PHP 5.6 on Simple Hosting
The much anticipated update to PHP on our Simple Hosting platform is now available: PHP version 5.6 is here! Now PHP version 5.6 is the new default option for instance creation (PHP 5.4 can still be selected at creation). For those who already have a Simple Hosting instance using PHP 5.4, we have created a guide for migrating your instance from PHP 5.4 to PHP 5.6, available here:
wiki.gandi.net/en/tutorials/simple/php/migration. As of 22 March 2016, we will release an automatic upgrade feature for PHP 5.4/MySQL, which is by far the most common. Any other instance types using PHP will have to migrated manually. Also of note: the PHP 5.6 instance runs on a new system image based on Debian 8 (Jessie), in anticipation of new changes yet to come. Read full post about it here: www.gandi.net/news/en/2016-02-08/6962-php_5.6_now_available_on_simple_hosting/

PHP dependency manager “Composer” now available
Along with the upgrade to PHP 5.6, you can now also use Composer, PHP’s most popular dependency manager, to install your applications dependencies on Simple Hosting. For those unfamiliar with the concept, dependency management tools allow web developers to easily keep track of third-party code included within a project. Instead of having to manage the files and versions manually, these tools offer a simple way to list an application’s external dependencies and then take care of downloading, installing and including the correct files. Simple Hosting already supports dependency managers for Node.js, Python and Ruby instances using the “npm”, “pip” and “bundler” tools, respectively and now wit the addition of Composer to our PHP instances, we can now cover modern development workflows on all instances types. If you’re interested in learning more and getting started with Composer on Simple Hosting, check out the example project and documentation here: wiki.gandi.net/en/simple/instance/php#dependency_management

Price increase on .uk domains March 1st
Nominet is the registry for the United Kingdom's ccTLD .uk, which also includes .co.uk,.org.uk and .me.uk, all of which are currently available through Gandi. And they have officially announced a rate increase on the domains they offer for both creation and renewal. So, as we generally like to do before a rate increase like this, we would suggest that if you are the owner of a .uk domain (including of course .co.uk, .org.uk and .me.uk), that you renew it now if possible before the change takes effect. We recommend renewing for as many years as possible. Read more about price increase here: www.gandi.net/news/en/2016-01-06/6644-price_increase_on_.uk_domains_march_1st/

Gandi (re)fait le .Point
On 18 February starting at 8:30 AM (Paris time of course), at Le Tank, Paris 11 (a Parisien coworking space, near the Bastille Metro stop), Gandi will be holding the third annual “Gandi (re)fait le .Point.” conference. This is an event to which we invite our customers interested in learning the ins and outs of registering domains in the new batch of TLDs that have been rolling out over the past few years. This year in particular we are focusing on effective strategies to protect your brand without breaking your budget. There are still a few slots left so if you’re in Paris (or can be in Paris) on 18 February, sign up! For more information, check out our eventbrite page: www.eventbrite.fr/e/billets-gandi-refait-le-point-20698499770

Gandi notifications
We are currently in the midst of a complete overhaul of our messaging system. We’ll be upgrading our mailing system to a modern, 2016 mailing system, adding additional protocols and multiple recipients and will span our entire suite of products. As you can expect, it’s no small task, and while we aren’t able to roll out a whole new system quite yet, we want to give some of you a sneak peak at what’s in store: we have now added notification by SMS message to our IaaS (Gandi Server) crediting system so that now, when your Server approaches the point where it will run out of credits, the notification can be delivered via text message. As new notification options roll out (including this one), you’ll be able to manage those preferences from the “Messages” tab of your Gandi account. If you’d like more information, as always, the most extensive documentation available is found in our wiki.

New release calendar

• Wednesday 10 February: .kyoto (GoLive)
• Thursday 11 February: .bet (Landrush)
• Tuesday 16 February: .cloud (GoLive)
• Monday 22 February: .信息 (.xn--vuq861b, “info, knowledge, message”) (Sunrise)
• Tuesday 23 February: .pet (GoLive)
• Wednesday 24 February: .mom (Sunrise)

