Operating Handbook
The 1 Gig Web Hosting operating manual will assist
in getting you familiar with the many features we have to offer. Whether you're
looking for a quick start to uploading your files, or would like to familiarize
yourself with our many advanced features, this manual provides easy to follow
step by step instructions on just about everything you'll need to know. New
users are encouraged to print this manual and read it over at their leisure.
Assuming you've just signed up with 1 Gig Web Hosting, you're probably wondering
how to test out a few of the features and begin populating your web site with
files. You're just a couple of steps from doing just that, but first things
first. Your welcoming email contains the basic information you'll need to access
your account and get things underway. Print it out, or open it up in a separate
window, as you'll need to refer to it during these tutorials.
Account
Basics:
Where to upload your files:
Configuring your FTP clients:
Connecting via SSH
Understanding the web site file system:
CGI Based Programs:
The ins and outs of DNS and how it effects your domain:
Sub-Domains and Domain Info:
Setting up Domain Email:
Cpanel Goodies:
MySQL database
Interchange Shopping Cart
Configuring Mail Readers:
Using Microsoft FrontPage
Helpful Tutorials
Account Basics:
Domain Name Servers "DNS
Settings"
These need to be set at your 'registrar"
(where you purchased your domain name from and are as follows:
NS3.1GIGHOST.COM
NS4.1GIGHOST.COM
if needed the IP's are respectively
69.56.146.154
69.56.146.155
Username and Passwords:
These are stated in the welcoming email. They are
needed to authenticate everything from FTP, to Email access, C-Panel, and MS
FrontPage if you're using it. In short, use this Username and Password for any
access you're attempting to your account.
Accessing your account via its URL or associated temporary url:
If you've just signed up to 1 Gig Web Hosting,
chances are you've begun the process of a domain transfer to our servers. In all
likelihood, it will take anywhere from 48 to 72 hours for all worldwide DNS
records to reflect your domain name as pointing to our servers. While everything
in our welcoming email refers to the domain you signed up, we recommended you
use the accompanying temporary url until you can verify your domain is actually
answering to your new account on the 1 Gig Web Hosting servers.
Accessing your account via FTP:
To access FTP, you can use your domain name as the
FTP host, or the FTP host that was sent to you in your welcoming email. If you
have additional questions regarding the ins and outs of FTP, please see our FTP
support section, which covers it in broad detail.
Accessing C-panel:
To access your C-Panel account manager, you can
login into it with:
http://www.mydomain.com/cpanel (For name based accounts)
or the url that was sent to you in the welcome
email. Again, if your domain name is not pointing to our servers yet, calling it
with the url from the email will enable access to your account.
Where to upload your files:
The Home Directory:
Your html files, and or the files you want to make accessible to the World Wide
Web must be uploaded to your account. When you first FTP into your account,
you'll be taken to your "Home" directory. Don't confuse this with your "web
directory." The home directory is "not" accessible to the World Wide Web; it's a
private directory where critical system files reside. DO NOT delete files that
have been created by the system, otherwise your web site may disappear into
cyber oblivion!
The
public_html
and
www
directory - (Where web accessible files are placed)
These are the two directories, where files you want
accessed from the web must be placed. Open the folder "public_html" , which is
your "web accessible directory." The folder named "www" is actually a shortcut
to public_html, (both of them take you to your web directory). Upload the files
you want accessible to your visitors and feel free to make the appropriate
sub-directories you'll require.
Configuring FTP Clients:
Configuring Cute FTP
Based on version 4.2
Please note that there are a number of older and
current versions of Cute FTP floating around. As a result, some of the
instructions provided here cannot possibly reflect all the versions, which have
been released in the past 5 years. The only small difference you may encounter
is where some of the options can be found (depending on the client version
you're using). In any event, everything is pretty well much the same. Let's get
started:
1. Open Cute FTP
2. Select "File"
3. Select "Site Manager"
4. Select "New"
Options you'll see:
- Label for site: Enter a name for this account.
For example, "My Root Account."
- FTP Host Address: www.mydomain.com
- FTP Site Username: Your main system login name
- FTP Site Password: Your main system password
- FTP Site Connection: Port: 21
- Login Type: Normal
Notes About Cute FTP:
There are a few advanced features you may want to be aware of. These features
may need to be enabled if you're having problems accessing your site via an FTP
client. The following will explain:
Trouble accessing your site via FTP:
This can sometimes occur if your accessing the Internet from behind a firewall,
personal router, or using an Internet connection sharing system such as NAT
(Network Address Translation). This is often a class case scenario in a home or
small office where several computers are being shared by one Internet
connection. Symptoms include, difficulty logging in via FTP, and or
maintaining a reliable upload or download session.
Use Passive Mode instead:
From your FTP main interface, select:
1. Edit (from the main dropdown menus)
2. Settings
A dialog box called "Settings" now appears. Select:
3. Connections
4. Firewall
This opens the Connection/Firewall dialog box:
5. Check the box that says "PASV mode."
6. Click OK
Don't touch any of the other settings
Ignore all other settings you see here except for
the "PASV_mode" setting!
Give it a try and see how it works. If you're still having problems, you should
contact your ISP to see if they can make the necessary changes required for you
to access your site via FTP. There are a vast number of network configurations
ISP's sometimes use, and some of which that can cause problems for users wanting
to access the web beyond that of a browser.
How to view all files in your account (For
Advanced Users).
Advanced users may want ability to view "all hidden" files in their directories.
While most of these are critical system files, there are a few, which can be
manually edited by "Advanced Users." This is done by inserting an entry into the
"File Masking" feature in the client.
Unmasking Hidden Files:
1. Open Cute FTP
2. Go to the site manager
3. Select your account
4. Select "Edit"
A dialog box opens called "Site Properties":
1. Check the "Enable Filter" box
2. Click the "Filter" button
3. Check the " Enable Remote Filters (Server Applied
Filer) " box
4. In the "Remote Filter" window, type this command
-a
5. Click ok
That's it!
The -a command will unmask
"all" files in your web account.
Final Note:
NEVER REMOVE OR ALTER FILES, WHICH HAVE BEEN CREATED BY THE SERVER or C-Panel!!
Unless you're an advanced user, please leave all files that have been created
by the system alone! Doing otherwise could cause serious problems with your
account, and in some cases take it offline completely. When in doubt
"ASK", do not Delete!
Setting Up WSFTP
Please note that there are a number of older and
current versions of WSFTP floating around. As a result, some of the instructions
provided here cannot possibly reflect all the versions, which have been released
in the past 5 years. The only small difference you may encounter is where some
of the options can be found (depending on the client version you're using). In
any event, everything is pretty well much the same.
Setting up WSFTP:
1. Open your WSFTP client
2. The dialog box "WS_FTP" Sites should display. If not, click the "Connect"
button.
3. Select "New"
You should see this dialog box:
You'll be taken through
these options:
1.
New Site/Folder: Choose a name for this account
2.
Host Name or IP address:
www.yourdomain.com
3.
User ID: Main system login
4.
User Password: Main System Password
5. Select
"Save Password."
6. Select
"Finish."
Done! Your can now FTP into your site
Notes About WSFTP:
Main Username and Password:
The main Username and Password was sent to you in your welcoming email, and are
also the same ones used to access C-Panel. If you've changed your
"main" Username and Password before setting this up, then use you
must use them instead.
