Manual Registration
The registrar that talks to nobody: default nameservers, what it records, how to register by hand and keep the dates right.
Manual Registration is the registrar module that talks to nobody. When a client orders, transfers or renews a domain it only works out the dates and records them; you register, transfer or renew the domain at your own registrar by hand. It is free, it ships with the script, and the installer switches it on. It is for shops whose extensions no other module serves, for shops that register at a company without an API, and for anyone who wants to try the domain shop before opening a registrar account. See Domain registrars for what all registrar modules share and Domains for prices and the life cycle of a domain.
Switching it on
It is on after the install. To check it, open Setup → Domain Registrars. If you ever switched it off, press Activate on its card. Configure opens its settings. In Setup → Domain Pricing an extension with None (manual) or with this module as its registrar is registered by hand.
Settings
| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Default nameserver 1 to Default nameserver 5 | The nameservers given to a new domain when the client did not give any. The first two are filled with ns1.example.com and ns2.example.com; change them to yours. Leave the others empty. |
The five boxes are grouped on the page under Default nameservers. This is the only setting. There are no keys, no test mode and Test Connection answers Nothing to test for this module.
What it does
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Availability check | Uses the WHOIS lookup of the core. |
| Register | Saves the nameservers (the client's, or the defaults), works out the expiry date from the registration date and the number of years, and answers Recorded. Register (domain) with your registrar by hand. |
| Transfer | Saves the nameservers and sets an expiry date; the answer tells you to start the transfer at your registrar. |
| Renew | Counts the years from the current expiry date (or from today when the domain has already expired) and answers Recorded. Renew (domain) with your registrar by hand. |
| Nameservers, contact details, registrar lock | Kept in the AIOBilling database only, never sent anywhere. |
| EPP code | The value you typed on the domain page. |
| Sync | Does nothing: the module cannot read anything from a registrar. |
DNS records, ID protection and the other managed services are not available through this module.
Typical workflow
- In Setup → Domain Pricing leave the extension's Auto Registration on None (manual) or on this module.
- For a careful routine, keep Automatic Registration off in the domain settings (see Domains). A paid domain order then waits as Pending (or Pending Transfer) until you act.
- Register the domain at your registrar, using the details of the client.
- Open the domain page (a client's Domains tab, then Manage) and press Register. The module records the dates and the domain becomes Active.
- For a renewal, renew at your registrar and press Renew with the number of years so that the expiry date moves.
- If you leave Automatic Registration on, the domain is recorded as Active as soon as the invoice is paid and the client receives Domain Registration Confirmation, whether or not you have registered it at the registrar yet. Register it quickly. A transfer is recorded as Pending Transfer and, because this module cannot ask a registrar, it stays so until you change its status on the domain page yourself.
Because the module never contacts a registrar, the dates in AIOBilling are only as right as you keep them. Check them from time to time against your registrar.
Troubleshooting
- A domain stays Pending: Automatic Registration is off, or no action was taken. Press Register on the domain page.
- Wrong nameservers on a new domain: the client left them empty and the defaults here are still
example.com. Edit the settings, then correct the domain's nameserver boxes and Save Nameservers. - Expiry date off by a year: renewals add years to the current expiry date. Correct the date on the domain page and press Save Changes.
- Every action is written to Utilities → Module Log (module
registrar-manual). Registration errors are also in the Activity Log.
More in Troubleshooting.
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Updated 2026-11-03