Newest KB Articles in User Spaces

Scheduled Tasks

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:34:23 GMT

If you need to run some tasks on your site at specific time, use the task scheduler on your provider's server to make the system automatically run the tasks for you.

Viewing Scheduled Tasks
Adding New Task
Suspending Scheduled Task
Starting Scheduled Task
Deleting Scheduled Task

Viewing Scheduled Tasks

To view the list of scheduled tasks, click Scheduled Tasks menu item on your space page. Scheduled Tasks page will open.

Adding New Tasks

To create a new scheduled task

Click Add Scheduled Task button. Scheduled Task Properties page will open.
In the Task Name box, type the name of your task.
In the Task Type drop-down box, select type of the task.
Specify task parameters depending on the task type.
Specify when to run your task by selecting the appropriate values in the Schedule section.
Specify whether task is enabled or not in the Enabled check box.
Select the task priority in the Priority box. Task priority can be set to Below Normal or Low.
Specify execution time limit in the Max Execution Time field.
Click Save to schedule the task.

Suspending Scheduled Task

To suspend a scheduled task

Open Scheduled Tasks page.
Choose a task that you wish to suspend and click on the task name. Scheduled Task Properties page will open.
Uncheck Enabled check box.
Click Save button.

Starting Scheduled Task

To start a scheduled task

Open Scheduled Tasks page.
Choose a task that you wish to run and click the Run button.
Task will run and status will change to Running.

Deleting Scheduled Task

To delete a scheduled task

Open Scheduled Tasks page.
Choose a task that you wish to delete and click on the task name. Scheduled Task Properties page will open.
Click Delete button.

Applications Installer

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:59:23 GMT

Applications Installer is a great Tool that allows to equip your web site with popular web applications.

To view the list of available web applications, click Application Installer menu item on your space page. Application Installer page will open.

Note that almost all web applications require database, so make sure you have database option available in your hosting plan.

To install web application, just choose it from the list and click Install button. Install Web Application page will open.

Enter web application settings and click Install button.

File Manager

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:56:19 GMT

The file manager allows you to fully interact with the server's file system. You can navigate, copy, move, rename, delete files and folders; change permissions; create new files and folders; upload, zip, unzip files through your web browser.

Starting File Manager
Navigating
Copying Files / Folders
Moving Files / Folders
Renaming Files / Folders
Deleting Files / Folders
Changing File / Folder Permissions
Creating New Folder
Creating New File
Uploading File
Creating Access Database
Zipping Files / Folders
Unzipping Files
Calculating Disk Space

Starting File Manager

To open the file manager, click File Manager menu item in the left menu pane of the appropriate hosting space.

Navigating

Navigating through folders is accomplished by clicking on the folder name. You can also navigate through folders using breadcrumb pane.

Home link at the left corner of the breadcrumb will always return you to the highest possible directory within your space.

Copying Files / Folders

The file manager makes it easy to copy files between folders. The first step is to navigate to the source directory. That is, go into the directory you want to copy files from. Second, select files/folders you want to copy using check boxes.

Then, browse and choose the destination directory from the dropdown box.

Finally, click Copy button.

Moving Files / Folders

To move files, use the same procedure as copying files, except click Move button instead of Copy button.

Renaming Files / Folders

Click the Rename icon next to the file or folder you wish to rename. Rename File / Folder screen will open.

Type the new file name and click Rename button.

Deleting Files / Folders

First, select files / folders you wish to delete using check boxes. Then, click the Delete button. Confirmation screen will open.

Finally, click the Delete button.

Please note that deleting a directory also erases everything inside of it.

Changing File / Folder Permissions

Click the Permissions icon link next to the file or folder you wish to change. File / Folder Permissions screen will open.

Check all necessary permissions and click Set Permissions button.

Creating New Folder

Creating a new folder is very simple. First, navigate to the directory where you want the new folder to be. Next, click the Create Folder button. Create Folder screen will open.

Finally, type a new folder name and click Create button.

Creating New File

First, navigate to the directory where you want to create a new file. Next, click Create File button. Create File screen will open.

Type a new file name and optionally file content. Finally, click Create button.

Uploading File

First, navigate to the directory where you want to upload a file. Next, click the Upload button. Upload File screen will open.

Click Browse button and select your local file to upload. Finally, click Upload button.

