These are real questions that were asked by our customers before they signed up with CVM web hosting. Thanks again for all your feedback.

1. I'm using Frontpage to publish my website. Does that mean I need to be on the Windows Plan?

No. Our Starter/Power plan with Linux will support Frontpage extensions. There is no need to be on the Windows Plan.

2. I have Windows XP on my computer, so do I signup for the Windows hosting then?

No. Your operating system does not matter when selecting a plan. Most of the time, the webserver is transparent to the user.

3. Does your Starter/Power plan (Linux) support ASP or .NET pages?

No. We have found that running ASP pages on Linux is very limited in its use. Therefore, we will only support ASP and .NET on our Windows plan.

4. What is the difference between Unix/Linux and Windows plan.

Unix/Linux supports CGI/Perl/PHP and Mysql natively. Windows will allow you to publish in ASP, .NET pages and has support for MS SQL, MS Access databases. Unix/Linux runs on CPanel and Windows runs on Sphera control panel.

Unless you have a special need for Microsoft Products like ASP, then our Start/Power plan is best suited for your website.

5. I have never used Linux before so I don't know if I can manage my website on the Starter or Power plan. Does this mean I have to pay extra for Windows plan?

No. All our hosting plans do not require you to have knowledge of that operating system. For the most part, the webserver is transparent to the user.

The Cpanel Control panel on Linux will help you manage things like email creation, common script(like Formmail) installations, and backup. If you know how to use a mouse and keyboard, you will be able to manage your website with our control panel.

Please note: This does not mean that our control panel will create your website. You will still need to have knowledge of how to create and design your website.

6. Can I pay by cheque?

Yes. Cheque along with money order and Paypal is accepted but you will still have to enter a valid credit card. During the signup process, simply put in the notes section that you would be sending in your payment. We will process your account but will not charge your credit card.

All hosting accounts will need to have a valid credit card on file. This is to verify that you are of legal age which is required for our Terms and Agreement contract.

7. I still have some questions and not sure which plan is right for me. Now what?

Sure, you can reach us with any questions:

Contact us. Click here.

We will be happy to answer any questions that you may have

8. Alot of Companies claim to be Canadian and have servers in Canada but they are not. Are you really Canadian?

Yes.

CVMhosting.com is owned by Canadian and operated by Canadian. We have been in the web hosting business for over 5 years, operating in Toronto, Canada.

I AM READY. NOW WHAT?

Click here to start your website now!

1. What paths to server resources should I use in my CGI or PERL scripts?

Here are the correct paths to the common server resources that CGI scripts often require:

• Date: /bin/date
• Sendmail: /usr/lib/sendmail
• Path to Perl interpreter: #!/usr/bin/perl
• Serverpath: /home/username/public_html/cgi-bin
• Root path: /home/username/ (puts you in the root of your account)
• Domain directory: /home/username/public_html (puts you in your public_html directory)
• Cgi-bin path: /home/username/public_html/cgi-bin/filename (puts you in your cgi-bin)

2. Where do I put my CGI scripts?

Put your cgi-bin scripts in the public_html subdirectory named "cgi-bin".

3. How do I use FormMail?

The FormMail Clone Email Form Script we offer pre-installed from cPanel is a clone of Matt Wright's FormMail.cgi under a less restrictive license. It should behave almost exactly as FormMail.cgi, but it is completely written from scratch so there might be a few minor visual diffrences. The FormMail CGI script is already configured on our server for your account. From your Control Panel under Scripts Library, click FormMail and there you will find the location of your preconfigured FormMail script. NOTE: Due to spammers using spider software to attempt to hijack FormMail scripts on servers in order to send spam from those servers, many servers (including ours) no longer use the scriptname FormMail.cgi. We provide you with a new name for your script if you decide to use the script.

The 'method' to select for your form is POST. If you would like a handy tutorial on using FormMail, go to http://www.scriptarchive.com/readme/formmail.html.

If are familiar with Perl/CGI and you would like to use the original FormMail script because you prefer to have more control over configuring your variables, please use version FormMail v1.91 or v1.92 to prevent spammers using your script at your bandwidth expense. You can download it at http://www.scriptarchive.com/download.cgi?s=formmail.

4. Why am I getting the "Server: Error 500" message?

500 errors are typically something wrong in the syntax of your script. Most often you should check to make sure you have the path to PERL correct. Currently we are running Perl5.6+ on our servers.

The correct path to PERL is: #!/usr/bin/perl

If you are using FrontPage to create your site, you may need a different solution.

5. What file permissions do I need for my CGI script?

CGIs must be set with executable file permissions, or requests for the script from the web server will result in an Internal Server Error. Scripts that need to be executable should have their permission set with chmod 755. This sets the file's permissions so that the file's owner may read, write, and execute the file; and anyone else can only read and execute it.

6. How do I run my own CGI programs?

Put your CGI programs inside the cgi-bin directory. Make sure you upload them in ASCII mode. Change permissions to 755 for the script (chmod 755 scriptname). Access them via http://www.yourname.com/cgi-bin/scriptname

7. How do I look at my website before the DNS switches?

Type http://ip-address/~username in your web browser replacing username with your actual username and replace ip-address with ip address containted in the welcome email.

