Maintaining Auto-Renew Settings For Your Domain - 2013

Recently, Google Apps redesigned their desktop GUI. Now, it's easier to maintain auto-renew settings for your custom domain.

Of course, "easier" may not be the same as "more initially obvious".

Along with the GUI redesign of Google Apps, Google changed payment procedures for domain registrations.

Google recently removed Google Wallet from custom domain registration.

Google Apps (now,"Google Admin") handles domain registration payment, along with domain registration renewal. When you access Google Admin, and the new GUI, you will be invited to verify payment information, and replace your Google Wallet registration.

Start by accessing the Google Apps desktop, for your domain. If you use GMail for your email, or other Google products, try to use a different browser for Google Apps. Alternately, use an "Incognito" window, in Chrome - or a "Private" window, in Firefox. Or, clear cache, cookies, and sessions - then restart the browser, when possible.

For this domain, "nitecruzr.net", I would access the desktop as

http://google.com/a/cpanel/nitecruzr.net/ServiceLogin

or possibly

http://google.com/a/nitecruzr.net/ServiceLogin

You simply change "nitecruzr.net", to your domain URL, to access the desktop for your domain.

If Google Admin sends you to Google Apps for Business, see Google Apps: Cancel Google Apps for Business 30-day free trial, for instructions on removing Apps For Business from your domain.

"Google Admin" provides the "Admin console". Relevant to domain registration, you'll find two key dashboard links.

• Billing. How you pay for domain registration.
• Domains. How you maintain domain registration.

When your domain is currently setup to use Google Wallet for registration payment, and you click on "Billing", you will be invited to "Verify billing information".

The billing information verification process is reasonably straight forward, involving basic identification of your payment account - and uses data already entered in Google Wallet. When complete, you'll have Google Apps verified billing information.

Having verified billing information, you return to the dashboard, and click on "Domains". Right there, you'll have the usual option to "Automatically renew my domain registration".

No mess, no fuss.

• If you want to automatically renew, you leave the option checked.
• If you decide to manually renew, you un check the option.

And, you're done.

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Using "Buy a domain", From Outside The USA

As custom domain publishing becomes more popular with Blogger blog owners, it's inevitable that people outside the USA would start using it, routinely.

Questions about payment options are seen regularly, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?.

How much does a domain cost?

This used to have a simple answer.

$10 US, charged against a major bank issued credit card.

With the internationalisation of Blogger, the answer becomes significantly more complex.

Using Google Wallet, one may purchase a domain in over 230 countries.

The Google billing system accepts payments in over 230 countries with an international credit card.

We now see mention of specific payment methods which are not accepted - though they appear to be important enough to be documented by Google.

• Health Savings Account (HSA) cards.
• Transit cards.
• Western Union/Money Gram.
• Any escrow type of payment.

From what I have observed, using a bank issued credit card involves pretty complex "peer to peer" type transactions, between at least 3 parties.

1. Google.
2. The bank providing the credit account for the blog owner.
3. The bank providing the payment account for the registrar.

Item #2 provides intriguing options.

• American Express (USD Only).
• Discover (USD Only).
• MasterCard.
• Visa.
• Visa Electron (Outside of US Only).

I have no idea what #3 may involve, internationally. I know that accepting payments, even within the USA, is not as simple as making purchases.

If these options do not satisfy you, personally, you are entitled to purchase a domain from almost any registrar which provides an acceptable payment method. However, you will need to accept some responsibility for the technical details involved, in setting up the domain.

The complexities of International Banking will make "simple" purchases such as non BlogSpot URLs, for Blogger blogs, interesting to watch.

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