Trouble accessing your site via FTP:
This can sometimes occur if your accessing the Internet from behind a firewall,
personal router, or using an Internet connection sharing system such as NAT
(Network Address Translation). This is often a class case scenario in a home or
small office where several computers are being shared by one Internet
connection. Symptoms include, difficulty logging in via FTP, and or
maintaining a reliable upload or download session. If this is the case, try
"Passive Mode."
Setting Passive Mode:
1.
Open the WSFTP account manager
2.
Highlight your account
3.
Select "Properties"
4. Select the
"Advanced" tab
5. Check the box called
"Passive Transfers."
6. Click "OK"
Select passive mode, click
"OK", and try it again.
How to view all files in your
account (For Advanced Users).
Advanced users may want ability to view "all
hidden" files in their directory. While most of these are critical system files,
there are a few, which can be manually edited by "Advanced Users." This is done
by inserting an entry into the "File Masking" feature in the client.
Unmasking Hidden Files:
1. Open the WSFTP account manager
2. Highlight your account
3. Select "Properties"
4. Select the "Startup" tab
5. In the "Remote File Mask" window, enter
-a
The -a command will unmask
all files in your web account.
Final Note:
NEVER REMOVE OR ALTER FILES, WHICH HAVE BEEN CREATED BY THE SERVER or C-Panel!!
Unless you're an advanced user, please leave all files that have been created
by the system alone! Doing otherwise could cause serious problems with your
account, and in some cases take it offline completely. When in doubt
"ASK", do not Delete!
Connecting via SSH:
SSH stands for Secure SHell. This is a
command line interface identical to telnet. The only difference is that
everything done through SSH is encrypted, so if anyone tries to snoop in during
your session, they can't read what passwords or commands are being typed.
Before you can start accessing your account with SSH, you need to download an
SSH client program. Perhaps the best one out there is SecureCRT, available from
VanDyke software at
http://www.vandyke.com/ . It's shareware that you'll have to buy after 30
days of use. Otherwise, you can try looking for SSH clients (including freeware
ones) at
http://www.tucows.com . Whichever SSH client program you choose to download
and install, in order to actually SSH into your account with us, you'll need to
use the following settings in your SSH client program:
Protocol: ssh1 or ssh2
Hostname: yourdomain.com (or whatever your domain name is)
Port: 22
Cipher: 3DES or Blowfish
Authentication: password
Username: your account username
Password: your account password
Once you've successfully logged in, you'll be presented with a command prompt
that looks something like "bash-2.04$ ". This is where you type commands. Here's
a brief list of commands you can use:
ls - (list) this displays the files and directories in your current directory
ll - (long list) same as "ls", but displays some more details
cd - (change directory) when followed by a valid directory name, changes your
current directory. Use "cd .." to move back one directory in the hierarchy.
pico - opens up a session with a simple text editor. Following this with a
filename will edit that file if it already exists, or will open up a new one
under that name if it doesn't exist
du - (disk usage) this displays a list of all of your directories and
subdirectories. Beside each one is a number. That number tells you how much
space that directory or subdirectory is taking up in KB (1 MB = 1024 KB).
If you like, you can also try using the web-based SSH utility included in your
control panel (look for the "SSH Telnet" icon). We can't offer any guarantees on
how well it'll work for you. It can be quite buggy at times.
Understanding the web site
file system:
index.html and why you should
use it:
This again is where a number of newer webmasters
become stumped. They upload all of their files and directories, and then want to
access them with their browser, but forget to name their home page index.html.
Here's what happens: they access their site as http://www.mydomain.com,
and what they see is their entire file directory structure! Yikes!… It looks
just like exploring the C drive on your computer! You don't want visitors seeing
that, do you?
When you access your site by calling it as http://www.mydomain.com
the web server looks for the "index.html" file as the default file to be sent to
visitors, and thus this is why http://www.mydomain.com
by itself will automatically display the home or welcoming page. It's because
the server automatically looks for index.html whenever a domain or directory is
called without a filename appended to it such as this,
http://www.mydomain.com/filename.xyz
If it can't find index.html, it will simply list "your entire web directory" to
everyone that accesses it, which can be a security risk. You should use an "index.html"
file in any directory you create, including your "root" web directory. In
general, it's always a good idea to use "index.html" as your main page in all
sub-directories on your account. Forgetting to place an index.html in your root
web, or any subdirectory of your web for that matter will effectively leave all
of its contents viewable to the world.
However, it is possible to specify the default webpage that visitors see when
visiting any of your directories (e.g. http://www.mydomain.com/fun
, http://www.mydomain.com/contact , etc.). To do
so, you need to create a file called ".htacess" in that directory. Then, just
open up that file and add the line
DirectoryIndex filename.xyz
where filename.xyz is the name of the page you want to load by default when
someone accesses that folder with a browser. (Note that the file name is case
sensitive.) Make sure to save the changes you made to the file.
For example, say you have a page called "home.html" that you want to have load
by default when someone goes to http://www.your_domain.com . Just create a new
file called ".htaccess" in your /public_html folder and add the line
DirectoryIndex home.html
to it. Now, when someone goes to http://www.your_domain.com , your home.html
page will load by default. As another example, say you have another page called
silly.html that you would like to load by default when someone goes to your
http://fun.your_domain.com subdomain. Just create a new file called ".htaccess"
in your /public_html/fun folder and add the line
DirectoryIndex silly.html
to it. Now, when someone goes to view http://fun.your_domain.com (or http://www.fun.your_domain.com,
they're the same thing) in their browser, your silly.html page will load by
default.
Understanding case sensitivity:
Another small detail, which can throw many newer
users into a tailspin. Unlike your local PC, the Unix file system is very
particular about "uppercase" and "lowercase" file names. Therefore, if you were
to install a script, (let's say the wwwboard discussion forum) for example), the
name of this script would be wwwboard.pl. If you name a file picture file
called me.jpg, then this is what you must call it as. Naming it me.JPG for
example, (observe the uppercase) tells a Unix web server to treat it as a
totally different file name.
Unix file servers are exceptionally fussy on this issue, so make sure you pay
close attention to case when uploading files, or installing and configuring cgi
based scripts. The same rule applies for all files including your .html pages.
Again, the server treats .html and .HTML as two entirely different files. Want
to keep in simple? Try to stick with lowercase letters in all file names and
extensions.
Uploading your files in the correct mode (ASCII or
Binary)?
Uploading in the wrong format for images or binaries will result in a strange
mess appearing in place of the file. For CGI scripts, this mistake has to be
the most common cause of that annoying error known as the (Server 500 Error -
Malformed Headers), or something to that lovely extent. While this can be the
result of many various programming errors, the most popular amongst new users
are uploading their scripts in the "WRONG" format. Your cgi scripts "MUST"
always be uploaded in ASCII mode. Alternatively, if you upload an image or .exe
file, it must be done in "BINARY" mode.
The difference between ASCII and BINARY?
In short, html or text based files are supposed to be transferred in ASCII mode.
Uploading them in Binary mode will append ^M's to the end of every line. In most
cases this is OK with html files, because your browser will ignore them. BUT,
with other text files such as cgi scripts, uploading them in binary will damage
them, thus causing a (server 500 error). This is because binary mode has added
^M's to the end of every line, which are not supposed to be in the program. This
of course, is what causes the additional message of (Malformed Headers), which
often displays at the bottom of the "Server 500" message when a CGI script has
crashed.
