Show HN: Badger.com, a new domain registrar, needs beta testers (1 free domain)

[badger-com]

We've been hard at work creating a new domain registrar and now we want some feedback to help us figure out where to go from here!

The first 100 users to signup using this URL will get 1 free domain Credit:

https://www.badger.com/#register/hackernews

--- Please please please give us feedback! ---

P.S. We only support .com and .net at the moment but we'll be adding about a dozen more extensions in the next couple of weeks.

[helen842000]

Awesome, thanks! Just used it to find and register a useful domain in under 10mins.

SO much less headache than Go Daddy - very speedy.

I also love the search feature, letting you know it's available while you're typing.

That's how I actually found the domain I registered!

I was a bit confused when using URL forwarding as it automatically appended /path to the source. So I removed that. I found I had to type my destination in, then click on the source box to make /path disappear and then press Add to get it to add forwarding to the root of the site.

Many thanks again. If I can provide a more detailed write up/feedback let me know.

[badger-com]

Thanks for the compliments! The "/path" issue with URL forwarding sounds like a bug... we'll look into it. What browser are you using?

[Ritu]

Love it. I like how every domain typed in the search box shows instantly and is saved on the right as we type new ones in.

Thanks for the credit as well!

[davesmylie]

Looks nice! (And a lot easier to use than godaddy)

I'll be creating an extra domain tonight and pointing it towards my webapp. If all goes well I'll look at moving my other domain registrations over as they expire on godaddy.

Only downside would be the price seems a little steep compared to the typical godaddy pricing with a coupon code...

[guptaneil]

Brilliant work. I've never actually enjoyed searching for domains before! Depending on how the service holds up, I'll definitely look into transferring my domains over from GoDaddy.

Quick question: do the credits expire? I don't have a domain to register right now, but would love to use my credit later.

[gerrynjr]

Well laid out site, I just might have to port over my domain. Sick of Godaddy....

One gripe though. I registered a new domain to check out the interface, but it was not immediately obvious that you offered DNS services. I might have ported over my domain today had I known this beforehand.

[xen2xen1]

I loved it. My main domain is up for renewal from godaddy soon and if your prices are OK I'll move it over. Automating the DNS verification of Google Docs would be awesome (if that's possible), even if it's to some degree. I'll send more comments after I've tried it out some.

[badger-com]

Our prices are $10-15 per domain depending on how many credits you buy at a time.

Better integration with Google Apps is already high on our list... check back soon!

[gregparadee]

On top of the simplicity, design, and overall awesome feel of the website, the greatest thing is the privacy feature. Having everything in the WHOIS set to private is awesome and I applaud you for that. Godaddy charges an absurd price to make the WHOIS record private. Thank you!

[badger-com]

You're welcome! Having privacy enabled by default was one of the easier product decisions for us simply because having it any other way didn't make sense. Any other feedback?

[chc]

I found a bug in your signup process: If the passwords you enter on the signup form don't match, it gives you an error, but creates the account anyway — so when you retype the passwords, it then tells you it can't create the account because the email is already used.

[badger-com]

You've found a bug! I just fixed this so hopefully it won't happen again. If you're not able to login, give the "Forgot Password" link a try!

[padraigk]

Very nice! Speaking as a non-US resident, the fact that 'State' be a mandatory field in the profile registration form is a bit annoying but I can understand why that's the default. Maybe that could be optional if the country field is set to nations other than the US?

[badger-com]

Great point! I'll add this to our todo list. Anything else?

[anigbrowl]

Super-nice. I registered a domain painlessly...on a tablet, at that. Minor quibble - don't use fixed screen ratios for everything. But otherwise, great so far. If it keeps up like this I'll transfer in the 5 or 6 domains I have at other registrars (1&1, godaddy).

[bravolima]

Great UI with lots of polish and this leads to a great user experience. I love the way search history is displayed. A little 'clear history' option might be useful, but refreshing the page has the same effect. I'll be trying this for my next domain purchase.

[ohashi]

When I click profiles, it puts a big green button in top right but I have an entire empty page with nothing. Maybe you could put something there as well to let the user know they haven't created a profile yet?

[pace]

Really nice service—great UI.

Time for a change after 7yrs Godaddy.

[chetane07]

Just logged in, first thing that popped up is the "dotted line" around every menu link I clicked. I would suggest adding the following css to your menu a tags: { outline: none;}

[chetane07]

Absolutely love the way to search for available domains... It was so painful beforehand! Thanks!

[thedevelopment]

How have you written this? It's fast and has an interesting feel to it, but I don't recognize the JavaScript framework.

Also, how can I leave feedback from within the site?

[badger-com]

Thanks for noticing! We built badger.com a bit differently from most sites. Our backend is just a JSON api and the frontend uses this API and is implemented entirely in Javascript using an internal library we'll be releasing soon (code name: Hasher).

API Docs - http://badger.github.com/

Frontend Source Code - http://github.com/badger/frontend

Hasher JS Lib - https://github.com/badger/frontend/tree/master/javascripts/l...

So for example, the Javascript behind our DNS manager can be found here -- https://github.com/badger/frontend/blob/master/javascripts/d...

[towndrunk]

The signup form appears to have a issue. If the passwords don't match I get an error stating "Unable to create person: Email already exists" and I'm not able to continue.

[towndrunk]

OK. I'm able to log in after using the reset password feature which is a bit weird since the signup failed.

[zaqintosh]

Would be great if I could leave comments on your site. I do see an email contact form, but I presume you don't want feedback that way.

[dlf]

Looks better than anything I've seen yet. I'll transfer a domain tomorrow to get a better feel for it. Thanks for the free credit.

[tectonic]

Nice looking site. FYI, I had some trouble with the search box and backspace not working on my older iPhone (iOS 3.1.3).

[MattBearman]

Looks really good, how are you going to handle the different prices for other tlds? Will you be adding .co.uk?

[badger-com]

Some TLDs will be 2 or 3 credits per year instead of 1. We're still working out pricing on everything.

Yes, we're actively working on the co.uk (and about a dozen more TLDs) and hope to launch quite a few more within the next few weeks.