Some of you may have arrived at this blog looking for my student website beyondbakedbeans.com. I'm sad to say it no longer exists. (See update on my more recent post. There is a happy(ish) ending. It now has a new domain name www.beyondbakedbeans.org.)
Due to my inattention and a mix-up on who should renew the domain name it's expired. Someone else has snapped up the name and is running ads on it. It was never a moneymaker so I can't afford to buy it back. The domain registration site GoDaddy even wants to charge me commission for finding the buyer (surely they know?) and negotiating a sale. On top of a fee. I can't afford to pursue that.
It's a sad day. The site, which was founded at the same time as my first cookbook came out in 2003, has been going for over 8 years, encouraging students to cook and eat healthily. But it's not all bad news.
* There is a Beyond Baked Beans Cooking Page on Facebook which I'll be updating more frequently while I sort out what's to be done
* The books - Beyond Baked Beans, Beyond Baked Beans Green and Beyond Baked Beans Budget are still around and available for next to nothing on Amazon. Plus there's a full-colour illustrated compendium of all the best recipes called The Ultimate Student Cookbook which also contains recipes from three of our ex-students James, Sig and Guy.
* Plans were already in hand to pass the website over to the students of Bath Spa university to give it a comprehensive makeover. I'm sure a better, more interactive site will result.
* And there are plenty of simple, low-cost recipes here on this blog for students or anyone else on a budget.
But it's a useful warning if you have a site of your own - don't ignore reminders about domain name expiries and make sure the credit card you pay with is up to date.
And if you're the person who bought the site, just think about it. The site helped many young people to learn how to cook. It would be nice if you gave it back.
3 comments:
Oh I'm so sorry to hear it, that's a real shame. Assuming you have all the content still backed up, you can pass the content on as planned and a new URL can be found, I'm sure.
BTW, you may already be aware of the controversy surrounding Go Daddy, but if not do read up on them. They supported and helped author SOPA, an anti-piracy bill in the US, but on basis of gaining exemption for themselves. Whilst anti-piracy is a laudable aim, there are many flaws with the proposed legislation, not least the ease with which websites could be shut down for alledged violations, without giving the owners a chance to defend them.
As a result, many website owners are deliberately boycotting Go Daddy and moving their domains to other providers; there are many who offer competitive rates and many are currently offering discounts to those moving from Go Daddy.
x
Sorry to hear about your domain getting pinched.
Tracing through who.is, it looks like GoDaddy actually pinched the site. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would say GoDaddy have a flag for domains which get a certain amount of traffic which automatically means domainsbyproxy (a godaddy company) acquires the domain upon it lapsing. They then direct traffic to the coupon site which can be seen on yours.
Good job I am not a conspiracy theorist.
I hope you find a satisfactory solution.
The more I read about GoDaddy, the more I am steering clear of them.
Good Luck
well, thanks for your good wishes, both. Will keep you posted ....
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