Once again, BINARY mode is used for transferring executable programs, compressed
files and all image/picture files. If you try to upload an image in ASCII mode,
you observer a strange mess appearing on the page where the image is suppose to
appear. ASCII mode in this case, has corrupted the binary coding in the jpeg or
gif image. If this happens, just re-upload it in the Binary format
Setting your FTP client to automatically detect ASCII and Binary file transfers:
Most FTP programs have "AUTO" mode, which will tell the FTP client to
automatically detect the file type you're transferring and will select the
appropriate mode. By default, most FTP programs will attempt to transfer
everything in binary mode, but when "Automatic" is selected, the FTP client will
check a list of known ASCII extensions, (for example, .pl, .cgi, .txt). If it
detects one of these extensions, it automatically switches to ASCII mode.
By Default, most of the well-known files to be uploaded in ASCII are already
entered, however you can manually add additional extensions that you would like
to transfer in ASCII mode by selecting the feature called "Extensions." Here,
you can any additional extensions that will cause the FTP client to toggle to
ASCII mode automatically upon detecting an extension entered in its list.
Remember, you must set your transfer mode to "Automatic" for this to work.
File types and what they
represent:
Various file types can effect both the behavior of your files, as well as how
the server treats them. While there are numerous file extensions, which
represent a host of various file types, we'll stick to the basic ones in this
quick overview:
The .html file:
This is one is the most commonly used and the most one of you are already
familiar with. Html stands for (hypertext Markup Language). Essentially, it
tells the server, as well as the clients browser to process and display the
.html coding in a way, which is meaningful to the end user through a browser.
The .htm file:
Many of you have probably noticed this newer extension appearing in place of the
traditional .html one. In short, .htm is most often created, and or generated
from the Microsoft FrontPage web editor. The two are essentially the same and
provide the same basic purpose. Unless you're using FrontPage, you will probably
use the .html extension at the end of your web pages.
The .gif and .jpg file:
Most commonly used because of its good compression in web page images.
Generally, .gif files are the fastest loading, as they remove a lot of
information, which is not required to maintain image integrity, but to a point
however. .jpg will allow more flexibility in compression and quality settings,
however can also result in larger files.
The .CGI and the .pl file:
.cgi and .pl are most often used for perl scripts. Perl scripts are small text
based programs, which are executed on the server end, and will perform a host of
interactive functions for a web site. In short, when a .pl or .cgi file is
called, it tells the server to process it using the "Perl Interpreter." The Perl
Interpreter understands the programming within the script, and will perform the
set of sub routines, which will yield your desired effect. This desired effect
could be anything from a simple web page counter, to more complex programs such
as discussion forums, e-commerce platforms, to online auctions. In many cases,
you can download these "ready to go" scripts for free, and in others you may
have to purchase them.
FrontPage and FTP:
If you're planning on using Microsoft FrontPage to
manage your web site, there are a couple of issues things you may want to keep
in mind:
There are two worlds. The General Unix hosting world, and the Microsoft world.
While this is not necessarily a bad thing, Microsoft had indeed decided to play
by its own rules. As a result, FrontPage does not always conform to the rules
of Unix, so you should be extremely careful when accessing a FrontPage web via
FTP. It's easy to damage the FrontPage web, as well as it's associated server
extensions, and if it happens, you may loose the ability to administrate it from
your FrontPage Explorer. To avoid problems like this:
- Do not alter, or delete files that are part of a
FrontPage web
- Do delete, move, or alter directories ending in
_vtf. These are the FrontPage extensions
The ultimate solution:
If possible, try to create your FrontPage webs in sub-directories of your root.
For example,
http://www.yourdomain.com/home. This way, you can safely FTP into your root
account to perform other tasks, while avoiding the FrontPage webs, which are
safely out of the way in their own separate homes. Remember! DO NOT delete any
folders, which end in _vtf! This will kill your FrontPage web, and we'll have to
reinstall the extensions for you. For additional information on FrontPage,
please see our dedicated tutorial on it.
Using CGI programming:
Where
to place your CGI scripts:
Although there is nothing dangerous about placing cgi scripts in random
directories throughout your site, it's best if you keep them in their own little
home known as the cgi-bin. This minimizes security risks and allows you to
maintain your cgi programs from one directory.
The path to Perl:
One of the first things you must do when configuring a script, is set the
correct path to the Perl interpreter, which is the engine responsible for
processing the script. The path to Perl on our servers is: #!/usr/bin/perl
The path to Sendmail:
Some programs such as the ones, which send email will need to know where the
Sendmail program resides on the server. The script will typically have a setting
like this: $mailprog = '/usr/sbin/sendmail'; and will want you to set it
appropriately. Sendmail on our servers can be found here: /usr/sbin/sendmail or
/usr/lib/sendmail.
Setting directories within
your cgi scripts:
When you configure a cgi script for "any" server, it may ask you to set
variables such as the base, relative, and CGI directory/url settings. Here's an
"example" using Matt Wright's wwwboard.pl script. Obviously, each script may
vary, but this should provide you with some basic idea:
$basedir = "/home/yourlogin/public_html/wwwboard";
$baseurl = "http://www.yoursite.com/wwwboard";
$cgi_url = "http://www.yoursite.com/cgi-bin/wwwboard.pl";
Most scripts come with documentation on how to set these directories. Please
make sure you read and understand it before configuring the script. New to cgi?
Here is a page with questions and answers to numerous questions evolving around
the inns and outs of using cgi within your scripts:
http://www.w3.org/Security/Faq/www-security-faq.html Another excellent
site, which provides step by step chapters is:
http://www.cgi101.com/class/
Understanding File Permissions:
There are a number of file permissions, which can be used for a variety of
different purposes, however we'll limit this tutorial to the ones most commonly
used. To begin with, it's important you understand the three categories of
permissions, which are:
Owner Permissions:
The owner is you. In most cases, this is not so much of a concern, as you can
only obtain owner permissions in one of two ways. 1. FTP into your account using
your Username and Password. 2. Login via Telnet with the same information.
Group Permissions:
The represents a group of users who have access to a particular directory. For
example, a password protected directory, whereas only members can access it upon
providing the correct Username and Password. In this case, any permissions you
assign to "Group" would be applicable to users with access to that particular
directory.
Public Permissions:
This is the most important one of all. Public permissions determine what your
world wide visitors can and cannot do with your files. ALWAYS make sure you
understand what a particular permission does before assigning it to a file. If
not, you may wakeup to find your website demolished by some clown who was
snooping about and gained access to your files.
Setting File
Permissions:
To set file permissions:
1.
Login with your FTP client
2. Open the directory where the
file you wish to set permissions on resides
3. Right click on the file and
select CHMOD
A box similar to the one above will appear
Observe how you can "select" the individual
permissions you want, or simply enter the 3 digit number if you know what it is.
Most instructions included with downloaded scripts will tell indicate this to
you.
By default, all files uploaded to the server
automatically have permissions set to 644. The setting 644 is relatively safe,
as it provides "Read" and "Write" access to the owner, while limiting the rest
of the public to "Read Only" access.
When setting permissions for cgi scripts, the most common permissions setting is
755. 755 allows the owner "Read and Write" access, while allowing the Group
and Public "Read and Execute" permissions. So what are we actually saying? In
short, when users access your cgi script, the server has been instructed to
grant them permissions to "Read and Execute" it. Sound scary? It's not actually…
Remember that a script is a program that must be processed by the server. As
long as the script is written properly, you can safely allow users to execute
it, and thus providing the desired results. For example, if they wanted to post
a message to your wwwboard discussion forum, then they would need these
permissions to execute wwwboard.pl, which would write their new message to an
html file, which is displayed on the main forum. The new message would reside
in a directory on your site so other users could view it. Most cgi, perl and
other scripts you'll be installing come complete with instructions telling you
which permissions you'll need to set them to.