Creating Access Database

First, navigate to the directory where you want to create a new database. Next, click Create Access DB button. Create Access Database screen will open.

Type database name and click Create button.

Zipping Files / Folders

First, select files / folders you wish to zip using check boxes. Then, click Zip button. Zip Files screen will open.

Type zip file name and click Zip button. New zip file will be created in the current directory.

Unzipping Files

First, copy necessary zip file(s) to the directory where you want the extracted files to be. Then, select zip file(s) to extract using check boxes. Finally, click UnZip button. All files/folders from the selected zip file(s) will be extracted to the current directory.

Calculating Disk Space

To calculate disk space, just click Calculate Diskspace button located at the bottom-right corner of the screen. Message box will open.

Click OK button to recalculate disk space.

Note that recalculating task will be performed asynchronously and a new disk space value will be availble in a few minutes.

ODBC DNSs

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:27:17 GMT

Data Source Names (DSNs) allow you to access the data from an external database management system through an ODBC (Open Data Base Connectivity) driver. For example, you can install a Microsoft Access ODBC driver, create a connection to external Microsoft Access database, and let your web applications use this database for storing their data.

To view the list of ODBC Data Sources, click ODBC DSNs menu item on your space page. ODBC Data Sources page will open.

To add a new ODBC Data Source, click Create ODBC DSN button. ODBC DSN Properties page will open.

In the Data Source Name box, type the name of your ODBC Data Source. Select the required driver in the ODBC Driver box. Fill in the relevant driver settings. Typically, you should specify the path to the database, user credentials and other connection options, depending on the selected driver. Finally, click Save button.

To delete ODBC Data Source, open ODBC Data Sources page. Choose ODBC Data Source that you wish to delete and click on the data source name. ODBC DSN Properties page will open. Finally, click Delete button.

Advanced Web Statistics

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:20:36 GMT

Advanced web statistics allows you to view the information stored in the log files created by a web server in a graphical, easy-to-read format.

Viewing Statistics Sites
Adding Statistics Site
Viewing Statistics
Deleting Statistics Site

Viewing Statistics Sites

To view the list of installed statistics sites, click Advanced Web Statistics menu item on your space page. Advanced Web Statistics page will open.

Adding Statistics Site

To add a new statistics sites

Open Advanced Web Statistics page and click Add Statistics Site button. Advanced Statistics Installation page will open.
Fill in the relevant settings. Typically, you should specify the web site and login options, depending on the statistics application.
Create Add Site button.

Viewing Statistics

To view site statistics, open Advanced Web Statistics page. Choose statistics site and click View Statistics link. Web Statistics page will open.

Deleting Statistics Site

To delete statistics site, open Advanced Web Statistics page. Choose statistics site you wish to delete and click on the site name. Advanced Statistics Installation page will open. Finally, click Delete button.

Shared SSL Folders

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:11:01 GMT

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is the standard security technology for creating an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browser remain private and integral.

Shared SSL folder is a virtual directory on your site, that can be used to protect transactions, passwords, personal details, etc. Shared SSL folders are used in form https://my-domain/my-folder

Viewing Shared SSL Folders

To view the list of shared SSL folders, click Shared SSL Folders menu item on your space page. Shared SSL Folders page will open.

Adding Shared SSL Folder

To add a new shared SSL folder

Open Shared SSL Folders page and click Create SSL Folder button. Add Shared SSL Folder page will open.
Choose domain in the Domain box.
Type the name of the virtual directory in the Directory Name box.
Type or browse the location of the SSL folder in the Folder box.
Click Create Folder button. Shared SSL Folder Properties page will open.
Setup shared SSL folder properties. For more details, see Configuring Web Site.

Deleting Shared SSL Folder

To delete shared SSL folder, open Shared SSL Folders page. Choose SSL folder you wish to delete and click on the folder name. Shared SSL Folder Properties page will open. Finally, click Delete button.

Managing Web Sites

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:24:20 GMT

Creating New Web Site

To view the list of sites, click Web Sites menu item on your space page. Web Sites page will open.

To add a new web site, click Create Web Site button. Add Web Site page will open.

Select an existing domain from the drop-down box and click Create Web Site button. Web Site Properties page will open.

If there is no available domain to select, then click Add Domain button to create a new domain.

