How to register and use internationalized domain names (IDNs)

This article discusses how to register and use internationalized domain names (IDNs). IDNs enable you to use Unicode characters in domain names, and are used to provide localized domain names.

Registering an internationalized domain name (IDN)

You can currently register a .com or .net internationalized domain name. However, to be able to register an IDN, you must first convert it to Punycode. Punycode is a method for transcribing multi-byte Unicode characters into standard ASCII characters.

To convert an IDN from the native character set to Punycode, you can visit http://mct.verisign-grs.com.

For example, the IDN éxàmple.com translates into Punycode as xn—xmple-rqa5d.com.

Adding an internationalized domain name (IDN) in cPanel and WebHost Manager

To set up an IDN in cPanel or WebHost Manager, you must convert it to Punycode. To convert an IDN from the native character set to Punycode, you can visit http://mct.verisign-grs.com.

Following the example above of IDN éxàmple.com, you would use xn—xmple-rqa5d.com in cPanel or WebHost Manager.

There is a side effect to doing this, however. When you visit a site using the IDN, the correct site loads, but the browser's address bar displays the Punycode URL. For example, if you enter éxàmple.com in your browser, after the site loads you see xn—xmple-rqa5d.com in the address bar.

More Information

• For more information about internationalized domain names, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationalized_domain_name.
• For more information about Punycode, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punycode.