Having control of your domain name is one of the most important aspects of having control of your Internet Ministry. There is a blog entry about the importance of having control of you name here. Getting control can often be the most difficult aspect of making the transition to your new website.

The transfer process requires several steps. How those steps are accomplished can be different for each domain reseller but one thing is always constant, you can't get the domain transferred without following them.

Step 1 - Understand who has control of your name.

• The transfer process requires several steps. The acknowledgement process will be done via email. You will need to know who will be receiving those emails before you get started. Use a tool like Easy Whois http://www.easywhois.com/ to get the information you need. The report run at Easy Who is will give you the Registrant, Administrative Contact and Technical Contact for your domain. If you recognize the email addresses listed here contact the individuals before the transfer starts letting them know they will be receiving the transfer requests. If you don't recognize the email addresses or people listed here it would be a good idea to make the required changes with the domain name provider.

Step 2 - Unlock Your Domain

• Before you can start the process you will need to unlock your domain. This can usually be accomplished through your domains control panel. At Network Solutions it is under the "Domains>Manage Domains" menu item. Most other providers will have a similar area where you can turn off the domain protection.

Step 3 - Request an Authorization Code, Passcode or EPP Key

• When you request the transfer at your new domain host you will need to provide an Authorization Code before the request will be processed. The reason step 1 is so important is because the email accounts listed there will receive the email containing the code when the request is made. If you can't get the code you can't start the transfer.

Step 4 - Initiate The Transfer

• Start the transfer with your new domain host. If you are using IcthusDomains.com the transfer link is available to you under "Domains>Transfer". Complete the process entering the domain you wish to transfer along with the  Authorization Code.

Step 5 - Confirm the request

• After successfully submitting the request with your new domain host the email account listed in step 1 will receive an email asking to confirm or deny the transfer request. This is usually a link to a website the simply has an "Acknowledge" or "Deny" link. Once the link is followed and the request is acknowledged the transfer process begins. It usually takes about 5 days to complete the transfer process. If you do not have access to the email listed in Step 1 please contact the individual with that email address advising them of your request to transfer and asking if they would please acknowledge the transfer when they receive the email.