Promo Round-up
— New Promos
Here are a few we’re starting this month:
.PINK & .RED — €2.00 until 14 February. www.gandi.net/news/en/2016-02-01/6830-say_i_love_you_with_a_.pink_and_.red/
.SKI & .BIO — 50%-off until 14 February. www.gandi.net/news/en/2016-02-01/6827-half-price_on_.ski_and_.bio/
.EU — €6.00 until 29 February www.gandi.net/news/en/2016-02-01/6869-half-price_on_.eu_domains_this_february/
.GLOBAL — 70%-off until 29 February. www.gandi.net/news/en/2016-02-01/6872-a_.global_promotion_for_february/
.PW — €1.00 until 29 February. www.gandi.net/news/en/2016-02-01/6875-get_a_new_.pw_this_february_for_99_cents/
.CLICK & .LINK — 65%-off until 30 June, www.gandi.net/news/en/2016-02-03/6926-this_spring_.click_and_.link_are_on_sale/
.XYZ — €1.00 until February 29 www.gandi.net/news/en/2016-01-21/6776-one_dollar_per_year_per_.xyz/
.DESIGN — 50%-off until 15 February www.gandi.net/news/en/2016-01-01/6458-half-off_on_.design_domains_until_february_15/
.IRISH — €14.00 until 29 February. www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-12-20/5780-.irish_are_on_sale_this_fall_extended/
For a full list of promotions, check out this page: www.gandi.net/news/tag/en/promos_tld

1. Gandi at Web Summit 2015

One of tech's biggest get-togethers is happening next month in Dublin and we are super excited, not least of all because Gandi will be there! Web Summit 2015 promises to be at least as awesome as in years past. We're looking forward to the impressively comprehensive roster of speakers (check out Web Summit's site for the list) and of course the pub crawls.

If you're already longing for the Emerald Isle, register a .irish domain before you come to Dublin next month; they're avaiable for just 14.00€ per year until November 10th.

In any case, this is one of the tech events of the year. It's a time not just for fun and meeting up, but a time to think about the future of the web, and to learn about the innovation on the net happening every single day. So, if you're going to Web Summit next month, come look us up and have a drink. If not, why not?! Sign up now!

2. Changes to invoices

Speaking of innovation, we have a couple of our own to announce this month. The first is that we have reinvented our invoicing. Okay, so maybe it doesn't qualify as «disruptive,» more like «way convenient,» in that you'll soon be able to group invoices by month; choose, in your notifications settings, who the invoice should be sent to (like your accounts payable for example), and furthermore, you'll no longer need to be logged on Gandi when following the link to the invoice (again, great for if your accounts payable need that invoice but don't necessarily need access to your domains). Maybe not **The Revolution** in invoicing, but a small revolution nonetheless.

3. Now accepting Bitcoin

And more exciting in the stereotypically dry area of accounting, we wanted to also let you know that Gandi will this week be accepting — in addition to credit cards, wire transfers and PayPal—Bitcoin. Bitcoin is, of course, the cryptocurrency we've been watching for a while now, waiting for the right moment to integrate into our payment system. Now we're happy and proud to say we finally can.

4. Register your credit card with Gandi?

Of course, if your assets are all tied up in traditional, fiat currency, for better or for worse, one of the easiest ways to pay your Gandi orders is with a credit card. Normally, Gandi does not store your card on file and so for every order paid by credit card, you would need to re-enter your card information. But we're here to tell you: there's something else.

Namely, you can register your credit card with Gandi to make automatic payments to your prepaid account. This automatic payment is triggered by any order in progress that cannot be paid from your prepaid account. By default, the amount due will be debited, but you can also set your card to be debited a certain amount. You can also set a security threshold, and if your prepaid account drops below that amount, we can debit your card as well.

You can register a card for this service in the “Billing” section, under “Prepaid account.” From this page, just click on the “Credit” tab, then scroll down to the bottom of the page where it says “Automatic crediting from your credit/debit card”.

5. October New gTLD Calendar

Friday October 2nd:
.miami (GoLive)

Tuesday October 6th:
.film (GoLive)

Thursday October 8th:
.corsica (Landrush)

Wednesday October 14th:
.study (GoLive)

Thursday October 15th:
.broker (sunrise)
.forex (sunrise)

Friday October 16th:
.law (Landrush)
.abogado (Landrush)

Monday October 19th:
.law (GoLive)
.abogado (GoLive)

Sunday October 25th:
.live (3-day Landrush)
.studio (3-day Landrush)

Monday October 26th:
.srl (GoLive)

Tuesday October 27th:
.healthy in Chinese (or .xn--nyqy26a in punycode) (GoLive)

Wednesday October 28th:
.live (GoLive)
.studio (GoLive)

October Promo Round-up

.xyz
If you missed out on the .xyz promo that just ended, we've got good
news: a promo has now started for .xyz domains until December 31st,
2015, during which you can register a new .xyz for one year for just
5,00€.
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-10-01/5744-five-dollar_promotion_on_.xyz/