Check that web site status is Started. Otherwise click the Start button to start your web site.

Configuring Web Site

To configure existing web site, open Web Sites page and click web site you want to configure. Web Site Properties page will open.

Please note that Web Site Properties page content may differ from the screenshot above as it depends on hosting plan settings.

Web Site Pointers

Web site pointers allow you to link web site to different domains.

To add a web site pointer, click Add Web Site Pointer button. Add Web Site Domain Pointer page will open.

Select an existing domain from the drop-down box and click Add Pointer button. New web site pointer will be created.

To delete an existing web site pointer, just click the Delete button and confirm removal.

Home Folder

Home directory location

Folder in your Hosting Space - select to permit users to access a specified folder in your hosting space to view or update web content. You can type the folder name in the Path text box below.
Redirection to URL - select to redirect the client application, such as a browser, to another Web site or virtual directory by entering a URL in the box below.

Security settings

Enable Write Permissions - select to allow users to upload files and their associated properties to the enabled directory on your server or to change content in a Write-enabled file. Write access is allowed only when a browser that supports the PUT feature of the HTTP 1.1 protocol standard.
Enable Directory Browsing - select to allow users to see a hypertext listing of the files and subdirectories in this site.
Enable Parent Paths - select to allow web pages to use relative paths to the parent directory of the current directory (paths using the .. syntax).
Dedicated Application Pool - select to use a dedicated application pool associated with this web site.

Authentication

Allow Anonymous Access - select to establish an anonymous connection for users. IIS logs on the user with an anonymous or guest account.
Enable Integrated Windows Authentication - select to ensure that the user name and password are sent across the network in the form of a hash. This provides a secure form of authentication.
Enable Basic Authentication - select to send the password across the network in cleartext. Basic authentication is part of the HTTP specification and is supported by most browsers; however, user name and password are not encrypted and could present security risks.

Default Documents

Default documents are used by web server to identify a default document whenever a browser request does not specify a document name. Specify default documents in a top-down search order.

Virtual Dirs

A virtual directory is a friendly name, or alias, for a physical directory on your server that does not reside in the home directory. For example, if you create a virtual directory called "images" from a folder anywhere on your server, the contents of that folder will appear at http://www.mydomain.com/images/ even though they are not physically located in the images/ subfolder of your web site's root folder.

To create a virtual directory, open Web Site Properties page, select Virtual Dirs tab and click Create Directory button. Add Virtual Directory page will open.

In the Directory Name box, type a name for the virtual directory. In the Folder box, type or browse to the physical directory in which the virtual directory resides. Finally, click Create Directory button. Virtual Directory Properties page will open.

Extensions

Use this tab to customize Web service extensions. By default, in order to take a more proactive stance against malicious users and attackers, IIS serves only static content - meaning features like ASP, ASP.NET, etc. do not work unless enabled. If you do not enable this functionality after installing IIS, IIS returns a 404 error.

Select required extensions to enable and click Update button.

Custom Errors

Use this tab to customize HTTP error messages that are sent to clients when web server errors occur. It is possible to use generic default HTTP 1.1 errors, detailed custom error files that IIS provides, or create your own custom error files.

Code - all custom error messages display industry-standard HTTP codes, which ensure consistency with HTTP 1.1 error messages. You do not need to change this setting.
Sub Code - displays the Sub Code associated with HTTP Error Codes and does not require any change in normal settings.
Handler Type - the web interface allows you to have your own custom page for different HTTP error codes:
- File - type the location of the file mapped to the custom error. It is usually your home location , where you place your files/folders, provided by the web host.
- URL - to map the custom error to a URL, select URL and enter the path to the URL beginning with the virtual directory name, for example /virdir1/errors/404.htm
- Default - this type will reset to default error page of Windows 2003 server where URL allows you to have the error page in URL format.
Error Content - displays the URL/File/Default location, depending upon Handler Type selection.

To add custom error, open Web Site Properties page, select Custom Errors tab and click Add Custom Error button. A new record will be added at the end of the custom errors list. Type custom error code, sub code, handler type and error content. Finally, click Update button.

To delete an existing custom error, just click the Delete button and then click Update button.

