Question 1

My web designer disappeared. How do I get my website back?

Accepted Answer

Start with the domain, because it is the only part you cannot rebuild. Look your domain up on the WHOIS search at dnc.org.nz for a .nz name, and check whose name is listed as the registrant. If it is not yours, ask your web person to release it, and for a .nz name ask for the UDAI transfer code. If they will not, the Domain Name Commission can look into it. Your content is usually recoverable separately, including from the Wayback Machine at web.archive.org if the site has already gone. The free rescue guide from YourHQ walks through all of it step by step.

Question 2

How do I find out who owns my domain name in New Zealand?

Accepted Answer

Use the WHOIS search at dnc.org.nz and enter your web address without the www. The registrant field is the legal holder of the domain. It should be your name or your company name, not your web designer or their business. The registrar is simply the company the name is bought through, which is not the same as ownership.

Question 3

Can I get my website files and content back if the site is offline?

Accepted Answer

Often, yes. The Wayback Machine at web.archive.org has been archiving websites since 1996, and you can usually recover the text and many of the images from a date before things went wrong. You also already hold more than you think: your Google Business Profile, your social media, your camera roll and your quotes and proposals between them contain most of what a new website needs.

When your web person disappears.