WARNING!
Setting permissions on files is a relatively simple task, however MAKE SURE you
fully understand what it is you're allowing the public to do with your files.
For example, some less experienced users often make the fatal mistake of simply
setting ALL of their files to 777. While 777 will automatically allow executing
privileges, it also allows full "READ, WRITE, and EXECUTION ability to the
entire world!!!!
This is how web sites get hacked! While most visitors have good intentions, all
it takes is one person whom snoops about your files seeking an "Open Back Door."
This could result is them gaining full access to your directories, which means
they can do anything from deleting your entire site, to defacing it with
obscenities.
New to cgi? Here is a page with questions and answers to numerous questions
evolving around the inns and outs of using cgi within your scripts:
http://www.w3.org/Security/Faq/www-security-faq.html
Using
Server Side Includes - SSI
SSI works in conjunction with a web page usually with the .shtml extension. The
.shtml extension tells the server to do something different with the web page.
When you append the .html or .htm extension, this tells the server to "read" the
page only. The .shtml extension tells the server to "Execute" the page, in
addition to just reading it.
So, why would you want to execute the page? There are various commands you can
program into a web page, which the server will look for and parse when the file
is called as .shtml. In many cases, this mode is used in conjunction with Server
Side Include (SSI) tags, to call a CGI script. For example, you have a visitor
counter script, and we'll call it count.cgi. Every time someone visits your
website, you want the script to be called, so that it logs the visitor into a
file.
To do this, you would place an SSI tag into your web page. The tag in this case,
would look something like:
This small tag, which is hidden in the html coding of your page is telling the
server to:
1. Go to the cgi-bin
2. Execute count.cgi
That's it! The information has been captured and processed by the count.cgi
script. Of course, that's the short version of what happens. The long version
would no doubt, would take us far beyond the scope of this document.
PLEASE do not use the .shtml extension on "all" of your web pages unless it's
absolutely necessary. With a busy web site, this means that every page must be
executed, as opposed to just read. This as you can appreciate, can add
considerable memory and CPU load to the system. As always, read the instructions
that came with your script carefully. They should provide specific
instructions on how to configure the script, as well as the SSI tag.
The ins and
outs of DNS and how it effects your domain:
Understanding DNS and Name Servers:
This is an area, which causes a great deal of
confusion amongst both webmasters and end user clients. Before we go any
further, let's look at this quick analogy: DNS can be considered something
similar to that of a phone book. When you move from one location to another,
your last name stays the same, but your phone number may change. In order to
point your name to the new phone number, you must contact the telephone service
provider, which will assign you the new phone number. In addition, they update
all directory information data basis to reflect you as pointing to this new
phone number.
What is DNS?
DNS stands for "Domain Name Server." The domain name server acts like a large
telephone directory in that it's the master database, which associates a domain
name such as (http://www.mydomain.com) with the appropriate IP number. Consider
the IP number something similar to a phone number: When someone calls
http://1gighost.com/, your ISP looks at the DNS server, and asks "how do I
contact 1GigHost.com?" The DNS server responds, it can be found at:
128.241.204.205. As the Internet understands it, this can be considered the
phone number for the server, which houses the http://1gighost.com web site.
Where are all of the DNS records kept?
This is slightly more complicated, but for the purpose of this overview, we'll
try to keep it as general as possible. There are 2 basic places DNS records
reside:
International Root name servers (13 exist throughout the world)
Your domain register, where your current DNS settings reside.
When you register/purchase your domain name on a particular "registers name
server", your DNS settings are kept on their server, and in most cases point
your domain to the Name Server of your hosting provider. This Name Server is
where the IP number (currently associated with your domain name) resides.
The entire hierarchy is somewhat involved, but in short, the world Root Name
Servers can be considered the master listing of all DNS records, and there are
currently 13 of them in the world. These name servers are where all the master
DNS records are kept. The DNS server of your ISP will typically query the Root
Name Servers once every 24-hours. This is how they update all of their DNS
tables, which in turn, resolve www requests to the IP number of the server they
reside on.
Changing your Name Server settings, so your domain
points to your 1 Gig Web Hosting account:
Your "Name Server Settings" must be updated to point to your account on 1 Gig
Web Hosting. You originally purchased your domain name from a register, and this
register is where your current DNS settings reside. That is, unless you
transferred your domain name to an alternate register, in which case, you would
control your DNS settings from there.
The "Register" your domain resides on, communicates your 'current' DNS settings
with the International Root name servers, which is turn share this information
with ISP's, routers, and cache engines around the world. In essence, it's like a
worldwide directory that other computers can refer to when they want to match a
domain name with its associate IP number. This IP number is how the particular
server your website resides on is located.
The 3
to 4 day propagation period - Understanding what happens during this time
frame:
In short, patience is a virtue. Remember what we talked about earlier in this
chapter regarding the shear size and scope of the worlds DNS system? In short,
when you change your DNS settings, these new settings must propagate throughout
the worlds DNS servers. It also means that every ISP (Internet Service
Provider), must update their DNS records to reflect these new changes, which in
most cases, is done automatically every 24 hours, but not always however...
Where do the Root Name Servers
receive their information from?
The Root Name Servers will query "domain registers" several times a day. Domain
Registers, being entities such as Network Solutions, and the newer OPEN SRS
based systems. The Root Name Servers will gather this information from the many
registers now in existence, and update their master records accordingly. Now
your ISP must access the Root Name Servers, and update their DNS records, which
reside on their 'local' DNS server. This process is fully automated and most
ISP's will check the Root Name Servers for updates every 24-hours. Beware
however, that some lame ISP's will delay this process for as much as 2 to 4 days
in some cases. If that happens, it will no doubt cause additional confusion, as
everyone else will be reaching your new account on our servers except you. This
is because your ISP has not updated their DNS records, and or have not cleared
their DNS cache, which means they'll still be pointing your domain name to your
old server. If it's a new domain name you've registered, then you'll receive a
blank "Site Not Found Page."
DNS Cache and
your ISP:
There is also the issue of DNS cache, which is something we won't go into great
detail about here, but here's the short version. Every time you access a site
from your ISP, they cache the URL, as well as its associated IP number. If their
network is properly setup, these DNS cache records should "Expire" at least
every 24-hours. If they did not (which is often the case), you'll experience
this: You enter your
http://www.mydomain.com/ URL, and it keeps taking you back to your old
server account.
In a large number of cases, it's the result of an ISP who "Did Not" configure
their servers to "Expire" the DNS cache records at the appropriate intervals.
Unfortunately, this adds additional confusion to their clients, and especially
the ones whom are trying to point their domain name to a new server. Yes, it
will make you want to scream sometimes, however if you understand whom is
actually at fault, then you'll know who to scream at :)
The DNS
propagation process is not limited to ISP's!
HA.. Just when you thought you had it all figured out! Unfortunately, there's
more folks. The Internet itself must update/clear its DNS cache as well. When we
say the Internet, we mean the numerous intermediate "points of access" you're
routed through before reaching your final destination. For the most part, these
intermediate points of access consist of "Internet Routers" and "Internet
Caching Engines." These too, maintain their own DNS cache, which assists them in
routing traffic/resolving URL's to the correct destination IP's. Don't worry
though, as Internet routers are usually faster at clearing their DNS cache than
ISP's are.
