your domain name once you sign up, so choose carefully! Here are a few considerations to keep in mind: This is your domain! Even if you are making it for a class, you’ll want to consider using something that is unique to you. Whether it is your name or something else, remember that this platform is for YOUR digital identity. If you are using it for a class, DLS can show you how to set up a subdomain to use just for that class. Your domain name (URL) must be available. The domain we purchase on your behalf is available from the publicly available pool of domains. If you attempt to pick an unavailable domain during sign-up the system will not let you proceed. If you want to do some research before you sign up, there are lots of domain availability tools out there to help you see if a domain is currently available. You must choose a top-level domain (TLD). What is a top level-domain? The TLD is the suffix (or ending part) of your domain name. On DoOO we allow you to choose from four TLDs: .com, .net, .org & .info Remember, you cannot change your domain name once you sign up! Choose a domain name that you feel you can live with during your time at UMW. We encourage you to make it personal to you rather than related to a class. You never know what you might use it for! For faculty and staff who have a project or class that would benefit from a unique web address we will pay for one additional domain. Please contact DLS to discuss options. If you would like further guidance on some best practices when selecting a domain you can review our Best Practices for Choosing a Domain Name guide. Terms of Service: In Brief You’ll have to agree to a Terms of Service when you go through the check-out process but we wanted to give you a brief overview of key things you’ll see. The honor code, our ASPIRE values, and the network and computer use policies apply to Domain of One’s Own. While making money is a great thing you can’t use your Domain of One’s Own account to make money. We make it possible to take your domain name and content with you after you leave UMW. You have 30 days after you leave the University to complete this task before we delete your account. All the details are on our TOS page. What You’ll See on the Sign-Up Page Below is a description of the steps you’ll go through during the sign-up process so you know what to expect: When you go to the create an account you’ll be asked to sign-in with your UMW NetID and password. Next you’ll choose what domain you want us to register for you, and then click Checkout Now (don’t worry, it’s free for you!). Review the Terms of Service and click the check box at the bottom to indicate you agree. Click the Register Now button. After you complete these steps, your account will be live! You are now the proud owner of your own domain and web hosting space. BUT WAIT! Before you go off creating, there is one last crucial step! Domain Verification After you’ve registered a domain through Domain of One’s Own you are required to verify it with ICANN within 14 days or it will be suspended. If your account gets suspended, all the sites and content you’ve created still exist, but they are not available publicly online until you complete the verification process. “How can I avoid this terrible fate?” Click the link in the IMMEDIATE VERIFICATION e-mail. Ideally, the verification email should show up in your UMW email inbox shortly after you complete your domain registration, but it could take up to 30 minutes. If the message is not in your inbox, then open your Junk Email folder. The verification email message will be clearly marked with a subject line similar to “IMMEDIATE VERIFICATION required.” Click on the link in the message to verify your email. A web page will appear notifying you that your email has been verified. If for any reason the e-mail does not appear in your inbox after 30 minutes please feel free to contact us via the UMW Domains support form. “Why do I need to do this?” Don’t blame us! Starting on January 1, 2014, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) mandated that all new domains must be verified within 14 days of registration by the owner. Our Domain Registrar (a company called eNom) enforces this policy as part of registering your domain with them. What happens when I leave UMW? Thirty days after you are no longer an active student at UMW we delete your DoOO account, domain, and content. However, if you want to take your domain and content with you, we do allow you to do this! You can find out how to do this in our migration guide. You can an also book a Web Project appointment with the DKC and a consultant can walk you through the steps of how to take your website with you when you go. What happens when I leave UMW? As a faculty or staff member at UMW you can have your Domain of One’s Own account while you are employed by UMW. However, if you want to take your domain and content with you, we do allow you to do this! You can find out how to do this in our migration guide. DLS can walk you through the steps of how to take your website with you when you go. You can book an appointment to get assistance with this process. Ready to Go! Now that you know what is involved, you are ready to get started! Want help getting started? If you would like assistance setting up Domain of One’s Own, including installing and get started with WordPress, we encourage you to book an appointment with a DKC consultant. Book an Appointment Ready to go on your own? If you are ready to create your account right now, click the button below to start the process! Create an Account We also recommend reviewing the “I Set Up My Account, Now What?” guide to help you get started with building your site using WordPress. Ready to Go! Now that you know what is involved, you are ready to get started! Want help getting started? If you would like assistance with Domain of One’s Own, including how to install and get started with WordPress. We encourage to book an appointment with Digital Learning Support. Book an Appointment Ready to go on your own? If you are ready to start your account right now click that button below to start the account creation process! Create an Account We also recommend reviewing the “I Set Up My Account, Now What?” guide to help you get started with building your site using WordPress. NameThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Δ
