One of the most common issues our new users have when setting up their No-IP account is port forwarding.  Port Forwarding is a very simple task, but every router manufacturer does it differently, so for the best resource of information, you should check out your router manufacturer’s website for detailed information. You can check out this article if you are still having trouble:

A Lesson on Opening and Forwarding Ports on your Router

After you have successfully forwarded your ports, you will want to check to see if they are forwarded correctly. You can use this tool to see if your ports are open correctly: www.portchecktool.com.

This tool will check for open ports and see if there are any services responding on that port. It comes in handy when troubleshooting your network.  Specifically, it helps in checking to see if your ISP blocks certain ports such as HTTP port 80 and SMTP port 25 (commonly blocked by major broadband residential ISPs).

Additionally, if those ports are blocked, No-IP has a solution that will get around this block. Users with ISPs that block the standard HTTP port can use the port 80 redirect feature available to all users. This can be found in the member section when managing your host. No-IP also offers Mail Reflector and Alternate-Port SMTP services for those with ISPs that block inbound and outbound SMTP port 25 respectively.

Keep in mind when using this tool you will need to open up the Port Check Tool website from the same WAN IP address that you wish to check for open ports.

Questions or comments? Leave them below and as always, share this post on Facebook and Twitter

At the end of the month, No-IP.com will be transitioning our managed mail services, POP3/IMAP and Mail Forwarding, to our new email infrastructure provider.  After the transition, No-IP Anti-Spam ECR will no longer be offered as an email feature.

Although Anti-Spam ECR will be no longer available, we are confident that our new email provider’s stringent spam rules will cut down on unwanted email. Our engineers will migrate your ECR black and white lists automatically in order to save you time and hassle.

We will be issuing a prorated service credit to your account for any remaining time you have left on your ECR service.

If you are an administrator for this domain and have other clients who are currently using ECR, please take this time to notify your users.

If you need any guidance or have any questions, feel free to contact us here or 775-853-1883. As always, thank you for being a valued No-IP customer. We appreciate your business.

-No-IP Mail Team

Are you a young tech professional in search of job? With the job market as tight as it is, you better be prepared and show yourself in the best light possible, but how? Well, have you Googled yourself lately? It is shocking to me to see how many people submit resumes with examples of their past work, but when I type their name into Google, nothing comes up.  This is baffling to me, especially in the internet age where anything you want to know about anything, is usually a click away. So, why is it that I cannot find anything about you to distinguish YOU from the rest of the crowd? Follow these tips for young tech professionals to get yourself found easier.

1. Create a LinkedIn account. This is the first step in getting your professional information out there. Put as much information as you can, you can even link your blog, twitter and social media accounts to it to, but only do this if you are posting information relative to your career/job market. And NO, drunken tweets from last nights party will not do.

2. Start a blog! If you are interested in computers, write about tech, if you are a marketer, write about marketing tips and tricks. It can be tough to come up with ideas, but once you do, it is easy. Make sure you tag your posts with relative keywords to help your posts come up in searches, and remember to spread your links via social media! Share, share, share!

3. Get active on all social media. It will help to bring your name up in searches for content relative to your industry. It will let the hiring directors know that you understand your industry and actually take interest in it.

4. Create an about.me account or similar. These accounts are often free and easy to set up. They usually just pull in your information from LinkedIn, making it even easier. These profiles come up in search too. It is easy to browse through others profiles and even the basic accounts have analytics so you can see how many views your profile has received and where the clicks are coming from!

5. Create a web portfolio. Register a domain (yourname.com is a great way for it to get found in search) and get your website started. With so many free platforms out there it is easier than ever to do. Post examples of your work such as websites you have designed, examples of your writing skills, pictures you have taken, etc. Just make sure it’s relative and fun! Hiring directors want to see the real side of you, because let’s face it, I will most likely pick the fun, refreshing person over the boring person…

6. And last but not least, follow the directions when applying for the position you want! If the job posting says, “Submit your resume in PDF format,” do it! Because If you can’t follow easy directions like that, your resume is most likely going in the trash. Also, don’t just send out the same cover letter and resume to every job. Customize them to fit each position you are applying for.

Being a young professional seeking your first real job can be tough, but it is doable.  It just takes time and motivation. Nothing in life is easy.

Any other tips and tricks? Share them below!