Headers

Use this tab to customize custom HTTP headers that are sent from the web server to the client browser. Custom headers can be used to send instructions from the Web server to the client browser that are not yet supported in the current HTTP specification, such as newer HTTP headers that IIS may not inherently support at the time of the product's release. For example, you can use a custom HTTP header to allow the client browser to cache the page but prevent proxy servers from caching the page.

To add a custom HTTP header , open Web Site Properties page, select Headers tab and click Add Custom Header button. New record will be added at the end of the custom headers list. Type the name and value of your custom HTTP header in the Header Name and Header Value boxes. Finally, click Update button.

To delete an existing custom HTTP header, just click the Delete button and then click Update button.

MIME Types

Use this tab to customize Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) types. MIME is a specification for creating file formats to be used in the exchange of e-mail, in Web documents, and in other applications on intranets and on the Internet. Each MIME format includes a MIME content type ("MIME type") and subtype which denote the kind of data stored in the file. IIS includes a table of the most common Web-related MIME types/subtypes and associated file name extensions. If IIS does not have MIME information for a MIME-formatted file that you download, then IIS will attach a default MIME identity to that file. As a result, the client receiving the file may misinterpret its contents. You can manually add MIME types, subtypes, and file name extensions to IIS for files whose MIME identity is not in the table.

To add new MIME type, open Web Site Properties page, select MIME Types tab and click Add MIME Type button. New record will be added at the end of the MIME types list. Type the file name extension and valid MIME type in the Extension and MIME-Type boxes. Finally, click Update button.

To delete an existing MIME type, just click the Delete button and then click Update button.

Deleting Web Site

To delete an existing web site, open the Web Sites page and click the web site you want to delete. The Web Site Properties page will open.

Click the Delete button and confirm removal to delete web site.

Managing FTP Accounts

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:31:49 GMT

To Manage FTP Accounts, follow these steps:

FTP accounts allow you to use file transfer protocol (FTP) to transfer files and perform file commands in your hosting space.

To view the list of FTP accounts, click FTP Accounts menu item on your space page. FTP Accounts page will open.

To add a new FTP account, click Create FTP Account button. FTP Account Properties page will open.

Type the name of your FTP account and password in the User Name and Password boxes. Type or browse the folder that the account has access to, and then choose access rights to this folder. Finally, click Save button.

To delete FTP account, open FTP Accounts page. Choose FTP account that you wish to delete and click on the account name. FTP Account Properties page will open. Finally, click Delete button.

Managing Domains

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:09:39 GMT

Registering Domain Name

In order for people to access your web site, you must register your own domain name, which is a unique name for the location of your web site.

There are two parts of a domain: the name and the extension. The name is the description of your site or company (for example, the name "google" in google.com). The extension represents the domain category. For example, the .com extension means "commercial," .net means "network," and so on. There are many extensions available today: .biz (business), .info (resource sites), .us (American sites), .ca (Canadian sites), to name a few. The "www" is automatically inserted by the web server that hosts your site and is not part of the domain name.

You cannot use a domain name until you register it. In addition, you cannot register a domain name that is owned by someone else. The registration process is very simple:

Decide on a domain name and extension.
Select a Domain Name Registrar.
Register your domain name.

Domain Name Registrar is a company that will manage the domain registration for you. You can find more information about registrars at ICANN. Be sure to choose a registrar that supports the extension you want. Comparison shopping is wise because registration fees can vary greatly between registrars. Domain names are leased, and the registration fee usually represents the cost for one year of ownership.

It is possible to register a domain name through DotNetPanel E-Commerce Module, if your service provider enabled this option.

Once you have registered your domain names, you can manage your sites through DotNetPanel.

Adding New Domain

To view the list of domains, click Domains menu item on your space page. Domains page will open.

To add a new domain, click Add Domain button. Add New Domain page will open

Select Top-Level or Sub-Domain domain type. Specify the domain name just as you have registered it and click Add Domain button.

Deleting Domain

To delete existing domain, open Domains page and click domain you want to delete. Edit Domain page will open.

Click Delete button and confirm removal to delete domain.

Please note that you cannot delete a domain if it points to web site. In this case, delete web site or remove web site pointer.

Restoring User Space

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:06:37 GMT

To restore user space, follow these steps:

Open Space Home page. In the right pane, click Restore link.
Restore Hosting Space page will open.
In the File box, type or browse the name of the file with backup data.
Click Restore button. Restore progress screen will open.
Click Close button after restore process finished.