I don’t know about you, but I like simplicity. While I may be a tech nerd underneath, that’s for stuff like home theater, computers, video games, Kindles or Sony eReaders, etc. For the everyday things, simple suits me just fine.
Which is why today has been anything but simple, despite the fact that what I’m trying to do should be a relatively straightforward process – forwarding a domain. Yet so far it’s been anything but.
The current domain is with GoDaddy, and it needs to be forwarded to a new site that was set up on Bluehost. So, should be easy – and once you get into the right place, it is. Fairly. Sort of. The problem isn’t so much with the forwarding process as it is with the process to begin forwarding.
GoDaddy uses a graphical user interface that, while it looks pretty, isn’t the most well laid out. Here’s what it looks like:
Looking along the top from left to right, you have Organize, Locking, Cash In, Upgrade, Renew, Forward, Contact, Nameservers, Account Change and Delete Selected.
I can understand Organize being separate, and maybe Contact, but couldn’t everything else be selected in one single screen under the Organize banner? You could have all options visible to you, and all you’d need to do is select which option you wish. This could then open up a drop-down menu for you to input new DNS numbers, URL’s to forward to, masking, etc.
As it stands, you need to Unlock. Then wait for the settings to refresh. Then Nameservers or Forward. Then wait for the settings to refresh. Then Lock. Then wait for the settings to refresh… you get my point.
If you have problems, another area GoDaddy is lacking is in Live Online Support. They have a 24-hour helpline or an email helpdesk (response time around 4 hours) but for a business that’s operating online, wouldn’t a web-based support option be better?
It doesn’t need to be this difficult, does it? Are businesses still being successful with products or services that aren’t user-friendly?
GoDaddy is one of the biggest names in domain sales thanks to the simple search and buy option they have in place. Wouldn’t it make sense to make the after-sales area just as friendly as the pre-sales one?
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Can businesses learn from adventures in simplicity? Do they want to? http://bit.ly/t6LO9
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Simply put: yes, no, unfortunately yes and BIG yes.
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Simply put: yes, no, unfortunately yes and BIG yes.
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RT @DannyBrown Can businesses learn from adventures in simplicity? Do they want to? http://bit.ly/t6LO9
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Being the source of some of your frustration today, I totally heart you!!!!
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Being the source of some of your frustration today, I totally heart you!!!!
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New @dannybrown: Adventures in Simplicity http://bit.ly/17gTtc
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What businesses can learn from simplicity – http://bit.ly/efYDr from @DannyBrown
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RT @drewmaniac: What businesses can learn from simplicity – http://bit.ly/efYDr from @DannyBrown
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What businesses can learn from simplicity – http://bit.ly/efYDr from @DannyBrown
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RT @drewmaniac: What businesses can learn from simplicity – http://bit.ly/efYDr from @DannyBrown
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Simply put: yes, no, unfortunately yes and BIG yes.
Being the source of some of your frustration today, I totally heart you!!!!
Twitter: AprilTara
Totally agree! You saw my post (http://www.apriltara.com/406/why-i-switched-to-...) about the problems I had with GoDaddy a couple of weeks ago. They may have tried to make the navigation LOOK simple but that's just on the surface. I've only got a couple of domains left with them and when those expire I'm done with GoDaddy.
Funnily enough, although I set up my domains with GoDaddy, I use Hostgator for my hosting. Bluehost I tend to use with clients frm the sheer simplicity – it really is a case of get the domain, choose your package and go. The backend is clean and the support awesome.
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Funnily enough, although I set up my domains with GoDaddy, I use Hostgator for my hosting. Bluehost I tend to use with clients frm the sheer simplicity – it really is a case of get the domain, choose your package and go. The backend is clean and the support awesome.
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I totally agree with you Danny, once you actually have a domain with GoDaddy, it's a pain to manage it with their layout.
I feel your pain Mr. Brown. The other day I happened to check how many domains I have registered with GoDaddy and I couldn't believe it. No wonder I'm always broke!!
I use their hosting too and you are correct, the interface is complete crap.
Personally I put up with it because I have found my way around and, let's face it it is cheap hosting.
Strangely enough on the couple of occasions I've needed to contact their tech support they have been really good – for me it is just the web interface that sucks.
At some point I'll move some of my hosted accounts, but since I am failing to keep up with “must do” projects, I'll wait and see what happens.
I'll be interested to see how you do with BlueHost. I know a lot of people in the wedding photo business use them and have good things to say.
