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Getting Started- Helpful Links
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Getting StartedAfter your new account has been opened, you will receive an email containing the following information to get you started working with and configuring your site.
DNS Server Names & IP Addresses - Allows you to change your name servers at the registrar. You will need to provide this information to the company from whom the domain name was purchased in order for the domain to resolve properly to our servers. See Changing Your DNS Settings below.
Username & Password to access Cpanel
Link to CPanel - this is a ip url that allows you to begin uploading and working with your site while waiting for your domain name to resolve
Mail Server Address - to set up your mail via POP3 and SMTP
Link to Helikas Client Area - Access receipts, order a new account, contact Helikas
When you purchase a domain name, the domain name resolves to an ip address (00.000.00.00) on the domain name server so that it is registered and no one else can purchase that exact domain name. When you purchase a host plan for that domain name, you will need to update the domain name server (dns) settings. DNS settings tell a browser "this domain name resolves to this ip address" which enables people to type your domain name into their browser and see your site. The settings can only be changed through the company from which you purchases the domain. After purchasing a Helikas host plan, you will receive an email that lists the changes you will need to make to your dns settings.
Once those settings have been changed, the registering company automatically updates the dns server. Now it is a matter of waiting for your internet service provider (isp) to update their information from the dns server, this can take up to 72 hours or possibly longer depending on how often your isp updates. But this doesn't mean that you can't work on uploading your site and getting it ready for the public.
While you are waiting for your isp to resolve the new settings, your new account email will contain the actual ip address (temproary web path) that your site will resolve to so that you can begin work on your site. You can check if your isp has updated its data by typing your domain name into a browser address bar.
CPanel URL: http://your_domain_name.com/cpanel
At Helikas we use the website administration tool CPanel. This is a very user friendly application which allows you to: upload files, create email addresses, check email, and like a hundred other things.
To login simply copy and paste the CPanel URL above into your browser’s address bar and click go. (change your_domain_ name.com to your actual domain name) You will then be prompted to provide your username and password (provided in your new account email).
Once you login you will be presented with this message: ‘No contact email has been set. You will be unable to receive notifications or reset your password if you do not set a contact email address.’ in red letters. The first thing you should do is set a contact email address. Use your most common email address, one that you regularly check. After saving the email address the message in red will disappear.
Below you will see your account statistics listed along the left hand column. Next to that column, you will see icons with small captions below explaining what each icon is used for.
The two main icons that you will become familiar with very quickly are the ‘Mail’ (not to be confused with the Webmail icon) and ‘File Manager’ icons. I will give you a brief rundown of both just to get you started.
‘File Manager’: when clicking this link you will be presented with a Windows Explorer type of interface, and you will be located in you home directory. To see the contents of a folder (directory) click on the folder icon. To manipulate the folder (rename, delete…) click on the name of the folder and your manipulation options will be presented to you in the upper right hand corner of the interface. Also note you will see an option to ‘Upload Files’, this link will take you to the upload files interface. When uploading files through this interface ensure you are in the folder that you would like the file to be uploaded to.
When first viewing the File Manager, the folders you will see are the basic folders which make up your website. DO NOT change the name or delete these folders or your website will not function correctly. The main folder you will want to work in is the ‘public_html’ folder. This is where you store all your website files.
‘Mail’: This icon will take you to a page where you can create and delete email addresses, among other things. To create an email address or read your email click on ‘Manage/Add/Remove Accounts’, once you click on this link you will see the automatically created email account. To create a new account: Click on ‘Add Account’ and fill out the form on the page that follows. After the account has been created go back to the first interface and you will see the newly created account listed. To send email, or read email with the new account, click on ‘Read Webmail’, next to the account name, you will then need to choose an email application, I prefer Squirrel Mail, it’s the most basic.
DO NOT use the ‘Webmail’ icon on the main interface of CPanel. This will automatically log you into the default account; always use the ‘Mail’ icon then go to ‘Manage/Add/Remove Accounts’ to read your email. Because of this inconvenience I would suggest using Outlook, Thunderbird, or another email client.
One final thing I would like to mention, the very last link in the left hand column is a link to the CPanel documentation, if you are ever wondering what something inside CPanel does or how it will affect your website, you can use the documentation to find a quick answer.
If you do not like uploading and emailing through CPanel, you may also login to your account through an FTP Client, and you can use an Email client (Outlook, Thunderbird) to read/send email.
To help make page editing quick and easy, a new WYSIWYG HTML editor has been added to the server. To access the editor, enter CPanel, then File Manager and select a file you would like to edit. In the upper right corner, a new link appears at the bottom of the list.
Click the link to begin editing.
The new editor has a Design, Preview and Code view along with one-click buttons to insert everything from anchors to images to tables to web links and more.
Editor Screenshot
We hope this makes simple edits quick and easy.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a method by which you can upload/download files and folders to/from your site. In order to use FTP, you must have an FTP client. An FTP client simply provides a graphical interface for user friendly administration of files and folders. FireFTP, LeechFTP and CuteFTP are all ftp clients that are all available for download around the web; FireFTP and LeechFTP are free. Once you have selected and installed your ftp client, you will be prompted to enter the information (your domain name, username and password) specific to your site.
Managing your site through FTP is faster than through File Manager because of the protocol used (ftp protocol vs http protocol). FTP also allows for the upload and download of mutliple files and folders (directories) while File Manager can move only a select number of files at a time and can not move folders at all. File Manager does not allow for the download of files. The benefits of File Manager come in when you only need to upload a few files.
From the Helikas Terms of Service: "Helikas shall not be responsible for any claimed damages, including incidental or consequential damages, resulting from the corruption or deletion of any website from our servers."
Considering this, we strongly encourage all of our clients, especially those who run content management systems or forum boards, to create a backup of their entire site(s) regularly. Making a backup is quick and easy and above all, wise.
Log in to CPanel, click the icon "BackUp". On the next page, click the link "Generate/download a full backup". You will then be prompted to choose where you want the back up saved and to provide an email address to which CPanel will send a notification that back up has been completed. To begin backing up all of the files, folders, and databases associated with your website, click "Generate BackUp".
You will now have a duplicate copy of your site stored on the server. If your site is attacked by hackers, you mistakenly delete a file, files become corrupted, etc. HOWEVER, a backup stored on the server will NOT protect your site against server failure. Though this has never happened to Helikas, the possibility does exist, so we recommend that once you have generated the backup you download it to your personal computer.