It is 2012 and with the new year, comes new responsibilities and goals.  Check out our checklist of maintenance items to make sure your domain and website start the year on a high note.

1. Update the copyright date on your website. Does it still say 2011? Time to update! You can even have it auto update to save yourself the time and frustration.

Use the following if your website is coded in PHP: (without the spaces)

 &Copy; Copyright < ? php echo date ( ' Y ' ) ; ? > Your Business Name or Site

Will result in:

© Copyright 2012 Vitalwerks Internet Solutions, LLC

If you don’t have PHP, you will need to use JavaScript. (without the spaces)

   Copyright &Copy; < s c r i p t type="text/java s c r i p t"> 
   document.write(new Date().getFullYear());
  < / s c r i p t >  Your Business Name or Site Name

2. Is your domain name set to expire soon? If you are unsure, take 5 minutes now and find out. If your domain name were to expire, it could end up being a very costly mistake.  If you are forgetful, why not just let it auto-renew to save yourself money and unnecessary frustration?

3. Update your domain contact information. Has your business moved recently, have you changed your email address, or even fired someone from your company that used to handle the companies domain? (tsk, tsk: keep your domains registered under your own name to avoid troubles down the road) Keeping your domain contact information current and updated is an easy step to take in protecting your domain and business.

4. Review your website copy. Is it all current? As tedious as it sounds, it needs to be done.  Content can easily get overlooked for months and years at a time! Keep your website copy current so your customers know what’s going on in the year 2012, not 2009.

5. Last but not least, review your website traffic via a tool like Google Analytics. Has your website seen a rise or drop in traffic lately? Compare traffic from month to month and year to year and brainstorm ways to try to increase traffic for the new year.  Running CPC campaigns? Check your ad copy and keywords to be sure that they are still relevant and that you are still targeting the right customers and sending them to the right webpages on your site.  Consider creating a new campaign and a few new ads to keep your content current and fresh.

Any other tips? Leave them below!

We are currently hiring a Web Developer / Designer for a Full-Time position in our Reno office. Know anyone? Pass this post along!

A qualified applicant must have knowledge and experience of the following technologies:

• Design QA and UI Design
• PHP, JQuery, CSS, HTML
• Adapting existing designs for new projects and create new, fresh, user-friendly designs.
• Adobe Creative Suite: Photoshop
• Experience with AJAX and JavaScript a PLUS

Are you right for this position? Send all resumes in pdf format to ngoguen-HR@no-ip.com. Please include links to online portfolios and examples of past/current projects.

No-IP is a leading DNS service provider offering Dynamic DNS, managed DNS, ICANN Accredited domain Registrar services for multiple TLDS, managed email, server monitoring and SSL Certificates. No-IP.com has been in business since 1999 and has more than 12 million users.

Like Google, Ebay, Yahoo and countless other “founders” of the internet, No-IP takes a strong stand in opposition to the upcoming SOPA bill in the United States government.

This bill is intended to stop websites from sharing copyrighted materials on the Internet.  If passed, the bill would give our government the ability to shut down any website it deemed to be in violation of this.  This is not a typical take down, where the infringing media must be removed or a page must be deleted.  This would be a complete shutdown of an entire website.  A lot or people are comparing this bill to China’s great firewall and also comparing it to the way the Internet is censored in Iran.

We feel strongly that no good will come from the passage of this bill.  It will in effect change the way most of our favorite web sites operate.  We urge anyone reading this to call/email/fax their representatives and urge them to re-consider this bill.

Learn more about SOPA here: http://noip.co/vQCHLe

Save 50% on all domain transfers. Coupon Code: godaddy50 ENJOY!

1. Did wife trick you into a trip to the mall? Did you forget to DVR the football game? Login via your smart phone and record it!

2. Has your kid been begging you for the hottest toy of the season? Don’t get trampled at your local store the day before Christmas trying to get your shopping done (you waited that long, really?), order it easily online knowing that the website is hosted with reliable DNS! (well hopefully it is…) Now all you have to do is hope that UPS or FedEx is just as reliable ; )

3. Going out of town? Make sure your house (and all of your presents!) are safe while you are away by setting up a security camera and viewing it remotely!

4. Supposed to be back at work on Tuesday, but end up snowed in while visiting family across the country? Easily access all of your files and work from wherever you happen to be stuck! (Just as long as you have an internet connection)

What other cool ways can DNS help you survive the holiday season? Leave your comments below!