Email article
Anyone know when e-mail was invented? I don’t >.>’. Did Al Gore invent it? Who cares. The point is (actually it really isn’t the point…I am just trying to be funny) that email is wide spread across the globe and is used by the poor, the rich, and everything in between. Why use snail mail when you can use e-mail (does that rhyme?). In the early days e-mail was typically provided to you by your ISP such as AOL (@aol.com – remember those?). Now e-mails are more popularly used via third party services such as Gmail or Hotmail. It is nice to have a custom and unique whateveryouwant@gmail.com or whateveryouwant@hotmail.com or [insert email here] because it allows us to not only communicate with other people across the world, but also build an online identity. However what if you could have your own custom email. Not just have your own custom email, but get it for free? A ha, I knew that would catch your attention.
Today I am here to tell you about how you can get your very own custom email address for free. Unfortunately, the only way to do this for free is to have a whateveryouwant@whateveryouwant.co.cc email address instead of a whateveryouwant@whateveryouwant.com email address. However that is still better then a generic whateveryouwant@gmail.com or whateveryouwant@hotmail.com. Am I right or am I right? Okay if you are ready to take the plunge.
Update: CO.CC is no longer operating. However, you can still try to get your own free custom email address from CZ.CC.
In order to get your own custom e-mail address first visit CO.CC and register your desired domain:
Three things to note:
- Not all CO.CC domains will be free. Some may cost money while others will not. For example: dottech.co.cc was free while helloworld.co.cc cost me $4 a year. If you search for a domain and the result shows that you must pay for it, simply search for a different domain name.
- You can only have four free domains per account. I assume that if you create a new account you can register four more free domains, but I am not sure if that it is “legal” to create multiple accounts or not.
- Every CO.CC domain comes with a CC.CC domain. While the CO.CC is fully customizable to your needs, the CC.CC is specific to being a “web store” and you cannot change that.
- Whatever domain you register is what your email address will be.
Update: You can now keep CO.CC domains for free forever if it is for personal use.
After you have registered your domain from CO.CC, go to Google Apps and click on “Get Started”:
***Note: You can use Google Apps for free with any domain (.COM, .NET, .ORG, etc.). The only problem is you won’t find a free .COM or .NET or .ORG or any other domain to use with Google Apps. This is why you must stick to a .CO.CC domain if you don’t want to pay anything. Don’t worry – a .CO.CC domain is similar to a .COM, .NET, .ORG or any other domain.
In the page that loads after you hit “Get Started”, select “Administrator: I own the domain”, type in the domain that you just registered from CO.CC and hit “Get Started”:
At the next page you will be asked to fill in some information about yourself. Fill out all the “Required” fields (you can also fill out the extra fields if you want) and hit “Continue”:
At the next page you will have to setup your administrator email account. Fill out all the “Required” fields as you find appropiate and hit “I accept. Continue with setup”:
After you have hit “I accept. Continue with setup” you are done creating your free Google Apps account with Google. However you still need to active the email service and verify that you own the domain that you signed up with. At the admin panel (the page you are brought to after you hit “I accept. Continue with setup”) click on “Verify domain ownership”:
At the next page there will be a drop down menu. Click on the drop down menu and select “Change your CNAME record”. You should then see four step directions show up on your screen. Look at number two. There should be a string of characters in bold something like google23dbs35567:
Highlight that string and copy it. Open a new browser tab/window and go back to CO.CC. Click on “Domain Settings” (it is located at the top of your webpage) and login. Click on the name of the domain you used for Google Apps:
At the next window click on “Setup”:
At the next page you will be given three options: “Manage DNS”, “Zone Records”, and “URL Forwarding”. Click on “URL Forwarding”. Once you click on “URL Forwarding” fill in the “Redirect to (URL)” text field with “google.com” (without the quotes) and fill in the “Page Title” with “Google Redirect” (without the quotes). After that, there should be a checkbox next to a line that says “Google Apps Email Setup”. Check that box. Paste in the text you copied earlier in the “CNAME Record” box that appears. Hit the “Set up” button:
Hit “OK” at the confirmation page that tells you your changes were made. Go back to the tab/window where you have the Google Apps page open (if you don’t have the tab/window anymore, log back in and go to the “Verify domain ownership” page again). Now hit the “Verify” button. You will be brought back to the Google Apps admin panel. Click on “Activate email”:
The next page that comes up gives you instructions on how to setup your domain to work with your email. Don’t worry about them – we have already taken care of it. Just go to the bottom of the page and click on “I have completed these steps”:
That is it. You are done. Congratulations you now have your own custom email address! All you have to do is wait until Google verifies your domain and sets up your email. They say it can take upto 48 hours but mine was setup within an hour or two. You will know that your domain was verified and your email was setup when you don’t see the “Verify domain ownership” or “Activate email” links at the Admin panel anymore.
