Congratulations and thank you for purchasing your hosting account from The Ignite hosting. Here is how to get started with your web hosting account. Please read these steps carefully before contacting us with any questions. Throughout this tutorial, please replace all references to yourdomain.co.nz with the full domain name for your account.
Configuring Your Domain Name
if you elected for us to register your domain, we will point it to the correct server for you. If you did not register your domain with us or are transferring your domain to us, you will need to set the primary and secondary server hostnames as described in your Welcome email.
Most domain registrars provide you with a place to login and manage your domain's name servers. If you don't know how to do that or do not have a place to login and manage your domain, please contact the place where you registered your domain from and tell them to change your domains name servers to ours. If your domain name has a .nz extension, then you can also transfer the domain over to us, and then we can make the required modifications. If you would to do this, then all we require is the UDAI for the domain name - this should have been supplied when you first registered your domain name, and can also be requested from your existing registrar at any time.
NOTE: After changing name servers or registering a new domain name, it will take at LEAST 12 hours before you will be able to see your domain by going to http://www.yourdomain.co.nz/. This process normally takes between 12-72 hours. This delay, referred to as a DNS propagation delay, occurs with all hosts and is outside of our control. During this period, you may also experience intermittent connection to your domain. That is, it may become available, then disappear again a few hours later. This is also an artifact of the DNS propagation and will typically resolve itself within a few days after assigning the new name servers.
Until your domain fully resolves (1-3 days from the time you changed it) you will NOT be able to do the following:
- View your domain at http://www.yourdomain.co.nz/
- Check your mail (POP3, SMTP and Webmail will NOT work)
- Publish using Front Page extensions.
If You Are Transferring Your Web Hosting From An ISP...
If your existing hosting account is with an internet service provider (e.g. Xtra, TelstaClear, Ihug, Paradise), then it is critical that you contact them to let them know you are changing to a different web hosting provider. This needs to be done so that your ISP removes the "DNS zone record" for your domain. If your ISP still has a DNS zone record for your domain, then when you connect to the internet and try to collect email or modify your site, it will only look at the account with your ISP and not the rest of the internet. So although anybody connecting with any other ISP will be directed to your site on the new server, you (and anybody else connected to that ISP) will still only be able to "see" the site on the existing server. In our experience, with Xtra in particular, you need to not only cancel your account with them, but specifically request that they "remove the DNS zone record for your domain".
Creating Your Web Pages
If you don't already have a web site, and are wanting to build your own, you will probably need some HTML authoring software. There many such programs available on the internet. A few recommendations for varying budgets are listed below:
- HomeSite - A powerful and relatively inexpensive package that's good for simple and advanced sites alike.
- Dreamweaver MX - The gold standard in web authoring software. It's somewhat pricey, but if you're serious about making a sophisticated web site quickly and easily, Dreamweaver comes highly recommended.
For more alternatives, check out download.com. Of course if you're prepared to learn HTML, you can also just use a program like Notepad or Text pad to make your web pages.
Front page Extensions
By default, Front page Extensions are enabled on all accounts. If you don't intend to use Front page to create your web site, then we recommend uninstalling the Front page Extensions from your account. You can do this via your Panel, by clicking on the Front page Extensions icon, and clicking the "Uninstall Extensions" button. Uninstalling Front page Extensions will clean up your public _html directory considerably (it will remove the directories _ private, _vt i_bin, Vatican etc), and save your account some disk space.
The Unix file system is Case-Sensitive
As our servers run the Linux operating system, the files is case-sensitive. Therefore, it is important that any hyperlinks or references to images, scripts, directories etc in your HTML match those of the files they refer to.
Uploading Your Files
Once you've got your website ready, you can upload it onto our servers.
Despite the fact that you will not be able to access your domain via its name immediately after signing up, you can already start uploading your files onto the server. Once your domain name starts pointing to our servers, your site can already be set to go. Below are step by step instructions on how to FTP your files.