.press
A TLD specifically for the news media, .press is on sale as of October
1st until January 15th, 2016 for just 20,00€ at A rates.
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-10-01/5678-another_great_promotion_for_.press_and_.host/

.host
Just like the .press promotion, domains in this extension is also on
sale from October 1st until January 15th, but for an even more enticing
price of 18,00€.
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-10-01/5678-another_great_promotion_for_.press_and_.host/

.site
Starting October 1st until October 31st, .site domains are available for
just 2,00€ per year.
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-10-01/5681-on-sale_this_october_.site/

.irish
Just in time for Web Summit, .irish is now on sale for 14,00€ per year
until November 10th.
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-10-05/5780-.irish_are_on_sale_this_fall/

.co.com
If .com is a big crowded city with people packed into ludicrously tiny
matchbox apartments, .co.com is the 'burbs, where the air is a little
fresher and there's a little more space to breath. Until October 31st at
4:59 PM PDT, .co.com domains, the namespace just a little less crowded,
will be available for 14,99€ per year.
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-07-31/4943-huge_promotion_on_single-year_or_multi-year_registrations_in_.co.com/

.tech
The sale on .tech domains has been extended until the end of the year,
so you can continue to enjoy these domains at 9,99€ per year until
December 31st.
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-09-14/5495-.tech_sale_extended/

.news
Only some days left to take advantage of the 50%-off first-year creation
promotion on .news domains, ending October 31st.
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-09-03/5360-extra_.news_takes_50_off_registrations/

Improvements to NodeJS platform on Simple Hosting

To start off with, we have some good news for NodeJS users who have a Simple Hosting instance that runs NodeJS applications. We are currently phasing in an upgrade to the NodeJS Simple Hosting platform which will allow running start scripts (in other words, there will no longer be any need boot your NodeJS applications using a 'server.js' file on the root of your project.

Now you can use a package.json file to control the way your application starts. Specifically, this allows the use of start scripts. For more information on this improvement, please see the following post: www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-09-07/5435-node.js_start_script_options_es6_and_process_management/

Come try out Version 7 of Gandi Site

For those of you who may have opted for the more beginner-friendly Gandi Site platform for hosting with Gandi, you may have noticed that we recently upgraded the underlying Basekit software behind Gandi Site from version 6 to version 7. The upgrade was a major overhaul of the underlying software as well as the templates which, notably, now creates a responsive version of your page for desktop, tablet, and smartphone.

We wanted to give our customers a fair chance to try out this new version at their leisure without having to worry about effecting their live site, so this month we are offering you all the opportunity to try out the new Gandi Site for just 1.00 € for a month. This promo lasts until September 30, though, so if you want to take advantage of it, be sure to do so as soon as possible: www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-09-01/5276-create_a_website_for_the_price_of_a_slice_of_pizza_for_the_first_month/

.SEX on sale: first-come, first-served (no pun intended)
Well, it's time for the obligatory .sex plug… err… sorry that came out weird. What we're trying to say is that since September 1st, a new gTLD, .sex, has been available for registration in the Sunrise phase (i.e. limited to those with TMCH claims) on a first-come, first-served basis. As you may know, we like to pride ourselves on being a class act, but this gTLD has been just har--difficult to promote without it seeming dirty. A whole world of double-entendre has opened up to us since this extension entered Sunrise and we've been trying our best to navigate that minefield with as few slip-ups as possible but it can be tough. www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-09-01/5270-you_can_now_purchase_.sex_from_gandi._wait_that_came_out_wrong_.../

Featured promo: .PW, .SPACE, .WEBSITE, and .SITE

Yes, we know, we have promos every month (or just about), but these four seem to go together in that they all relate to building web sites. Why is that especially important? Well, see the item on Gandi Site version 7 for that. Just know that you have choices when you get domains, and a lot of the time it's important to let people know where they are online: your site! www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-09-02/5330-.pw_.space_.website_.site/

.LOL is a great domain

ROFL:ROFL:ROFL:ROFL
           _^___
  L    __/   []  \
LOL===__          \
  L      \________]
           I   I
          --------/

This ROFLcopter is here not just as the ghost of Internet memes past (we got tired of lolcats) but also to deliver an important reminder that a great promotion is currently going on for .lol domains. While this promotion seems like a joke, it's totally not (we swear): instead of $41.41 per year (at A rates), .lol domains are available until the end of the year for just $4.14. Find out more about this great promo here: www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-08-18/5174-u_can_has_.lol_nao_90-off/