What
to expect during this 2 to 4 day propagation period:
In most cases, the propagation process will take at least 48 hours to complete.
The first thing that happens is the "World Root Name Servers" will check all of
the various "Domain Registers for updates. Ok, so now the Root Name Servers have
done their job. The rest of it is up to the many ISP providers who "should be"
updating their DNS records (at least every 24 hours), but a number of them will
not.
Side
effects that can be expected during the propagation time frame:
It's perfectly normal for strange things to happen within the 48-hour
propagation period, but sometimes longer. While we could provide a full list of
all the anomalies that can occur during the DNS propagation period, we'll stick
to some of the most common scenarios that most people experience:
HELP! My friends can reach my new site, but I'm still
being directed to the OLD ONE!
This is a class case of your friends ISP (who did update their DNS records), but
yours unfortunately did not. As a result, your ISP is still pointing your domain
name to the old DNS record, which is your old hosting account. Wait a couple of
more days, and if it appears that everyone but you can access your new account,
then contact your ISP and tell them to expire their old DNS cache records.
WOW! http://www.mydomain.com was taking me to my new 1
Gig Web Hosting account just a minute ago, but when I try it now, I'm being
taken back to my old hosting account - what's up with this?
In all likelihood, your ISP may be in the process of clearing their DNS cache,
and or updating their local DNS server records. During this small interval, it's
normal to fluctuate between the new and old web site, as the old DNS records may
not have completely expired from their cache yet. Give it another several hours
and it should be fine.
HEY! My new site comes up
for me, but my friends are being directed to my old one!
Break out the coffee and donuts, and consider yourself lucky. Your ISP is on the
ball and updates DNS records/ clears DNS cache in short regular intervals. Your
friends may be using an ISP, which is not as fast, and or efficient at doing so.
The only remedy for this is time. Eventually, the other ISP's DNS cache will
expire and be replaced with the updated DNS records.
What's going on with my email? When I try to access
it, I receive a "host does not exist" or a "cannot authenticate" error message.
This can happen for a number of reasons, but in most cases, it's because your
new DNS records have not fully completed the propagation process yet.
Consequently, you may be trying to access your old email account on your "old
server", which you may have already cancelled, or it's in a state of DNS flux,
which means it points to the new server one moment, and the next, points back to
the old server.
Give it some more time and it will eventually settle down. In the meantime,
consider accessing email from your account using the WebMail based reader. If
your domain has not propagated as of yet, you can access your email account via
WebMail with your temporary url. Example:
http://12.23.36.78:2082/neomail/neomail.pl This will allow you to access
your default mailbox on your account. Replace the tempurl with the one we sent
you, and do not remove the :2082 port number in the URL.
Microsoft FrontPage will not accept a Username and
Password, or displays the error message (FrontPage Extensions Are Not
Installed).
While you should be able to access FrontPage with your associated temporary URL
(until your domain is resolving to our servers), this is not always the case.
FrontPage can behave in a number of different ways depending on which direction
the wind is blowing. In some cases, it will allow you to initiate an upload
session, but upon asking for your Username and Password, will not recognize
them. If this happens, the best thing to do is wait until your domain name is
answering to our servers. One thing we know for sure, is FrontPage will work
without much of a problem if you're using the full www.mydomain.com URL to
manage your site with. Feel free to try it with your temporary url, but we
cannot guarantee it will work.
It's been over a week. Everybody else can access my
new site except me!
Was your domain originally hosted by your ISP? If so, they may not have deleted
this entry in their DNS files. This results in you, and or anyone else accessing
the net from this "particular ISP" being directed to your old web site on their
servers. A number of ISP's forget this small detail, which can result in weeks
of utter confusion and frustration. If this is happening to you, contact your
ISP and make sure they've made the necessary changes to their DNS records.
Checking
your DNS update status (outside of your ISP):
In the event you're becoming impatient, and or are wondering if the rest of the
world outside of your ISP can access your new site, you can proxy yourself to
another network and test it there. In many cases, you'll be surprised to see
your site responding perfectly, yet when you attempt it directly from your ISP's
servers, it does not exist.
There are several services, which allow anonymous surfing across the net. While
this is not the intent here, they can be used for trouble shooting domain
resolution problems. How? Because they proxy you through their network, which
means your URL requests are controlled by "their" DNS cache records. These
services update/expire their DNS cache far more often than ISP's, which makes
them well suited for testing your domain name through a network, which operates
with the latest DNS updates across the web.
To run this check, you can try accessing your site through one of these two
services:
https://www.safeweb.com/o/_s:top.php3
http://www.anonymizer.com/
Both of them allow you to enter a URL, and proxy
your request through their servers. If your site is accessible from these
servers, then chances are, your ISP has yet to expire their old DNS cache
records.
Working on
your account during the DNS propagation period:
You can still work on your new account until your domain name finds it way to
our servers using your temporary url, which was included in your welcoming
email. Using it at this point will provide a means for you to access your
account, as well as test your new site by using something like
http://yourtempurl.com/ (obviously you'd replace it with the url we sent
you).
One easy way to check and see if your domain is answering to our servers yet, is
to create a file called "test.html" and place it in your web
directory. Keep checking the URL
http://www.yourdomain.com/test.html and see if it works. When it does,
you'll know your domain name is answering to your account on "our servers", and
has been officially transferred.
This provides a somewhat more professional look to your customers when sending
out your DNS settings in a welcoming email. In addition, if someone does a WHOIS
lookup on your domain name, it appears as your personal DNS, as opposed to the
company you're reselling for. Not really a big deal, but some webmasters do not
want to advertise the host they're reselling for, as they feel it does not
portray a professional and independent look.
Personal name servers are offered to clients whom are a part of our reseller
program. If you're not a reseller, please use the standard DNS settings we
provided you. There is no superior advantage to having your own name server
unless you're a reseller, and or a web designer who is also planning on hosting
the websites they build.
Sub-Domains and Domain Info
What is a Sub-Domain?
A sub domain is one, which resides
under your top-level domain name, but in many ways behaves as a "totally
independent domain". You'll observe that many of the larger corporations use
these, as they're somewhat more professional looking, and do a better job of
creating an independent precedence for service or product lines, which appear as
separate web entities.
Example: You're a GM dealer with a site such as GM.com. You sell everything from
Pontiac's to Cadillac's. To better organize your online presence, you could
create sub domains for your various automotive lines. These would appear as
http://pontiac.gm.com/ or
http://cadillac.gm.com/. Also note that in most cases, the domain need not
be called with the http:// or www protocol. pontiac.gm.com can be called
exactly how it appears here.
Setting up a
sub domain:
1. Click sub-domains in cpanel.
2. Next type in the name of the sub-domain you want to make.
(Note: Do not add www. or http:// this will render the sub-domain useless.)
3. Click add. The sub-domain will be added and you will get a confirmation page.
4. You have added a sub-domain.
5. If a folder already exists with the same name as the sub-domain the
sub-domain will point to the folder.
IE: folder.your-domain.com will go to your-domain.com/folder
Independent cgi-bin
All new sub domains are created with their own independent cgi-bin. This means
your new sub domain operates independently of everything else, and is almost
like having a whole new domain. Feel free to configure all cgi scripts, which
are pertinent to the functioning of this sub domain. A nice feature, as it saves
your main cgi-bin from becoming cluttered and somewhat disorganized; especially
if you utilize a lot of cgi programming.
Additional domains
added to your account.
We allow you to point multiple domains to an account. Our policy about multiple
domains is as follows:
- If secondary domain points to the primary domain such that both take a
visitor to the same place, there is no charge for setting that up.