Funnily enough, although I set up my domains with GoDaddy, I use Hostgator for my hosting. Bluehost I tend to use with clients frm the sheer simplicity – it really is a case of get the domain, choose your package and go. The backend is clean and the support awesome.
Agreed. Simple would be nice. I've had to go through a similar process with GoDaddy and finding the right starting point was my biggest challenge.
Add me to the list of people feeling your pain.
I've spent three days just trying to forward my .net address to my new host for my .com address. Finally, after reading your post this morning about 'unlocking' the domain did I have a 'duh' moment and now it's forwarding. Thank you! The sad part is, I had contacted tech support and they never once said anything about unlocking the domain. I realize it probably should have been a no-brainer, but you'd think that would be their first bit of advice.
I also hate, hate, hate the fact that GoDaddy opens a new window every time you click on a link, so I end up having eleventy-seven GoDaddy windows by the end of my session.
#followfriday @dannybrown new. design. elegant. simple. helpful. #12for2k http://tr.im/wogI
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I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. GoDaddy is such a drag to work with and yes, ending up with a ton of windows open is annoying.
Danny – Sites like Twitter and products like the Flip camera are setting a benchmark for what consumers expect (or at least would like to see) in the “ease of use category”. As more and more people go online with blogs (20,000+ new ones per day), the set-up and admin of back-end systems need to become easier. I would also include WordPress Themes as well!
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Danny – Sites like Twitter and products like the Flip camera are setting a benchmark for what consumers expect (or at least would like to see) in the “ease of use category”. As more and more people go online with blogs (20,000+ new ones per day), the set-up and admin of back-end systems need to become easier. I would also include WordPress Themes as well!
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When a company's tech support doesn't ask you the most basic of questions about what you've tried so far, you have to wonder about their overall service…
And kudos for the best slang term I've seen on my comments yet – “eleventy-seven”, love it!
RT @DannyBrown Adventures in Simplicity | danny brown http://bit.ly/VA6NL
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Twitter: johnhaydon
Danny – Sites like Twitter and products like the Flip camera are setting a benchmark for what consumers expect (or at least would like to see) in the “ease of use category”. As more and more people go online with blogs (20,000+ new ones per day), the set-up and admin of back-end systems need to become easier. I would also include WordPress Themes as well!
Danny Brown, Danny Bloom here. When you mention the Sony E-Reader, in fact it is not an e-reader it is an E SCREENER….when we “read” on screens we are not really “reading”. The action is so vastly different from real reading on paper surfaces that a new word is called for. Any ideas? I have suggested calling online and onscreen reading as “screening” and Kevin Kelly agrees with me, as does Marvin Minksy at MIT Media Lab. What's your POV. Since screens are now part of our lives today 24/7/365, and since Anne Mangen has shown that how we read on paper and how we read on screens are two very different mental and emotional experiences, whereby even differnent parts of our brains light up, really!, so do we not need a new word for this new kind of “reading” experience and does “screening” fit the bill? If not, can you suggest any other words that might be good for this? We do need a new word. It might happen naturally and come down the road un-announced in 5 to ten years. Or my idea of calling it “screening” might catch on too. Your POV, sir, danny to Danny, d2d that is. — cheers, Danny
see my blog on all this at http://zippy1300.blogspot.com, i have been on this for 6 months, day and night. New York Times is poised to report.
Hi Dan,
Thanks for stopping by. I'd say “reader / reading” is still good enough for your question. We're still using our eyes to read text; whether that's in print, online, via a Word doc or similar, so I think “e-Reader” still fits the bill.
GoDaddy's tools don't seem integrated. New windows and different navigation appears all over the place. In a word, it's a mess.
I too moved my blogs hosting over to BlueHost so I could run the Headway theme. Why it doesn't work on GoDaddy hosting is beyond my technical abilities but it's frustrating none the less.
GoDaddy may be one of the biggest but so was Yahoo at one time.
Being an echo, but yeah, GoDaddy is a mess. Mislaid interface aside, the load times are often severely lacking, as well. When making a purchase, I've often had to reload and wonder how many extra times I just charged myself.
Hey Danny,
Just FYI, you only need to Unlock a domain name if you're transferring its registration to a new registrar. Changing DNS or forwarding information doesn't require anything besides clicking on the appropriately-named icon.
Cheers,
Sean from Go Daddy
Hey Sean,
Cheers for stopping by, appreciate it. This is true, although it doesn't make that information particularly clear in the current set-up, where it recommends you make sure to update DNS. It does seem it could be a little more streamlined compared to other hosts.