F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions)
What does ".to" or ".at" stand for?
What are the different subdomain formats?
Are the subdomains universally recognized?
How can I help promote the use of these short memorable subdomains?
What do I need to get started?
How can I get a homepage or website?
What if I've forgotten my user ID or password?
How many subdomains may I register for free?
How long can I keep the free subdomain?
What are the valid characters for a subdomain?
How long can my subdomain name be?
Will I receive verification for my registered subdomain?
How long will it take for my subdomain to be activated?
I did not receive the activation mail.
My subdomain is not activated.
I didn't complete the registration process.
What can I do if the domain I want is not available?
How do I cancel my membership and subdomain?
I registered my subdomain, what I do next?
What is the target email address?
How do I have my subdomain email to appear in the 'From' field of my messages?
My email address has changed. Could you update my information?
Sometimes forwarded emails are sent back to the sender. Why?
How do I change my subdomain name?
I forgot my password, how do I retrieve it?
Can I have multiple subdomains under one account?
Can I use your service to Spam?
It’s a short, memorable address that is used to forward or divert Internet traffic to another web page. It works just like telephone call forwarding. A redirect subdomain looks like:
http://come.to/fred
http://go.to/fred
fred@come.to
fred@go.to
There are 100 million normal domain names that have been purchased making it virtually impossible to find a domain name that matches your personal or business needs. Long, hyphenated domains are difficult to remember, thus limiting your ability to increase traffic to your website.
Our subdomains are a terrific option. They are free. They are short and memorable and can be easily optimized for Subdomain and email addresses can help you and your business in many ways.
Each subdomain that points to your existing web site is a gateway that can attract visitors. Since subdomains are very intuitive and easy to remember, visitors will never forget where your site is and will easily recommend it to their friends.
Think how much easier http://go.to/myshop is to retain than http://onlyavailabledotcomleft4myshop.com! Also because you can easily change where your subdomain is pointing, you can always redirect the traffic you build for that domain to any of the sites you want to promote.
With email forwarding you can obtain a similar effect. Email addresses such as kenneth@go.to or john@come.to are much more personal and memorable than johndoe340@hotmail.com, etc. You won’t need to repeat your email address several times! Also, because you can easily change where your email is forwarding to, it won’t matter if you change your ISP, get disconnected from Hotmail, etc., you will always keep your subdomain email address.
What does ".to" or ".at" stand for?
The ".to" is the top level domain (TLD) for the Kingdom of Tonga, part of the beautiful Friendly Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The ".at" is the TLD for Austria. For more information on TLDs you can visit http://iana.org.
What are the different subdomain formats?
Our subdomains are very flexible and can be used in multiple ways. If you register a subdomain such as http://come.to/mysite, all of the formats below will forward website traffic to the same target URL:
http://mysite.come.to
http://www.come.to/mysite
http://come.to/mysite.
Are the subdomains universally recognized?
YES! You don’t need a plugin for your browser, nor does anyone else. The subdomains can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection and a browser, and they work just like a "regular dot-com".
How can I help promote the use of these short memorable subdomains?
Just add a link on your website displaying your favorite short URL, such as www.go.to.
Please refer to the links at the bottom of this page for our Privacy Policy and our Terms & Conditions.
This is a free service so we request that you first review our frequently asked questions and help section (FAQ/Help). If you cannot find an answer, then you can submit a question by completing the support form at Contact Support. We’ll try to do our best to answer in a day or two, but easy to find answers in the Help/FAQ section will be discarded.
What do I need to get started?
Just select your favorite subdomain, supply a valid email address and you’re done! It takes about two minutes. And your new subdomain will be activated instantaneously.
How can I get a homepage or website?
If you’re looking for a hosting service where you can create a new website or upload a pre-built website, we strongly recommend FortuneCity.com. FortuneCity has been in business since 1997 and offers a free web space service as well as a full slate of small business hosting and email services.