| 1. |
Run your favourite FTP program (if you don't already have one, we recommend AceFTP) |
| 2. |
In the FTP program, set the FTP Host (the box labelled Host: in AceFTP) to ftp.yourdomain.co.nz. Alternatively, if your domain name has not yet resolved you can set it to ftp.yourdomain.ignitehosting.biz. |
| 3. |
Type in your username (the box labelled ID: in AceFTP) and password (the box labelled P/W: in AceFTP). Your username and password can be found in your Welcome email. |
| 4. |
Click the connect button or just push Enter. Some FTP programs may ask for a directory path or something similar, you should be able to just leave this blank or enter just "/". |
| 5. |
In most FTP programs, you should see the files/directories on your computer in one window and the files/directories associated with your account on ther server in another window. In AceFTP, the files on your computers are on the left and the files on the server are on the right. |
| 6. |
In the server window, you should open the "public_html" folder. This is where all files that you wish to be made visible on your website should be uploaded. |
| 7. |
Upload your files to the server by dragging them from your computer onto the server. Be sure that you have created a file called "index.html" or "index.htm". This file is your home page and will be viewed by default at your website (i.e. when you got ot http://www.yourdomain.co.nz/ in your web browser). Also be sure all letters are lowercase (for example Index.html is not the same as index.html). If the public_html directory does not contain a file named index.html or index.htm, a directory listing of your files will appear on your website by default. |
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Until your domain name has fully resolved, you can access your webpages at http://yourdomain.ignitehosting.biz |
Setting Up Your Email Account(s)
Email directed at your domain name can be received in a number of different ways. How you wish to receive your email will depend on your own personal requirements and preferences. The instructions for the various configurations described below should cover virtually all possible scenarios. Please remember that you won't be able to receive mail directed at your domain name until the DNS has fully propagated.
A. Receiving mail from your "catch-all" or "wildcard" email. The "catch-all" account will catch all mail directed at your domain for which there isn't a specific POP3 account set up already (see B. below for setting up specific POP3 accounts). By default, a catch-all email account is set up on all new accounts. To check this mail from a conventional email client, such as Outlook Express, follow the instructions below:
| 1. |
Open your email client and add a new account. In Outlook Express new accounts are added by going to the Accounts option in the Tools menu, selecting the "Mail" tab and clicking Add --> Mail. |
| 2. |
Enter the display name and email address (the email address should be in the format someone@yourdomain.co.nz). |
| 3. |
Set both the incoming (POP3) and outgoing (SMTP) servers to mail.yourdomain.co.nz. If applicable, set the server type to POP3. If your DNS has not yet fully propagated you will not get mail delivered until it has. |
| 4. |
Set the username and password for your account as provided in your welcome email. In Outlook Express make sure the "Log on using Secure Password Authentication" option is unchecked. |
| 5. |
In Outlook Express, the create account wizard is now finished, however, there is one more option we need to address. Go to the Tools --> Accounts menu item and select the account you just created and click "Properties", then select the "Servers" tab. |
| 6. |
Check the "My server requires authentication" box and click "Settings". |
| 7. |
Select the "Log on using" option and enter your account's username and password as you did in step 4. |
| 8. |
Finally, in Outlook Express, just click Okay or Close on each window and you should be ready to go. |
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Your "catch-all" account can also be checked through Webmail. To do this, simply go to http://yourdomain.co.nz/webmail and enter your username and password. There are three alternative Webmail interfaces: Squirrelmail, Neomail and Horde. Each essentially does the same thing and which you choose really depends on personal preference.
Note: Catch-all accounts can be abused and become big spam traps. If you do not wish to receive email in your catch-all account you can deactivate it by setting the Default Address setting in Cpanel to :blackhole:.
| 1. |
Log in to the site admin control panel at the temporary URL in your welcome email. |
| 2. |
Click the "Mail" icon. |
| 3. |
Select the "Add / Remove Accounts" link. |
| 4. |
This shows a list of your current email addresses. Initially one address should appear there - this is your "catch-all" email account. Note: the "catch-all" account cannot be removed, but it can be blocked or re-routed (see C. below). |
| 5. |
Type the username you would like for your email account. For example if you want the email address "webmaster@yourdomain.co.nz" you would create a user called "webmaster". Create a password and click "Create". You have just created a POP3 Email account. You can check it using webmail or a POP3 email client: |
| 6. |
To check your account with webmail, simply go to http://yourdomain.co.nz/webmail and enter the full email address as the username (e.g. username@yourdomain.co.nz) and the associated password. |
| 7. |
To check your account with an email client, follow the instructions exactly as for setting up a "catch-all" account, except in step 4, set the username as the full email address that you set up in CPanel (e.g. username@yourdomain.co.nz) and set the corresponding password appropriately. Note: the username and password for server authentication in step 7 should still be set as those for your main account. So, for clarity, to summarise the settings for a separate pop email account: |
To check your account with an email client, follow the instructions exactly as for setting up a "catch-all" account, except in step 4, set the username as the full email address that you set up in CPanel (e.g. username@yourdomain.co.nz) and set the corresponding password appropriately. Note: the username and password for server authentication in step 7 should still be set as those for your main account. So, for clarity, to summarise the settings for a separate pop email account:
Incoming mail server: mail.yourdomain.co.nz
Account Username: username@yourdomain.co.nz
Password: as set up in Cpanel
Outgoing mail server: mail.yourdomain.co.nz
Username: your main account username - i.e. that used to login to Cpanel/FTP
Password: that of your main account - i.e. that used to login to Cpanel/FTP
Note: the username in both webmail and your email client is case-sensitive and should be entered in all lowercase characters.
