Author Topic: Need Help Picking Out a Domain Name (Read 1563 times) Tweet Share

TerranRich · « **on:** 21 May 2008, 19:44 »

Hey AGSers. TerranRich here, back from a hiking trip in Siberia. Or so it seems. I've just been busy. I haven't been ignoring you! Honest! I love you, baby! No, no, please don't leave! I CAN CHANGE!!!

Ahem.

So I'm working on a web site that is basically a blog featuring interesting but random information. To give you an example, some entries would be things like "Weird Al Yankovic Song Parodies" (which would list each Weird Al song that is a parody and show what song inspired it), "Hard-to-Find Internet Retail Phone Numbers" (which would list hard-to-find toll-free phone numbers for businesses online, like eBay, Amazon, etc.), "Useful Windows Run Commands" (which would list "Run" commands that Windows users may find interesting), and "Latin Phrases in Scholarly Writing".

I already have a site called Miscellanea! (misc.xylot.net) up and running, but it is a wiki format and doesn't look very good because my MediaWiki skills aren't that great and it looks like a cookie-cutter Wikipedia site.

So you can probably tell that this site will just feature random collections of information. I also plan on including charts, diagrams, tools, etc. that people would find useful.

But the big obstacle I've come across is getting a domain for this site. 1&1 has a deal on .info domains (99 cents the first year), and I already have hosting with them, so I figured I could just add on a .info domain. And since this is in fact an informational website, a .info domain would be perfect.

My original name for the site, "2 Much Info" isn't possible in any permutation I've come across (such as 2much.info). I wanted to come up with something fairly clever, a name that ends in the word "Info". Here are some available domains I've come across:

2muchinfo.info (just for the hell of it)
miscellania.info (to keep the Miscellanea name, but change the spelling to be "unique"...and because the correct spelling is already taken)
allyour.info (as in "All Your Info)
just2much.info ("Just 2 Much Info"... I'm leaning more toward this one, I think)
way-2-much.info (don't like the hyphens, but way2much.info was taken)
chockfullof.info ("Chock Full of Info"... would this work?)
foryor.info (as in "For Your Info" but intentionally misspelled as a twist... and because, again, the correct spelling was already taken)

What do you guys think is the best one? Are there other ideas for domain names that I'm missing? A lot of .info domains are taken, so it's tough to come up with something that would be memorable and not too outlandish or long.

Snake · « **Reply #1 on:** 21 May 2008, 21:09 »

RichTerrain.info

I thought of it almost instantly. It kinda' fits your name a bit.

--Snake

TerranRich · « **Reply #2 on:** 21 May 2008, 21:39 »

You're just like my wife, Snake. It's not "Terrain", it's "Terran", as in "Human" in Star Trek lingo.

Now go make me some pie.

Seriously, which domain name sounds the best? I need input!

SSH · « **Reply #3 on:** 21 May 2008, 21:59 »

Here there is a book like that called Schott's Miscellany, and Xylot sounds a bit similar. I'd stick with that. It'll probably make darn squiddly difference to traffic volumes whatever you choose.

TerranRich · « **Reply #4 on:** 21 May 2008, 22:05 »

Hmm. Xylot.net currently serves as my portfolio home page. I guess I could change www.xylot.net into the homepage for this new site. I dunno, I wanted a .info domain because it's cheap and would be more interesting than "Miscellanea" or "Xylot".

evenwolf · « **Reply #5 on:** 21 May 2008, 23:25 »

yesithoughtitwouldbeclevertomakemydomai napun.info

Radiant · « **Reply #6 on:** 21 May 2008, 23:45 »

How about this:

in.fo

TwinMoon · « **Reply #7 on:** 22 May 2008, 00:00 »

info.info?

If I tried to be silly I'd say everythingyoualwayswantedtoknowabout.in fo

auriond · « **Reply #8 on:** 22 May 2008, 00:01 »

Just a heads-up: .info domains seem to attract more spammers than any other domain extension (besides .ru and .cn). I know because I own one.

I'm not a fan of numbers replacing words in domain names - looks a bit spammy - so I think something like Xylot or even RichTerrain.com would be better than 2much.info . Look at existing productivity-killers like BoingBoing or Neatorama - they have memorable names that don't scream what their blogs are really about.

Babar · « **Reply #9 on:** 22 May 2008, 00:06 »

Howsabout richwith.info?

LimpingFish · « **Reply #10 on:** 22 May 2008, 00:09 »

got.info?

Ryan Timothy · « **Reply #11 on:** 22 May 2008, 00:12 »

My website is www.bryvis.com - I got it from combining parts of my name and my brothers names: Brad + Ryan + Travis
It didn't take much thought, and I think it's catchy enough to remember.
You said you have a wife. Perhaps a daughter/son as well? Try combining parts of their names if you can't think of anything else.

Evil · « **Reply #12 on:** 22 May 2008, 00:17 »

fy.info
2much.info
infoinfoinfo.info

evenwolf · « **Reply #13 on:** 22 May 2008, 00:34 »

Most of the punnier ones are taken alreds.

Mr Flibble · « **Reply #14 on:** 22 May 2008, 00:36 »

I'd avoid .info if you can, they're usually used for illegal things and generally have a very dodgy reputation. If I saw a link to a .info site, I'd think twice before clicking it.

evenwolf · « **Reply #15 on:** 22 May 2008, 04:56 »

I'm just curious how it works when a country wants to change its url.

What if Italy changed its mind and wanted to be .itl instead of .it ?

Or what if a new country formed & wanted to be .aids? Who is the governing body that says yay or nay on that one?

auriond · « **Reply #16 on:** 22 May 2008, 05:32 »

I believe that would be ICANN: http://www.icann.org/ . They don't govern so much as they "coordinate" domains (their words), although they are the body which hands out accreditations to domain registrars.

monkey_05_06 · « **Reply #17 on:** 22 May 2008, 09:28 »

I always thought it a bit pointless anyway different countries having different domains. It seems to me like it's just a way for multiple people to register the same name (i.e., domain.com, domain.org, domain.net, etc.). ORG isn't reserved for organizations. NET isn't reserved for network providers. And so forth. Whatever happened to good old dot-com?

auriond · « **Reply #18 on:** 22 May 2008, 10:25 »

And don't forget the new extensions: .name for personal pages, .biz for businesses, .mobi for mobile devices, .asia for Asian businesses...

It's definitely a way to get multiple registrations of the same name now. It may have started out as an exclusive thing, but now they are just another way for cybersquatters to get their kicks.

TerranRich · « **Reply #19 on:** 22 May 2008, 15:27 »

Hmm, points well taken. I haven't come across many .info domains. One springs to mind: www.miscellanies.info which is what SSH mentioned I believe.

Now I'm leaning toward either xylot.info or miscellania.info. I guess I can stay away from pun domains; it makes sense that they would seem silly. I'd really like to legitimize the .info name, if that's even possible.

richwith.info sounds great... I could make it more personable by having myself on there somehow, being the person behind all the info I'm shelling out. It could have a double meaning: rich as in wealthy with information... and Rich here, with information for you, the viewer (like a news reporter). And best part is, it's available.

Oh, and don't get me started on "mis-used" foreign domains like .tv, .cc, .tk, etc.