Once your email is setup, you can access it by going to http://mail.google.com/a/yourdomainname.co.cc. For example, for me it would be http://mail.google.com/a/dottech.co.cc. Your email will work like any other Gmail account. If you would like to create more then one @yourdomainname.co.cc email address you will need to login to the Admin panel at http://google.com/a/yourdomainname.co.cc and click on “Create new users”. You can have up to 50 users.
Now go and enjoy your new email address and let me know if you have any problems :)
Image credit: bisiobisio
About the author: Ashraf View all posts by Ashraf
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aeatteel
Hi i’m not able to verify cos i dont know how to add DNS record…this was damn useful but this is holdin me back…please help!!!
Thnx a lot dude….i wanted to ask u a doubt.will my id mailqais@qaismail.co.cc get deactivated after 1 year coz ww.co.cc says that they provide free domain only for one year….Thnx again and reply on my id
hey how can i make my own website at the domain i created at co.cc??plzzzz help me outtttttttt someone?!?!??!
thank u
wellcome to u allll inHetauda
http://blashhabbo.webs.com/index.htm is not finished but have a look.
Thanks. Really
thanks a lot your post helps me very well i have email account now……hehe
aaaddeded
Hey Mate, Thanks for great work. But maybe they have changed it now. I can’t get the drop down box to change CNAME, hence can’t get the google…………….. part to cut and paste in. So I can’t verify… Please help.
Regards
Phil
@Phil:
Managed to fix it thanks, all good. Now need to work out how to get a free webpage
We weren’t able to verify your site: http://turkfrikik.co.cc/ what happened?
I followed all the directions and it says they weren’t able to verify my site. It says “Verification failed for http://kingkiseki.co.cc/ using the HTML file method (less than a minute ago). Your verification file has the wrong content.” What does this mean?
I am soooo confused. I tried three different verification methods and none of them work. I always get “We weren’t able to verify your site: _______________” and yet I’ve done everything I was supposed to (I think). There is no option for CNAME change in a drop-down menu, but I tried the other options. None of them seem to pan out.
@Phil:
Hey Phil please share your solution.
@Steve
The CNAME Part is the issue, with the updated Google web page. Just trying to remember what I did. I ended up saving the downloaded file from google, then opened it with word pad or note pad, then cut and pasted the google sring from that and pasted it in as above. I would cut and past it in here but having issues with CO.CC account, it isn’t seeing my account… Try doing that, let me know, while I see what the issue is with my username and password…
Uhm guys I got another solution.. When doing the CNAME stuff just go to alternate methods. the 3rd method is the one to use. Go to other. And copy the code it gives you. Go back to the co.cc website and use URL Forwarding, but don’t use the cname, use the other one and paste the code there. Click Set up then Ok. Then click verify on google. You should be done. You can go to your inbox (Upper right of your screen) and your done. Your welcome :). (P.S. I’m remembering this so I might be a little off, but this will still work :) lol)
gee man, Thanx i appreciate this………….Jah Bless
pick up your name registration and go here for free hosting and a free email addresses
Great Post… Thank you.. and Thanks to Jamee for the solustion…
Wonderful! Works even today :).
I just used the co.cc’s DNS way of setting up Google Apps email instead of the CName.
Guyz, i saw this service is a free trial account 4 30days. What does it mean pls
This works, I finished it, I come back today, they have changed the whole design. I can’t even login.
i love it