- If secondary domain points to subdomains of primary domain such that
visitors arrive at different places within your account, then we will charge you
$2 per month for each additional domain.
Please note that you will not be able to create email and ftp accounts with
additionally pointed domains. All the emails sent to any address at additional
domains will be forwarded to your default email account of your primary domain.
Configuring Domain Email Systems:
Adding a Pop Email account:
The difference between private pop mail
accounts, and simply using the "Catch-All" method:
There are two kinds of email address's you can use, starting with the "catch
all" method:
With the catch all method, you don't have to worry about setting up individual
pop mail accounts. Simply set your email client to your "default" email address
(displayed in C-Panel), and "all" email sent to
anything@yourdomain.com will land in this box, or whatever you've set your
default address to. This is an easy way to catch all email sent to your domain.
In your Email client, feel free to configure multiple outgoing
accounts at
many-different-names@youdomain.com. It really doesn't matter, as
everything@yourdomain.com will land in the default account. Therefore,
you would configure all of your email accounts with the "same" Username and
Password as your "Default domain Email Account."
EXAMPLE: Let's say you want to receive mail from
dianne@yourdomain.com and
mark@yourdomain.com. If both of these addresses are the ones you'll be
using, then the only thing that changes is the address - the Username and
Password is "always" the same.
The pop email account method:
In this case, you configure a "private" pop email account for one or
many users who will be receiving and sending email from your domain. Once an
email address is configured as a pop mail account, it operates privately and
independently from your main standard/default mail system. Any mail sent to a
private pop mail account "can only be received" by logging into that account
with the separate username and password you have assigned it.
Your default "catch all" account will not intercept any mail being
sent to a pop mail account, which is what makes it 'private'. Pop 3 accounts are
useful if there are a number of people (for example employees) who would each
need a private email account.
This way, everyone at your company can utilize private email. The default email
address plays a slightly different role in this case: If a sender uses the
'wrong' Email name or syntax, then that message would bounce to your "default
catch all" account, and at which time, you could probably figure our who the
sender was trying to contact. They do however, have to at least send it to your
correct domain name, (i'e',
oops@youdomain.com). This would end up in your "default" mailbox.
How
to configure a pop mail account:
1. Login to C-Panel
2. Select "POP email accounts"
3. Enter an email name
4. Enter a password
5. Select "Create"
Just enter a name, (the @yourdomain part is added
automatically)
That's it, done! Your private pop 3 email account is now ready for
use. If you're a little lost on how to manually configure an email account into
your mail reader, please see the detailed tutorials on how to configure Outlook
and Netscape mail readers.
SPECIAL NOTE!
If you've enabled Sub-Domains, you'll observe a duplicate email
account appearing, which corresponds to each sub-domain you've added. Please
ignore these duplicate addresses for the time being. This is a new feature
under development and will soon enable the ability to configure email accounts
for your sub-domains. For example, if you configured support.yourdomain.com,
then you'll be able to use the address
mailto:tom@support.canada6000.com.
For the time being, please configure email address's that correspond
to your "regular" domain, and just ignore the sub-domain
duplicates. ALSO: Any duplicate sub-domain email address's you see appearing
in your pop mail setup configuration "DO NOT" count towards your allocated
number of pop mail boxes we've provided. In short, just ignore them for now :-)
Setting Your Default Email
Address:
It appears pretty simple, but read through this documentation, as this
controls much more that you'd expect. As mentioned in the previous chapter,
your "default email address" is the one, which can be used as a "catch all", or
in other words, to "catch all mail", which is addressed to
anything@yourdomain.com. Using a catch all can be a blessing and sometimes a
curse.
The "catch all" is excellent if you have a high frequency of people
whom mistype your email address, as these addresses (even though mistyped), will
simply be bounced to your "catch all" or "default" email account. That is,
providing they at least managed to spell your domain name properly :)
If you're not planning on using multiple "private email boxes", then
you can keep life very simple - just configure the default email address in your
mail reader and leave it at that. This way, you'll receive everything sent to
your domain. There are indeed pro's and con's to this method, which will be
discussed in this tutorial.
Setting your
default/catch all email account:
Note: By default, or until you
change it, the default email address will be the same as your "login name."
1. Login to C-Panel
2. Select "Default Address"
3. Enter a desired default email address
Enter the complete address.
Select "Submit" and you'll see a
confirmation box, which displays your new default email address. That's it-
done!
Remember:
In order to
receive mail, which finds its way into your "Default Mailbox", you must
configure the default address in your mail reader. If you don't, then all mail,
which bounces to this address will sit on the server unread. This is easy to do
in Outlook Express, as it allows you to configure and monitor multiple email
accounts. Email readers such as Netscape on the other hand, are limited to
"one" email account. Actually, you could re-configure your mail reader to check
your default email box every few days, but who wants to be bothered with that
trouble? We suggest using an email reader, which allows you to configure
multiple email accounts.
The Webmail Alternative:
You can also check your default email account, or another other mail
account by logging into it through the "WebMail" interface. Simply select the "WebMail"
icon at the bottom of C-panel, and log in to it using your "Main
Account" Username and Password. This will allow to to check your
default email box, as well as other mailboxes without having to configure them
in your mail reader. In fact, using any pop accounts "Username and Password"
will log you into that particular account through the "WebMail" interface.
The downside of enabling "Catch All":
Problems can sometimes arise when Spammers or junk mailers use this feature as a
means to pump their trash into your mailbox. As long as the "catch all" is
enabled, then all they must do is send to
whatever@yourdomain.com and it will reach you.
On the other hand, if you're using "specific pop email accounts", you
could opt to disable the "catch all", which would mean that "only visitors or
associates who you've given a specific address to" can send mail to a particular
email account on your domain.
In this case, everything else, (that you have not configured as a pop
mail account) is bounced back to the sender. In our opinion, we suggest leaving
your "catch all" enabled for the time being. If Spammers begin sending random
junk messages using
anything@yourdomain.com, then you can disable your "catch all" feature.
Disabling your "Catch All Feature"
Instead of entering a syntax legal name, use illegal syntax, which will
effectively disable your email "catch all." For example, using characters, which
are known as 'illegal' to the email system such as (>>>????)
will work just fine. These are characters, which cannot be used in an email
address, which in effect, will render the "Catch All" feature useless. Go to
your "change default email address" and add something like the above as default
name.
What happens now?
When Spammy or Jimmy junk mailer attempts to use a random email address to Spam
you, it will be bounced back to them. That is, unless they happen to get a hold
of one of your "legitimate pop email account names", in which case, you'd have a
different problem on your hands. Yes, you could either deal with it, or change
the address.
Here is what now happens to a sender using
anything@yourdomain.com :
This is what the sender would receive. Please note that a classic, but annoying
junk mail example is being used here:
This message was created automatically by mail delivery
software (Exim).
A message that you sent has not yet been delivered to one or more of its
recipients after more than 24 hours on the queue on
yourdomain.com.
The message identifier is: 14m7gv-0007gl-00
The date of the message is: Mon, 04 June 2001 01:23:02 -0400
The subject of the message is: MAKE MILLIONS
FAST!
The address to which the message has not yet been delivered is:
anything@yourdomain.com
Delay reason: error in alias file /etc/valiases/anything@yourdomain.com:
missing or malformed local part (expected word or "<") in "******>>>"
(Bad email syntax)
No action is required on your part. Delivery attempts will continue for
some time, and this warning may be repeated at intervals if the message
remains undelivered. Eventually the mail delivery software will give up,
and when that happens, the message will be returned to you.
