Effective from the 1st June 2016, Safarinow will no longer be supporting the separate standalone Wordpress widgets and hosting product we previously made available to sellers free of charge.
We've put together this guide to help you if you have questions about the process and to help you take over or transition the support if needed.
Am I affected by this change?
This change only affects users who signed up for our "free website" offering and are hosting a wordpress installation for a standalone web page with us using a unique website address such as "www.yourestablishmentname.com". All listings on our www.safarinow.com and www.staynow.com (e.g. www.safarinow.com/go/yourestablishmentname/) sites continue as per normal, unaffected by this change.
In nutshell, what's happening?
If you hosted a separate standalone wordpress site through us, you'll need to take over ownership of the domain and arrange for new hosting. We can help with this process, alternatively you can simply let the domain expire. Both the domain (the unique website address, e.g. www.yourestablishmentname.com) and the hosting (the process of keeping a website live and published daily) need to be either transferred or cancelled.
Why are you making this change?
By focussing our support efforts on the listings on our www.safarinow.com and www.staynow.com sites, we believe we will ultimately create a better community experience for both our buyers and sellers. Our new commission structure on www.safarinow.com available to eligible sellers means that stand alone website booking referral fees are no longer substantially different to what a seller can receive on our own website.
Who currently holds the domains?
SafariNow holds the domain through the domain registrar Hetzner. If you wish to take domain over you will need to request a transfer from Hetzner. Hetzner's can be contacted at [email protected] or by phoning +27 (0)21 970 2000.
How do I take over ownership of my domain?
Simply create a profile with Hetzner and create a transfer request. Please note, that although transfer requests usually are completed within a few hours, they can take up to 72 hours to complete.
You can read how to create a profile with Hetzner on their help section here.
You can read how to create a transfer request with Hetzner on their help section here.
Hetzner can also be reached at the contacted details listed above.
Do I have to use Hetzner as my domain and host provider?
No. You can use any provider you wish. If your provider is not Hetzner, please ask your provider to submit the new transfer request. Hetzner has a good help article explaining the process of how to transfer the domain name here.
What if I no longer want the domain?
We can terminate the domain on your behalf as we are the current domain administrators. Let us know by emailing us at [email protected]. Alternatively simply wait for the domain to expire.
How much does it cost to own a domain and host it?
Domain registration costs roughly R90 per year with Hetzner for a .co.za domain. Please check your pricing with Hetzner when choosing to register. Both Hetzner and Lightspeed also provide hosting services which you can confirm with them.
I'm not a wordpress expert. Who can help me get my wordpress site live?
There are many companies who can help you host and build a wordpress site. We've had good experiences with Lightspeed and in fact, they have a product offering specifically to help accommodation owners build websites. You can learn more about their product here.
What happens if I don't do anything?
Your domain registration will be terminated by the 1st June 2016 and the domain name will be available for purchase by new owners.
If you have already started this process, you can ignore or check on the progress.