Just click the member login button (located at the top right hand corner of the page) and enter your Account ID (the email address you used when registering) and the password you selected at the time of registration.
What if I’ve forgotten my user ID or password?
If you have forgotten your password just click on the Forgot Password link and follow the simple steps.
Everyone. All you need is a valid email address. There are some countries that we have elected not to offer our services as a result of abuse and fraud in the past.
How many subdomains may I register for free?
You can register as many subdomains as you wish under a single account ID. Note that if the subdomains is not being actively used, meaning no traffic, the subdomain will be taken back and made available to the public.
How long can I keep the free subdomain?
The only requirement for keeping a subdomain is that it is actively used. If we do not see traffic on the subdomain is will be taken back and made available to the public. No domain squatters please.
What are the valid characters for a subdomain?
Like any other domain service, subdomains accept the letters a-z; numbers 0-9, and hyphen (-).
How long can my subdomain name be?
Your site name can contain up to 100 characters, more than enough for you to find the domain you’re looking for!
Will I receive verification for my registered subdomain?
Yes. When you first register a domain you will automatically receive a verification email which confirms your registration information. We strongly recommend that you keep this message as it will state the subdomain that was registered, your account ID, password and additional information to help you get started.
How long will it take for my subdomain to be activated?
It’s instantaneous. It takes just a couple of minutes to register; and the subdomain will be live upon completion of the registration. With regular "dot-com" domain names, it takes 48-72 hours to have your domain and email address activated.
I did not receive the activation mail.
The activation link is sent to the contact email address you submitted during registration. The most likely reasons for not receiving the activation link is: (1) the email submitting was incorrect; (2) the email ended up in your spam box; (3) or, there is a problem with your Internet Service Provider’s email system. If you did not receive your activation mail, please contact our Support Desk.
My subdomain is not activated.
After you submitted your contact email address the system will automatically sends you a confirmation message with an activation code. You should receive it within a few minutes (this will depend on the speed of your email server). When you receive the confirmation message you have 30 days to complete your registration. If you don’t complete the registration within that period our system will make the subdomain available for other users.
I didn’t complete the registration process.
If you don’t complete your registration process the system will automatically delete all information associated with that registration after 30 days.
What can I do if the domain I want is not available?
Try a new one! There are dozens of domains that you can customize. Keep searching until you find the one that best suits your purposes.
How do I cancel my membership and subdomain?
Simply contact our Support Desk at the contact address that was sent to you in your confirmation email.
I registered my subdomain, what I do next?
The first thing you should do is make sure that your new subdomain is redirecting to a working target URL. Login into the Account Manager and check your target URL. The next step is to start promoting your site. Please read the How can I promote my site section where we give plenty of advice on this subject. Also make sure that your friends and colleagues know your new email address. You’ll see how easy it’ll be for them to remember it!
Most of the time people can’t see their site because their target URL is not working. Here are two easy checks that you can do to solve this problem:
- Make sure your subdomain is activated. When you register you will receive an email with and activation link. Please check your mailbox and see if you have it. Make sure that you follow the link and complete the information required. You have up to 30 days to complete this step, thereafter the redirect you requested is made available to other users.
- Login to your account and check that your target URL is correct and working. Keep in mind that we don’t host your website so you need to check that the service where your site is hosted is actually working. The best way to do it is to type the target URL (i.e. type http://www.somehostprovider.com/~user/index.htm instead of http://come.to/mysite) and make sure that the page downloads correctly.
What is the target email address?
The target email address is the address where our system forwards the messages that were sent to your subdomain email address. By default your target email address will be the same as your contact email address, which is the one you’ve submitted during the registration of your domain. But you can change your target email anytime you want.
Your Account ID is the email address you submitted during registration. Our system will use this email address to contact you with any service updates and newsletters. The contact email is also the default target email address used for your email forwarding address.
How do I have my subdomain email to appear in the 'From' field of my messages?
