This is the second reminder that account-less preferences are going away. We don’t mean to nag, but since these preferences are “account-less” we have no way to contact you and ask that you go make an account.

You can check to see if you have preferences that need to be moved into an account by going to the preferences page. Note, don’t go there and set up preferences now, they are about to go away. Go make an account instead.

Many thanks to those who have already taken action. Don’t wait, get your free, secure OpenDNS account now. Seriously, it’s more awesome. Did I mention that it’s free?

When OpenDNS invited the public in on July 10, 2006, there was not yet a mechanism for controlling your DNS preferences. It only took one week for us to get started, with the introduction of account-less preferences (for single, static IP addresses only) with a quiet link at the end of a post. That feature did the job, but it wasn’t a platform for advancement.

So, on November 7, 2006, we introduced OpenDNS Accounts, which took the preference management capabilities and added:

• more fine-grained control for larger networks
• clearer verification mechanisms, including self-service for single IP addresses
• secure (SSL) registration
• support for dynamic IP addresses
• network statistics
• control over branding for larger networks
• and cranberries (my almost-funny joke for American Thanksgiving)

Accounts are the real foundation for the control we give our users.

For the past few months, we’ve supported both Accounts and account-less preferences, as long as there was no conflict. Given our growth, supporting both systems has become more challenging. Since preferences are feature-frozen, and Accounts are offering more and more features (hint: more coming soon!), the choice is clear: it’s time to retire account-less preferences.

This change affects very few users…but we’d like to make sure they know about this coming change.

The irony? If we had a way of reaching the affected users, we would have emailed them privately. But note the account-less part of account-less preferences.

Therefore, we are giving six weeks’ notice, and we will post at least two more reminders along the way.

To sum up:

1. No account required to use OpenDNS with default preferences, including phishing protection and typo correction. No change.
2. With a free, secure OpenDNS account, you may manage your preferences, get statistics about your network, post in the Forums, and more. No change.
3. On Monday, April 9, 2007, all account-less preferences will be erased. This is important for a few thousand OpenDNS customers.

If you are using account-less preferences, please get a free account now and add your network(s), whether single IP address or much, much larger.

Update: February 27, 2007 For those coming from account-less preferences, there are some differences in the Accounts system. Once you create an account, there are three more steps.

1. Add a network. You can enter a single IP, or a range of IP addresses as a CIDR block.
2. Verify your network. For a single IP network (a /32), you will be sent an email with a special link. To verify your management of that IP, click the link while visible to the webserver as coming from that IP address. For individual computers, this is probably not a problem. For a server, it may require an additional step or two. If you have problems, please tell us via the contact form within the My Account section.
   For a larger network (two IP addresses on up), OpenDNS staff will review the network. You will be notified via email when the network is verified, or if there are additional questions.
3. Manage your network preferences. Once the network is verified, you will see a wrench icon () next to your network address. Click the wrench icon, and you’ll be taken to a screen where you can manage your preferences for that network. This will be mostly familiar, though with some additional preferences.

We launched Forums today for you to provide a venue to discuss the world of OpenDNS. This isn’t a weak attempt to get rid of support but is a new way for our users to communicate with us and each other. We are focused on delivering the best experience possible we know that in order to do that we have to hear from you.

OpenDNS will continue to respond to its users in all the current ways: email, IM, blogs and comments, phone, and (occasionally!) in person. But every time one of us answers a question for an individual customer, we’ve wanted to share that tip, lesson, or workaround with a broader audience. Forums let us do that…and Forums will be a great place for OpenDNS users to share with each other, too.

Our short-term goals are to learn more about specific situations we already know need more attention, like instructions for setting DNS on a Samsung Blackjack phone or learning whether or not WildBue satellite broadband customers can use OpenDNS or not (reports vary).

Of course, we’ll also answer questions there so that others can benefit from the answers. Longer term, we expect to find out where our users want us to go.

