Dezina.com - Web Hosting User Manual
| This online manual has been created to
assist users who have simple queries about using their account. If you
have a problem, please read through this manual to see if it solves the
problem before submitting a helpdesk request. *** NEW*** FLASH Tutorials are also available HERE |
| Account Basics |
| Uploading Files |
| Using CGI |
| Setting up and using sub-domains |
| Setting up email accounts |
|
| Account Basics |
| Username & Passwords |
| These are stated in the first paragraph of
the welcoming email. Until you change them, they're 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 |
| If you've just signed up to Dezina, 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 you 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 "IP" number until you can
verify your domain is actually answering to your new account on the
Dezina servers.
The IP we've provided you will soon be registered to your domain
name. Until such time as your domain is officially answering to
our servers, you can use your new IP to access and setup your web site.
For example, if your assigned IP was 66.78.6.147, your welcoming email
would provide the URL http://66.78.6.147 as an option for accessing your
new account. Again, it's a great way to test all those features and
make sure everything is functioning smoothly before launching your web
to the world |
| Accessing CPanel3 |
| To access your C-Panel account manager, you
can login into it with: http://www.mydomain.com/cpanel/ (For name based accounts) or http://***.74.***.26/~username/cpanel/ (For IP-less accounts, but, CHANGE the IP number to the one we sent you) Again, if your domain name is not pointing to our servers yet, calling it with your IP will enable access to your account. |
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| Uploading Files |
| Where to upload your files |
| 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. |
| Uploading via FTP |
| Enter the below details into your FTP program
then click connect. To upload a file, double click or drag a file from
your computer into the relevant directory. FTP Host Address: www.mydomain.com FTP Site Username: Your main system login name FTP Site Password: Your main system password |
| The web file system |
| In every directory you wish to access via
your browser, you must create an index page. When you access your site by calling it as http://www.mydomain.com or the assigned IP (for example), http:// 216.74.122.26/, 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/file.html If it can't find index.html, it will simply list "your entire web directory" to everyone that access's it, which is a MAJOR security risk! ALWAYS, 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" of 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. |
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| Using CGI |
| 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. |
| The path to root directory |
| The path to your root directory is:
/home/username/ Obviously, substitute "username" with the login you were assigned when you first received your account details. Also, keep in mind that when you configure your CGI, that your /public_html is included in your path. For instance, if you have a guestbook.pl script in your /cgi-bin, the exact physical path to that file is: /home/username/public_html/cgi-bin/guestbook.pl |
| 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 up 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 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 |
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| Setting up and using sub-domains |
| 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 |
| Thanks to CPanel3, this task has been made
easier than ever and can be achieved as follows: 1. Login to CPanel3 2. Select Sub Domains 3. Enter the name of your new sub domain 4. Hit "Add" That's it! Your new sub domain is now ready for use. To find it, login to your "main web directory" through CPanel3 by selecting "files" or simply use your favorite FTP client. You'll see it residing as another directory. Upload your files to this directory just as you would with any other. For example, if you created pontiac, then a directory called pontiac is what you'll be looking for. |
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| Setting up email accounts |
| Adding a POP account |
| 1. Login to CPanel3 2. Select "Add/Remove accounts" 3. Select "Add Account" 4. Enter an email name 5. Select "Create" Just enter a name, (the @yourdomain part is added automatically) 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 tom@support.yourdomain.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. |
| Using 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. 1. Login to CPanel3 2. Select "Default Address" 3. Select "Set Default Email Address" 4. Enter a desired default email address Just enter a name, (the @yourdomain part is added automatically) Select "Change" 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. |
| Setting up autoresponders |
| 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
. 1. login to CPanel3 2. Select "Auto Responders" 3. Select "Add Auto Responder" 4. Enter the "Email Address" to send the auto response 5. Enter a "From" name, (for example, my company) 6. Enter a "Subject", (for example, thank you) 7. Enter your message in the "Body" area Select "Create" 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. |
| Setting up email filters |
| From time to time, you may experience either
a junk mailer or some other menacing individual whom keeps sending you
annoying email messages. CPanel3 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! 1. Login to CPanel3 2. Select "Block an Email" 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, annoying-nolife@nothingbettertodo.com Click "Add Filter" , and that's it done! 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! |
| Setting up 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 inquiry": 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. 1. Login to CPanel3 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 Forward" All messages will now be forwarded to the forwarding address, and with a copy sent to you. |
| Accessing your email via webmail |
| CPanel3 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." 1. Login to CPanel3 2. Select "Add Remove Accounts" Beside the email account you wish to access, Select the "Read WebMail" 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. |
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