C. Forwarding all email for your domain to an existing account. You may wish to simply forward any mail directed to yourdomain.co.nz to an existing email account. If you choose to do this, you will not need to make any changes to the settings in your email client.
| 1. |
Login to the site admin control panel at the temporary URL in your welcome email if your domain name has not yet fully propagated. |
| 2. |
Click the "Mail" icon. |
| 3. |
Select the "Default Address" link. |
| 4. |
Click on "Set Default Address" |
| 5. |
Select your domain name in the drop-down menu on the left, then in the box to the right, enter the email address you would like the mail forwarded to. |
| 6. |
Click on "Change". Once your domain name has fully resolved you will be able to test if you've done it correctly simply by sending some email to anything@yourdomain.co.nz |
D. Forwarding email directed at different addresses to various existing accounts. You may wish to forward email directed at different addresses of yourdomain.co.nz to different people. e.g. webmaster@yourdomain.co.nz may go directly to webdude@myisp.com and sales.co.nz directly to mrsales@anotherisp.com. This can be set up using the instructions below:
| 1. |
Log in to the site admin control panel at http://yourdomain.co.nz/cpanel/ (or http://yourdomain.ignitehosting.biz/cpanel if your domain name has not yet fully propagated). |
| 2. |
Click the "Mail" icon. |
| 3. |
Select the "Forwarders" link. This page will list all forwarders set up for your account. |
| 4. |
Click on "Add Forwarder" |
| 5. |
Enter the name of the address in the left box (e.g. webmaster) and enter the full destination email address in the right box (e.g. webdude@myisp.com). |
| 6. |
Click the "Add Forwarder" button. After the forwarder has been created, you can follow the "Go Back" link to check that it has been created correctly. Any changes made are effective immediately, so you should be able to test if the forwarder is working by sending an email to the new address. |
Note: 1. Individual POP3 accounts should not be created for addresses that are being forwarded. Doing so, will result in messages being both forwarded and stored on the server. 2. Multiple forwarders can be set up for the same email address to allow the same mail to be sent to multiple addresses.
A Quick Word About Spam
One of the nastier artefacts of the internet revolution is spam. We've all seen it and we all hate it. As with most diseases, the best defence is prevention. If you have just registered your domain name, its associated addresses can be kept clean of spam by following a few simple precautions.
| 1. |
Try to use your main email address (i.e. yourname@yourdomain.co.nz) only for emailing known contacts. For signing up for services, catalogues or anything where your address will end up on a mailing list, use an alternate address (e.g. othermail@yourdomain.co.nz). You can still set up forwarders so that this mail still ends up going to your main email address, or alternatively just use your catch-all account. Consequently, using alternate addresses need not be any extra hassle to collect. If one of these companies ever distributes, loses, or abuses the mailing list, you can simply put a block on that address, and your main email address is left intact. |
| 2. |
Never put your main email address on your website, unless it has been obfuscated. An unobfuscated email address displayed on the internet will ultimately be picked up by spam bots (which are automated scripts sent out by spammers to hunt for email addresses). As you will know, once your address is on a spam list, it will never be removed and the waves of spam will keep coming. There are many articles available on the internet describing various techniques for obfuscating email addresses. A couple of good examples are: alistapart.com/articles/spam/ and javascriptkit.com/script/script2/antispamemail.shtml. Alternatively, try a Google search on "email address obfuscation" or "email address hide". |
If your email address has already been "poisoned", then you could consider blocking it and trying the above guidelines on a new address. If this isn't an option, you can activate SpamAssassin in your account's control panel, which does a pretty respectable job of filtering out the garbage.
If you have more questions, remember to check out our FAQ, which addresses many of the most common problems that our customers encounter. |
