May 31, 2011

Disaster avoided

It's been one hot 24 hours here at Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino.

Kathy, a blogger friend, notified me that something weird was going on yesterday when she couldn't access my URL.

Sure enough when clicking on aglioolioepeperoncino.com this is what I'd be redirected to:
The scary screenshot that appears when a domain is expired

Panic.

I won't get into how Google and domain registrars work (mainly because I didn't even know what a domain registrar was four hours ago).

To make a scary story short, my aglioolioepeperoncino.com expired May 29th, despite having paid the automatic renewal on time.

As my darling friend and cyber-expert Sara informed me, "most domain expirations are not immediate, and the domain goes into a "grace period" where they can be easily renewed by the current owner before being released as available on the market again."

After a few heated emails, a teary phone conversation with an eNom operator, and lots of venomous tweets, I finally regained ownership of my website, my followers, my subscribers, my friends and fellow bloggers for whom I've had the honor of posting for the past 2 and a half years.

Thank you for your moral and technical support in this crisis.

33 comments:

  1. You deserve a drink. A long stiff one.

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  2. Good job, Eleonora! Would hate to lose you!

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  3. Natalie~
    I had three.

    Raven~
    Scary stuff, believe me.

    Andras~
    Grazie del vostro sostegno, amici!

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  4. Phew that was great that it was not gone forever :-) .. and your great friend Sara .. helped too!

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  5. Phew great that it was not gone forever :-) and your great friend Sara helped too:-)

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  6. good night...that would have scared the stuff out of me...

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  7. Anne~
    Thankfully it was solved relatively fast!

    Brian~
    It did to me...!

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  8. I would have been at a total loss!

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  9. I would have been at a total loss, Eleonora!

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  10. So happy that you are still where we expect you to be! Now for a deep breath and a glass of wine...

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  11. what you didn't like the new version that was out there? hahaha

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  12. I am glad you have your domain. I have just discovered you recently and would hate to have lost all of this!!! I think several more drinks are in order after all you've been through!

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  13. phew, glad that you regained your site, how scary. Now you are making me worried because I have automatic renewal for my site as well, are you saying someone can swipe the site from under me as well?

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  14. Now you have me scared. How do you lose it if it was auto pay? Mine are on auto pay too. I don't want to be in that predicament.
    (my word verification on here is "duresse" lol)

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  15. Thankfully! I tried accessing your blog THREE times yesterday and was really sad this apparently was 'the end'... good to have you back on line! Looking forward to your new posts!!

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  16. Eli, so glad you resolved this problem. It would have been a disaster w/o all aglio... posts.
    Keep 'e coming. Love, Clem

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  17. ultimamente il blogger world é un pó caotico! ma cel´hai fatta! bacio!

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  18. Joe-
    I have several new white hairs on my head...

    Laura-
    Yes. Maybe two glasses of wine.

    EcoGrrl-
    The NON-version, you mean? Hahaha

    Jean-
    Thank you. Yes, as the saying goes, "I'm still here." Now for that drink...

    Sarah-
    It's not that it can be swiped, but read Google Apps emails and renewal notifications VERY CAREFULLY. The only "automatic" part is the payment. You have to actually MANUALLY renew ownership by following the almost hidden instructions in the renewal alert email. If you don't by the expiration date, you could incurr in my same situation.

    LoriE-
    See above comment. xx

    M-
    Thanks! It's good to be back.

    Clem-
    I sure will, friend.

    Colores-
    Davvero!! Grazie

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  19. Hi Eleonora, oh gosh, I've been worried about you but so very glad to hear that things are okay with the domain name. The whole thing sounds a bit complicated but I'm sure you've become an expert over those last 24 hours. Ciao, bella xxoo - I see that Matt Lauer from the Today show is in Rome today!

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  20. I hope you occasionally back this blog up...just in case! There are some nasty horror stories out there! We would miss this rich history.
    Whale

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  21. Oh my goodness. I'm glad this was taken care of but I am so sorry you had such stress. Yikes. I was worried that it had been hacked.

    I missed your tweets somehow.

    Cheers.

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  22. Ciao mia amica! So sorry that happened! I am so happy you got it back!!!

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  23. Glad to hear it wasn't something more nasty, like someone hijacking your site or some sort of redirection by evil people.

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  24. Ann Marie~
    I have actually learned a lot in these last 24 hrs!!

    Whale~
    I'm sure I should, but I don't know how to back-up a blog... how do I do it? Help!!

    Susan~
    Thank you for being there. The warm response is what kept me afloat!

    La Vita è Bella~
    Me too!! Cheers!

    Jim~
    I somehow have a lingering feeling that to an extent, some sort of evil was done. How can Google cash my automatic payment and then allow the domain to expire, 2 weeks after I paid?

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  25. oh dear! i'm glad you were able to straighten this out, it's unbeliveable how important our blogs are. an extension of us.
    whew!
    take a well deserved rest now dear lola. :)

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  26. Loir ann~
    Ciao my darling syren!
    Yes, blogs are important also because through them we meet and consolidate great friends! How could have I lived without them? ♥

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  27. Yikes, what a story! I can only imagine your feelings... but all's well that ends well, as they say.

    Funny they did that even if you paid your renewal on time... Any idea how that happened? Any lessons here for the rest of us?

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  28. Wow-what a scare. I wondered what happened the other day when I tried to get to you. Thankfully all is well!

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  29. Frank~
    I don't know, but during the heart of my crisis, I searched the web for an answer (and a contact number to call...) and I found many other users had been or still were in my same predicament.

    Janie~
    Thankfully yes!! :)

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  30. I am so glad that you are not gone forever!! I am an avid reader but never comment (sorry..I will change that!) and your lasagne al pesto is a staple in my little house. I clicked on your site yesterday and it was gone and while I could make the recipe now with my eyes closed, looking at your beautiful pictures while putting it together is what makes it all the more fun.

    Glad you're back! =0)

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  31. I know #Exactly# what you felt. I'm glad you resolved it in a short time.

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  32. I am sp happy your are back. BTW I was sure that everything would have turn right because I noticed (as I wrote to you) that they received the renewing payment. At the other side you are not for sure the "poor lady" that they thougt, in some way, you could be. Tutto mondo è Paese. Sic.

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