You need to customize the 'from' field of the email program you use to read your messages. The steps to follow will vary depending on which program you use, but in general terms you need to go to the 'Settings', 'Configuration' or 'Preferences' of your program and then edit the reply address. You can also type your subdomain email address in the 'Name' fields. Here the instructions for some popular email programs: Hotmail: Log into Hotmail. Click on 'Options' then 'Personal Profile' and put your subdomain email (i.e. yourname@go.to) in the 'First Name' field and a dot (.) in the 'Last Name' field. Click 'Update' at the bottom of the page and then 'Continue'. You can also go to 'Options' then 'Reply-Related Settings', select 'Identify the address below as the reply-to address' and insert your subdomain email in the field below. Then click 'Update' at the bottom of the page and then 'Continue'. Yahoo: Log into Yahoo Mail. Click 'Options' then 'Mail Preferences'. Insert your subdomain email (i.e. yourname@go.to) in the 'From Name' and in the 'Reply-To' fields. Click 'Save'. Outlook Express: Click on 'Tools' then 'Accounts' and then 'Mail'. Select the default account and then click on 'Properties'. Insert your subdomain email (i.e. yourname@i.am) in the 'Name' and in the 'Reply Address' fields. Click 'OK'
My email address has changed. Could you update my information?
Our Account Manager has all you need to quickly update both your contact email address and your target email address. Because we're already providing this function we don't normally do this for you. In case you changed your contact email address and lost your password, you can contact our Support Desk.
Sometimes forwarded emails are sent back to the sender. Why?
Some email services such as Hotmail or Yahoo have limited storage space and when a user reaches the limit they stop receiving messages and they bounce them back to the origins. Other times the mail server that receives the message can't find an email address. All those problems are not related to the forwarding system and to find the source of the problem you will need to seek assistance with the email service provider of the person you're trying to contact.
The target URL is the domain name where your domain is pointing to, i.e. http://www.geocities.com/membersite/index.html. Please make sure that your target URL is working and spelled out correctly. If your target URL doesn't work, then your domain will not work.
How do I change my subdomain name?
It's not possible to change your subdomain name. You can of course create additional ones
If you forgot your password please read I forgot my password. If you get any system error or other persistent technical problem please contact our Support Desk.
I forgot my password, how do I retrieve it?
Click on the Forgot Password link.
Can I have multiple subdomains under one account?
Yes, you can register multiple subdomains under a single account. To add a new domain to your existing account log in to your account and select "Create New Redirect".
Please contact our Support Desk to have your account removed.
The most basic step to promote your site is search engine submission. Before you start submitting your site you need to define your title, keywords and description "meta tags" (meta tags is the part in the web page code that informs search engines about the type of content they can expect in your site). There are several elements you need to consider when defining your "meta tags". Here's a quick guide: Please make sure your 'Website Title' reflects the real content of the page and contains at least one of the keywords you've chosen. Use as many different keywords as you want but try not to exceed the 15 words and keep the total of characters under 200 in the 'Description' use one or two of the keywords you've chosen For up-to-date information on this and other search engine related issues we recommend you to check: http://searchenginewatch.com. After you've decided which keywords you'll use, you can use the subdomain to insert them into your page. Follow these simple steps: Click on the Login button (located at the top right of the site pages) and login. Click 'Edit' next to the domain you want to modify and scroll down to the 'Site Title', 'Keywords' and 'Description' part of the page and insert your information. Click 'Update'. An important step to promote your site is to build a mailing list of your visitors and contacts and send them customized email campaigns. You can do this manually using your email program, or you can use professional services. One thing must absolutely avoid when you're promoting your site is send messages to people who didn't request having information from you. This practice (also called 'spam') is in contradiction with our Terms & Conditions and accounts associated with it will be blacklisted and disconnected.
Can I use your service to Spam?
No. Go away. We will blacklist you and report you to Spamcop.