The fresh Moniker: Love it or Hate it?

One thing is for sure: it’s going to take a while to get used to this fresh account interface.

[Read this update with responses from Moniker CEO Bonnie Wittenburg]

Moniker released its upgraded interface over the weekend. The interface is based on the RRPproxy reseller platform.

This isn’t just a modification to Moniker’s interface. It’s a completely fresh one.

That means a learning curve. Most people hate change, which means the grumbling will begin.

Is it warranted? So far there are things I like regarding the fresh interface and things I don’t. I’ll definitely have to spend time learning how to use some features.

When you first log in…

First you’ll see a basic dashboard showing your number of domains, expiration alerts, etc. You have to click a link to see your domains.

I like the basic domain view on the fresh Moniker. You see all of your domains and various aspects of the domains such as locking status, expiration date, etc. You can easily change which columns show up and customize the view:

It’s nice being able to change the renewal status through a drop down box as well.

Clicking on a domain brings up some options for the domain, but not all. You need to change a drop down box at the top of the page to access certain features such as pushing a domain.

One nifty feature when you click on a domain is the ability to change the Whois text. You can add messages such as a “For Sale” message in your whois.

At first I was dismayed that the search box on the dashboard had disappeared. It’s still there, but you have to click the “Bulk Search” tab at the top.

You’re on a reseller platform now.

One key difference between the old Moniker and the fresh one is you’re on a reseller platform now.

Perhaps that’s why over the weekend I received two emails from noreply @ expirationwarning.net informing me that my domains were regarding to expire. At first I thought this was a phishing scam. But it’s not — expirationwarning.net is owned by Key-Systems. I suspect they use it for all of their resellers.

Welcome to Europe.

Another big change is that you’re now on a European domain registration platform. Not American.

My balance is shown in U.S. Dollars. Pricing is listed in USD. But when I clicked the link for pre-payments, I could only add in Euros. Surely this is a glitch that will be fixed.

Missing security.

Much like the old Moniker, the fresh Moniker doesn’t appear to have two factor authentication. Guys, it’s 2014. This is pretty much a deal killer.

This will take some getting used to.

It’s going to take some getting used to Moniker’s fresh system. One example is pushing domains from one account to another. Here’s what happened when I click the domain push link:

First of all, what does my account balance have to do with pushing a domain?

Second, what the heck am I supposed to do here?

It turns out the process is simple, but I did have to go look it up.

Moniker had a unique pushing system in which you needed a security code from the receiving account in order to do a push. Now it’s a more traditional system where you initiate a push and the other person has to accept it.

Is this better or worse? I don’t know. But it will take some getting used to.

Just like the rest of the fresh Moniker.

What do you think so far?