So what actually happened here?
When the "Catch All" email address (******>>>@yourdomain.com),
attempted to process an incoming message from
anything@yourdomain.com, and then forward the (junk message
in this case) to the "catch all/Default" email address, it freaked out, and said
forget it!! The default email address was set to ******>>> in this case, which
is clearly an email address using "illegal characters", so the sending process
was aborted. Therefore, the mail system bounced back the above error message to
the sender. There are numerous tricks and special recipes you can 'manually'
write into the Unix email system for doing essentially the same thing, however
through C-Panel, this would certainly seem the easiest way of accomplishing the
task.
Configuring Email Auto Responder's
What is an Email Auto Responder?
Email auto responders will automatically send a customized auto response (that
you compose) to any visitor whom emails the address configured with one. More
specifically, automated responses are sometimes used to send additional
information about your service or product by having a visitor email something
like
moreinfo@yourdomain.com. In most other cases, they are used to send a
'courtesy reply' to anyone whom sends a query to your companies main email
address. When visitors email this address, they recieve a response such as:
Thanks for contacting our company! Someone will be returning a response to your
question soon. If you require immediate assistance, please call 555-222-1212.
Thanks!), and so forth.
There are two types of Auto Responders:
The silent Auto Responder:
In this case, you configure the responder to send the desired information when
it's emailed, however you 'do not' receive copies of the
inquiries that people originally sent. This method is typically used if you
have a product and want people to email an address for additional information on
it. You simply tell them to email
moreinfo@yourdomain.com, and they receive additional information on it.
Again, you 'will not' receive receipts of the visitors emailing the auto
responder. If you want to do this, please read the next paragraph.
The Auto Responder that sends you the original
inquiry:
In this case, the auto responder is setup to work with a (currently
configured pop email account). Now, the sender receives your automated
response, and you receive their 'original inquiry'.
How to setup an Auto Responder:
1. login to C-panel
2. Select "Auto Responders"
3. Enter the "Email Address" to send the auto
response
4. Enter a "From" name, (for example, my
company)
5. Enter a "Subject", (for example, thank you)
6. Enter your message in the "Body" area
Select "Add"
and that's it! Your auto
responder is now online. To test it, email its address and see if you receive
the auto response. If you've configured it to an existing pop mail account, you
should receive 2 responses. The first, which is your inquiry, (that you just
sent to yourself), and the second, which will be the automated response.
Remember! If you want to receive the "Incoming
Inquiries" in addition to sending the automated response, then add an email
address, which is "already" configured as a "pop email account." If you
"do not" wish to receive the original incoming inquiry, then simply enter a
name, which "Is Not" configured as one of your existing pop mail accounts.
If at anytime you want to update, edit, or delete an auto response, simply go
back into "Auto responders" and you'll see the current responders configured, as
well as options beside each of them to change or delete.
Blocking Unwanted Email Messages:
From time to time, you may experience either a junk mailer or some
other menacing individual whom keeps sending you annoying email messages.
C-Panel has a built in feature, which allows you to block these email messages
in a multitude of different ways. You can block them by:
- Sender
- Subject
- Message Header
- Message Body
Of course, if all you want to do is block one specific email address, then you
don't have to worry about getting fancy with it - just enter the email address
to be blocked, and that's it, done!
How to use the block email function:
1. Login to C-Panel
2. Select "Spam Filters"
3. Select "Add Filter"
If all you want to do is block a single email address, then simply
leave the "current default setting" as is, and enter in the email address to be
blocked. For example, From | Equals | |
annoying-nolife@nothingbettertodo.com Click "Add",
and that's it!
When you click "Back" or login to this feature next time, you'll see the list of
email address's, and or expressions you've blocked. Beside each one of them will
be a "Delete" option, so that you can remove the block from your account at a
future time. NOTE: When you block an email address, or some
other keyword, this filtering will be enabled on "All Email Accounts" within
your domain.
Advanced Blocking:
For those of who whom experience frequent problems with junk email messages,
you'll be please to see this option provides a broad range of blocking options.
Instead of having us try to explain every last one of them here, this is a
feature you'll really want to experiment with yourself.
Doing so, will allow you to become familiar with the ways that email
can be blocked, and will also help you with customizing a recipe that works best
for your domain. Play around with the settings, and try to block words, or
phrases based on the From Name, Subject, or Message Body Text. Now, send an
email to your account and see if the terms and criteria you selected are
providing the filtering you want.
It may take a little time to master, but it's fun, and a great way to broaden
your abilities on web site administration. FINAL NOTE: If
you're totally new to email blocking, and wish to explore its full potential, we
highly suggest you test it before launching your site. This way, you don't have
to worry about accidentally disrupting email for your entire domain.
Hint: Unless you're 100% sure of what a setting will
do, always delete it when you're finished, or until you have time to run a
series of tests on it. You want to ensure it's blocking what it's supposed to,
and not legitimate email messages!
A big junk mail problem:
If you're experiencing a high volume of junk mail, then there's a good
possibility Spammers are taking advantage of your "catch all" option. To disable
this, please see our tutorial on "Default Email Address."
Email Forwarding:
Email forwarding is a feature, which forwards an email that originated
from your domain, to another email address. The forwarding address can be
another email address within 'your domain', or to an 'external email' address,
(for example to your home ISP email account). There are two types of email
forwarding:
Forward silently to another address:
In this case, the email address from your domain (setup for forwarding) will
divert all messages to the forwarding address you've selected, and without
sending you a copy of the original message. For example,
you@yourdomain.com will automatically forward all messages to
you@mindspring.com. Pretty straight forward. (no pun intended).
Forward to another address, but also send you the
"original inquirey":
This is the method most commonly used. For example, you have two other partners
who wish to receive all incoming inquiries to the company. Perhaps you're the
one who responds to them, but your counterparts would like copies of the
incoming activity as well. The method for accomplishing this is pretty well the
same as above, except in this case you would configure one of your "existing pop
email accounts", as that is how you'd receive a copy of the original incoming
message.
Example: When
General@company.com (your companies main address) is mailed, you would
typically be the only one to receive the response, however if you've configured
forwards for your two counterparts (Bob and Mary), then
bob@doodles.com and
mary@yourdomain.com could also receive a copy of the incoming messages.
How to setup a mail forward:
1. Login to C-Panel
2. Select "Forwarders"
3. Enter a configured pop email account name if you
want to recieve original inquiries. (Enter a none configured email address
if you do not)
4. Enter the email address you want it to relay a
copy of the message to
5. Select "Add "
All messages will now be forwarded to
the forwarding address, and with a copy sent to you
Need to Forward to more
than one person?
Simply repeat the above process using the same address you've setup as
the forward, and enter the additional recipients you would like to send a copy
of the message to. All email forwards will be listed in your "Email Forwarder"
administrator. You can delete forwards when you no longer require them,
Testing your forward.
If you want to test your new mail forward, it's recommended that the email
account you're testing from "is not" one of the accounts you're using in
conjunction with the forwarder you've just setup. For example, if you've
configured
harry@yourdomain.com to forward copies to
bob@doodles.com and
mary@yourdomain.com, then send a test message from an email address, other
than one of the addresses you've just setup, otherwise it can somewhat confusing
in figuring out which message was coming from the actual forward, and which was
the original sent from you.