A free OpenDNS account is required to post, to limit noise. Your OpenDNS account is also useful for preferences, statistics, and dynamic DNS support.

Please join in at http://forums.opendns.com/ and let us know what you think.

The following release is not being distributed far and wide.

OpenDNS Thanks Its Users with Cranberry Choice for Thanksgiving

Canned or whole cranberries, intelligent DNS platform offers users choice about how they want their turk…err, DNS.

PLYMOUTH ROCK, Mass. - Nov. 22, 2006 - Just in time for the American holiday of Thanksgiving, OpenDNS offers additional choice in DNS: canned cranberry sauce or whole cranberry sauce or none at all.

All OpenDNS users enjoy a fast, free, reliable DNS service, with the safety of phishing prevention and the intelligence of typo correction. That service is available with or without an Account. With a free OpenDNS Account. users can choose their own DNS preferences. Those preferences now include cranberries: canned, whole, or none at all.

By default, OpenDNS will deliver DNS without cranberries. But with an account, OpenDNS users can change their cranberry preference and have that taste distributed around the global OpenDNS network instantly.

Canned versus Whole

It’s a debate that stretches back generations: which kind of cranberry sauce goes best with the traditional turkey dinner? The advocates of canned sauce praise the consistency, in texture, mouth feel, and shape, and welcome the common thread that weaves together Americans throughout the nation. The ridges left by the sturdy can mean Thanksgiving to many.

For others, nothing says Thanksgiving more than whole cranberries, in all their aromatic tartness, waiting to be dribbled over their turkey (and anything else!). The variations are cherished, and the “natural” state gently evokes the first Thanksgiving’s hardships (without actually requiring suffering).

Further background may be enjoyed at “The Great Cranberry Sauce Debate.”

Note: For those who stay on the side of this great divide, stay with the default: DNS without cranberries. It’s still free, fast, and reliable.

Next year’s preference? Indicate whether you like your DNS with dark meat, white meat or drumsticks.

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving. OpenDNS understands that the cranberry preference may be of limited value to those who do not celebrate Thanksgiving; we promise to consider other preferences appropriate to local holidays.

There’s an opportunity for software developers of Dynamic DNS clients. We’d like to help promote your software, as soon as it meets these two requirements:

• Support Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for HTTPS updates
• Allow the user to change the Dynamic DNS update URL to the OpenDNS update URL

If your software supports those two requirements, we’re quite happy to list it as an option for OpenDNS customers and help you get more users for your software, whether it’s commercial, freeware, or anywhere in between.

Background

With last week’s introduction of OpenDNS Accounts, OpenDNS supports DNS preferences and statistics for users with dynamic IP addresses through Dynamic DNS. There are many, many individuals with dynamic IP addresses, so we know this step opens up our service dramatically.

Dynamic DNS (DDNS) requires running client software on your computer, as described in the DDNS instructions. Right now, OpenDNS offers working client software that’s only for the technically savvy. The software is a modification of the open-source command line client inadyn by OpenDNS to support Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), if you’re curious.

We’re not client software developers. The only reason we released anything was because the clients we found either did not support SSL or would not let you (the customer) change the DDNS update URL to the OpenDNS update URL, as listed on the OpenDNS DDNS instructions page.

The good news? There is already a vibrant ecosystem of DDNS client software. However, we didn’t find anything that met both of our requirements just yet. The closest one was DynSite, a Windows client which supports SSL, but doesn’t support OpenDNS’s update URL.

If we missed a working candidate, let us know!

Next steps

If you’re a developer of DDNS client software, please get in touch. We’d like to help or answer questions as best we can.

If you’re already using DDNS client software and would like to use the same software for managing your OpenDNS Account (makes sense to me!), then please ask the developer (politely) if adding SSL support and OpenDNS update URL support (or just allowing update URL choice) is on their radar.

Reminder

You can use OpenDNS without an account if speedy, reliable DNS with the default preferences is what you need.