[jedc]

I've been a beta-tester of Google Domains for months, and it's just such a nicer experience than GoDaddy/Namecheap. Particularly with GoDaddy, I feel like there's always a chance I'm going to click on the wrong thing and then get subscribed to some ridiculous service. With Google, it's a clean, transparent, USABLE interface.

I'd encourage people to try it out with a domain and form your own views. As for me, I'm moving all of my domains over to Google (as they get close to renewal.)

[tamar]

Hey jedc - Tamar from Namecheap here. Can you provide insights into the Namecheap experience? I hear the GD side. Would like to know what you mean from ours.

As far as our dashboard, we're building a better user experience, so that's nothing to fret about. I bet you'd agree when it's live that the experience is far more stellar than anything you'd find anywhere else.

[yzzxy]

Here's some feedback: your 2FA experience is terrible. I appreciate that you use 2FA, but I have to hit the send button multiple times to get a text message every single time on my US mobile phone. After that the form fails 50% of the time.

I also find it frustrating that the domain dashboard has no clear path to my host record settings, which is 90% of the use case for me. I always have to click four or five times to find it.

Otherwise I love the product and pricing, and I will probably continue to use Namecheap in the future.

[tamar]

Well, that's all fair and all stuff we're addressing this year.

The dashboard is, frankly, out of date compared to the UI experience people would expect from us in 2015. We're building that right now.

And we plan to support TOTP 2FA, so you don't necessarily have to rely on SMS at all.

But noted. Just wait -- we've got some pretty cool things in store for you.

[kogepathic]

>The dashboard is, frankly, out of date compared to the UI experience people would expect from us in 2015. We're building that right now.

As a sysadmin who deals with your website a lot, I actually like the current management UI.

Yes, it could use a few tweaks here and there, but overall I quite like it. I hate websites that update their user interface and hurt my ability to get things done.

I use another registrar for some of my .de domains, and their web interface is horrible. I have ongoing issues with their interface not saving changes to my zone because the button says the zone was saved when it wasn't.

tl;dr - The current interface doesn't look nice but it works damn well and I can find everything. Please don't ruin usability in the new version. I care more about functionality than looks.

[mgkimsal]

Almost always, what is really called for are multiple interfaces:

1. a "power user" interface, stripped down, that allows for the fastest ways to do XYZ (key bindings, fast client-side validation, batch uploads, etc).

2. a "first timer" interface, with explanatory info, slower pace so people don't feel like they're getting overwhelmed or pushed in to something, etc.

I've yet to see any registrar do this. Many do offer APIs, which, for developer power users, might be sufficient. I'd suggest to this company that they perhaps keep the current version as a fallback to the existing power users that already know how to 'get things done' with it; maybe not forever, but for a while so they can learn the new interface on their own schedule at the very least.

[rafaelm]

I wouldn't hold my breath. Namecheap has been saying they will implement a decent 2FA solution for ages now. I got tired of waiting and have been slowly transferring my domains out.

[obituary_latte]

I'm a current namecheap customer as well. When I have to use your management interface for something, I feel like I've been transported back in time to a cpanel interface ca. 1999. I have 25 some odd domains but you can't show them all to me at once unless I expand preferences and select "all" which, by the way, I have to do every time I navigate back to the list.

It's a minor quip (and just one off the top of my head), granted, and otherwise I'm a happy customer, but am very tempted to migrate as well as my domains come up for renewal.

Any screenshots or other indications of where you might be going?

[tamar]

Nope, I haven't even seen it yet. I know that we have a dedicated team working on the domain dashboard exclusively though. And yeah, 1999... close. 2001. :)

[arfliw]

The main thing is just clutter. Google Domains has a very simple user interface. It only has the stuff you need. NameCheap and every other registrar has a million links everywhere and all this random crap you never use, making it hard to find the stuff you do need.

NameCheap is better than most, though. The only reason I don't keep a lot of domains with you is price. Your renewal fee's are significantly higher than budget registrars like Dynadot. And when you own a lot of domains, that extra 10% adds up fast.

[jedc]

Hey tamar; thanks for responding.

Like others have said, it's mainly that the interface looks and feels like something circa 2001. I inevitably click into the wrong menu/interface/page for something I want to do, and it just feels inefficient whenever I want to get something done.

[mtrpcic]

I think you just explained peoples problems in your own post. "we're building a better user experience, so that's nothing to fret about". People have the option of "good right now" or "good in the indefinite future", and the decision is pretty obvious. Not saying Namecheap is bad (I use them myself), but the crux of this argument is that GD has the right interface NOW, while Namecheap will have it EVENTUALLY.

[drinkyouroj]

Good point, but along the same lines: Namecheap existed as a registrar when I purchased my domains, and GD did not. The interface isn't enough to make me want to go through the hassle of switching.

[prawn]

I use Namecheap for SSL certificates (we have domains and hosting elsewhere).

The old interface within the redesign is jarring and, as you know, that old interface is pretty ugly! I love how it will show me the first 10 in a listing and then offer paging rather than showing 100 or all by default. Will be happy to have that fixed.

Other than that, I have at times found the split between the old (customer) and new (sales) interfaces confusing. I'll often be clicking through SSL info in the sales interface when I'm trying to remember where to get my client SSL lists.

Apart from that, I've been happy with the pricing and when I've needed support via live chat it's been really polite and quick. I recommend Namecheap despite that interface issue.

[SiVal]

I would be interested to know Google's plans for selling SSL certs, if any. They have been quite vocal that sites should switch from HTTP to HTTPS at the risk of having their Page Rank downgraded if they don't, but this requires paying for and deploying an SSL certificate.

So, if Google is so interested in seeing universal HTTPS, what sort of SSL cert carrot will they provide to their registered domains to go along with the Page Rank stick?

[chrissnell]

I've been a Namecheap customer for years and a GD user since the early beta. For my purposes, the only real advantage of GD is the free WHOIS privacy with every registration. I have many domains and this adds up significantly. I will probably move over at next renewal, simply to save money.