domain names — second or third level?

[sharovatov]

We want all the shelters to have their unique domain name. But do we want to provide them with a second-level domain name (something.com) or third-level (something.shelterpaws.com)?

Second-level domain name pros:

• for clients — easier to remember and type in
• for shelters' owners — looks nicer (or does it?)

Second-level domain name cons:

• costs money, the more shelters we support, the more money we have to pay
• a bit harder to set, supporting second-level domain name will require us to: a) purchase the domain name b) bind it in DNS to a certain host. The process is similar to what github does with custom domains for the github pages
• harder to reason about the rights, I'm not sure what happens if we have the rights for the domain name, and shelter owner has all the rights to the content there. Is there any risk for anyone?

Third-level domain name pros:

• much easier to support, we can automate everything easily
• no risks whatsoever
• doesn't cost a dime

Third-level domain name cons:

• harder to type and remember (or is it?)

Maybe we could start with third-level domain names and then see how it goes and reconsider later if needed?

WDYT?

[sharovatov]

If we choose third-level domain name, then we need to come up with the second-level domain name for the main site (shelterpaws.com is taken)

[sharovatov]

we agreed to provide 3rd-level domain name to all the shelters by default for free.
Later, if the shelter wants 2nd-level domain name, they can buy it and we will provide with a way to link it to the shelter website.

[sharovatov]

we purchased shelterpaws.org domain, all shelters will have a third-level domain name within .shelterpaws.org