Accessing your
mail through the web based interface
C-Panel extends the versatility of its email
system by allowing you to access any one of your email accounts through its own
web mail interface. You have the choice of accessing all mail through the web,
or any of your private pop email accounts. Gone are the days of having to create
several email accounts on various free html based mail systems, as now you have
your own, which operates from "your account."
Accessing your mail through the web mail
interface:
1. Login to C-Panel
2. Select "POP email accounts"
Beside the email account you wish to access, click the
envelope icon button. A username and password prompt will appear, and are the
same as the username and password you created with that particular account.
NOTE: Remember to use the "full' email address as the account login
name for the account you're accessing.
The first screen you'll see:
If it's the first time you're accessing this email account through WebMail, a
setup screen appears. Actually, all this really does is display how you'll be
identifying yourself in email messages. Everything is pretty much the same as
what you setup the "original pop mail account" with, however check it closely
and make sure everything is appearing as you want it.
Does everything look correct?
If so, then click "Save" and a dialog box pops up, which confirms your settings
as being saved successfully. Click "Continue" and
you'll be taken to your WebMail inbox. To the top left of the screen, you'll
observe the following icons. Clicking on any one of them will do the
following.
Notes:
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Compose a new message |
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Refresh the screen |
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View user preferences |
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Open address book |
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View or add new folders |
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Empty your trash folder |
To delete or move a message, select the small box beside it. Select
where you which to place it using the drop down menu (top right of screen), then
click "Move".
- Open address book, allows you to add
and edit email address's . You can also export your
Outlook or Netscape Address Book, which equips your account with all
the email address's you currently use.
Reading mail through
neomail without cpanel
Logging in to your main e-mail account.
1. You can login to your main (default) e-mail account by going to
Your-domain.com/webmail/
(Please note the last slash.)
2. Type in your account's username and password.
3. You should now be logged into your main e-mail account.
Logging into POP e-mail accounts.
1. Go to Your-domain.com/webmail/ (Note the last slash)
2. Type in your POP account's user name and @your-domain.com
(Note: if you do not add @your-domain.com you will not get in. IE:
popaccount@your-domain.com)
3. Type in your POP account's password.
4. That's it. You have logged in to your POP account.
Cpanel Goodies
How to change your password:
1. Click domain password in cpanel
2. Type in your old password (The one you're changing) in the top field.
3. Type in your new password in the second field. Retype in your new password in
the last field.
4. Click submit.
5. Click main.
6. You will be asked to login.
7. Type in your username and your new password.
8. You have now changed your password.
How to password protect
your directories:
Find and Click on "Password protect directories" in your Control Panel.
You will see a list of all the folders that are in your public_html
directory. Click on the name of the folder if that is the one you need to
protect. OR click on the folder icon to go into the folder. For example, in your
case, you will click on Folder Icon of "Shop" folder. and then click on the name
of the folder once you find it. In your case, again, it will be "admin", click
on the name.
On the next page, you will see three boxes. The first box says "Allow access
only to authorized users". In this box, check the box next to where it says
"Directory requires a password to access via the web". Then enter a name for
your protected area in the text box. Both of these are necessary. Then click
"Submit".
Click the back button on your browser and then click "refresh". This will
bring you back to the page with three boxes. Now you will need to add users who
are authorized to access this folder. This is done in the second box, which says
"Add/modify authorized user". Enter a username and a password and then click
submit.
That is it. You can now access that folder using your browser and it should
ask you for a username and password, you will need to use the username and
password you entered in step 3.
How to install Frontpage
Extensions:
1. Installing FrontPage Extensions is very easy. First login to your
Cpanel.
2. Click FrontPage Extensions.
3. Click (re)install Extensions.
4. You should see a confirm page saying that FrontPage Extensions are now
installed.
5. If you get an error you will need to e-mail
support.
6. If all goes well you can now upload using FrontPage.
How to Backup Your Files:
The first and easiest way get a backup is in
Cpanel.
1. Click 'Download backup file'.
2. Next click 'Download'.
3. Your backup file will start to download. If
all goes well you will now have a backup of all your files.
The second way to make a backup is to login into
SSH and make a tar file you can download.
1. Login to a SSH program (Please see
Configuring SecureCRT or
Configuring Putty for info on logging into your user account via SSH. )
2. Next type in tar -cpf username.tar * (Note:
replace 'username' with your actual username.)
3. You have made a tar file of all your files.
You can now download the tar file via FTP.
(Please see
Configuring Cute FTP or
Configuring
WSFTP on how to setup FTP for your account.)
4. You now have a backup of all your files.
Helpful
Tutorials
How to chmod:
There are many ways to chmod (aka change permissions).
The First Way: Cpanel.
1. Login to cpanel and click file manager.
2. Clink the name of the file or folder you want to chmod.
3. A small box will appear in the top left corner.
4. Click change permissions. There will be a series of check boxes.
5. Check the boxes to change the appropriate permissions (Note: typing in the
number will not work, only checking the boxes will.)
6. Click Submit. That's it. You have chmoded the file or folder.
The Second Way: Ftp.
There are many different Ftp programs and each have their own why of chmoding.
We will use ws_ftp for the manual.
1. Login to your account and click the file you want to chmod
2. Right click the file you want to chmod and select 'chmod (unix)'
3. Check the boxes that will make it change permissions to what you want.
4. Click o.k. You have changed the permissions on the file or folder.
The Third Way: SSH.
1. Login to your account and 'cd' to the directory the file or folder you want
to chmod is in.
2. Type in ' chmod xxx file.ext ' without the quotes.
3. Replace xxx with the permissions code you want and replace file.ext with the
file you want to chmod (IE: index.htm)
4. Press enter. You have changed the permissions on the file or folder.
MySQL database
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Step one |
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To begin you need to create your database. To do
this click "Add/Remove MySQL databases" under "Server" in cpanel. |
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Step two |
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To create your database go to the area named
"Create MySQL databases". Then go to the text box (see right) and type in
the name for your database.
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Step three |
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Once you have your database created you need to
create some users to access it. You can do this by going to the area "Create
MySQL users". Go to the textboxes and type in your desired username and
password.
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Step four |
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Okay, even though you have created your user you
need to add it to the database you made. The handy thing about all this is
that you can add the same user to multiple databases or add multiple users
to the same database.
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Some more points... |
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Databases and users are given a prefix. If you
choose to name a database test then it will be created as username_test .
This is to make sure that each database and user cannot be duplicated on the
server. Tables created within the databases, however, do not have this
prefix.
The databases can be accessed by your
scripts. This codes can be seen at the top of the MySQL page under the area
"Existing MySQL databases". To see more MySQL documentation you can go to
http://mysql.com/ . or you can try
http://www.mysql.org/ . At mysql.org, click on the documentation button.
The documentation is tarred and gziped. You can extract the html
documentation files using a shareware program called WinRAR, which you can
download for free from
http://www.rarsoft.com/
You can also access your databases using
phpMyAdmin. This is a web based control panel for your database and can be
used to create tables, etc. Databases can not be added or removed here and
neither can users. Documentation for this is accessible in phpMyAdmin.
You can also get lots of advice from other users in our
support forums.
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Interchange Shopping Cart
Unfortunately, we can't provide any customized help with
the Interchange Shopping Cart at this time either. For detailed documentation on
Interchange, you can go to
http://interchange.redhat.com/ .
However, please don't contact interchange directly about any problems that you
might be having with your shopping cart. They won't provide any direct support
to you. Try our
support forums instead, or you can do a search through newsgroup postings at
http://www.deja.com/ for issues with interchange
.
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