1. What is a custom error page?

A custom error page is an error page you can make to look like it "belongs" to your web site. If a visitor to your web site types in the wrong URL (address), or enters the incorrect information, you can have nice looking error pages that can redirect them to another part of your website instead having a visitor leave your site discouraged. An example of a standard non-custom 404 "Page Not Found" error page is HERE . With a custom 404 page, you can add your logo to the page and also redirect them back to the home page. For more information about 404 pages, please click here

2. What kind of error pages can I create?

• 400 Bad request -- This means that a request for a URL has been made but the server is not configured or capable of responding to it. This might be the case for URLs that are handed-off to a servlet engine where no default document or servlet is configured, or the HTTP request method is not implemented.)
• 401 Authorization Required -- "Authorization is required to view this page. You have not provided valid username/password information." This means that the required username and/or password was not properly entered to access a password protected page or area of the web site space.
• 403 Forbidden -- "You are not allowed to access this page." (This error refers to pages that the server is finding, ie. they do exist, but the permissions on the file are not sufficient to allow the webserver to "serve" the page to any end user with or without a password. If you want this page to be viewable by the user you must change permissions on the file.)
• 404 Page Not Found -- "The requested URL could not be found on this site." Probably the most common error message, this means the page as it was entered in the URL does not exist on the server. This is usually caused by someone incorrectly typing the URL, or by the web master renaming or moving an existing page to a different directory. (Old links may continue to show up in Search Engines for months, and if pages have been deleted or moved, any attempts to access the old links will result in a 404 Page Not Found error unless you have a redirect set up from the old page to the new page.)
• 500 Internal Server Error -- "The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request. Please contact the server administrator and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done to produce this error." (By the way this error is usually caused by a misconfiguration in a script, so if you get this you will should look at your error logs in your hosting account cPanel to find out the cause.)

3. How can I make my own "error pages"?

Create an html or shtml page that looks like and says what you want it to. Click "Error Pages " icon. The process is almost step-by-step and "almost" self-explanatory. Click on whichever error page you want to customize. It will take you to a big text box, copy the entire HTML code of the custom error page you created and paste it all into the text box, then click "Save". There are a few tricks to success however:

1. Make sure that everything in your page code uses the entire url, including image sources. If you're using stylesheets or JavaScripts, make sure that they also use the entire url in the call:

<img src="http://yourdomain.com/images/imagename.jpg">

instead of simply <img src="images/imagename.jpg">, and
<script language="JavaScript" src="http://yourdomain.com/scriptdirectory/javascriptname.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://yourdomain.com/stylesheetname.css" type="text/css">

and so on. Or you could simply put your styles right into the body of the page, ditto with the JS unless it's one that must be placed between and tags.

1. The code for the Error page must be at least 10Kb or it won't display properly in Internet Explorer. It's just one of IE's quirks. An easy workaround if you don't want your error page to ramble on & on is to simply put a bunch of other "stuff" within comment tags somewhere in your page. That way it won't show up when displayed in a browser. Comment tags are , with the placed after. Anything you have between these two tags will not be displayed in a browser. Example:

<!-- This is a bunch of extra stuff I have to write in order to make the code of this page large enough for the custom error page to show up in Internet Explorer. Thanks Bill Gates!! blah blah blah blah and on and on until the page is long enough -->

1. In your cPanel when you select the Error Page you want to edit, you will find above the edit text box several buttons:

• Referring URL
• Visitor's IP address
• Requested URL
• Server Name
• User's Browser
• Status Code

These are things you can insert into the code of your page to customize it even further. For example if you choose "Requested URL", it will give you code to insert into your page so that the URL requested by the visitor is displayed on the page.

To the left of these buttons is another button that says "Click to Insert". Now this is a little misleading. When you click to insert, it will NOT insert anything where you have your curser. I wish it did but it won't; it's a cPanel quirk. It will instead insert the code just after or just before any code you have entered in the text box. The "inserted" bit of code will look something like this: although the "REQUEST_URI" may be replaced by something else depending on what you selected. Look for it at the very beginning or very end of your pasted code and then cut/paste it into the proper spot in your html code.

2. Make your custom error page/s interesting and helpful. Give visitors information they can use to navigate your site: Links, a menu, email address for help or support, etc. A bit of humor can be fun too, if it fits in with your site, by taking some of the edge off people's frustration when they get an error page.

3. And of course it would be best to coordinate your error page/s with your site, at least to some extent.

As always, if you need any help at all, feel free to email us at support@cvmhosting.com

1. How do I create a new email account in my Control Panel?

• 1. Go to http://yourdomain.com/cpanel/ or in secure mode at https://yourdomain.com:2083 Click YES if you receive the security message
• 2. Under the "Mail" icon, choose "Add/Remove Accounts" link
• 3. Click "Add Account" link on bottom of page, and then type the new username and the password.
• 4. Type in a mailbox quota if desired.
• 5. Click "Create" and you will have successfully created an email account

2. I can't send email via your server. What's wrong?

Our SMTP servers are configured as secure relays. This means that you cannot simply reference "mail.yourdomain.com" as an Outgoing mailserver unless you successfully log in via one of your POP3 accounts at "mail.yourdomain.com" before you try to send. This is a mandatory setting to prevent spammers from using our mailservers as havens for unsolicited email. If you are getting a "relaying prohibited" or "disconnected by administrator" error, it means that you haven't logged into the POP3 server at your domain before you tried to send through the smtp server at your domain. To log in, you need to check for mail first.

3. How do I create email aliases, and how do I redirect them?

It is not necessary to create email aliases for your default email account, as your default (primary email account for the domain) acts as a "Catch All" account. In other words, "anything@yourdomain.com" will be automatically be delivered to your default mail account.

To use aliases off other email accounts in your domain, go to your Control Panel, and under the Mail Menu heading select "Forwarders." Fill in the blanks (it's easy, you'll see when you get there.)

You may also use forwarders to forward email from any of your domain email accounts to other address/es.

4. How do I access webmail with my browser?

Type http://yourdomain.com/webmail or in secure mode https://yourdomain.com:2096 (Replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name), click YES if you receive the security message. You can also login to your Control Panel and click "Web Mail" icon There are 3 different webmail programs to choose. Test each one and see which is best for you.

Log in with the POP account username and password.

NOTE: For all email accounts created after the primary/default account, in other words for all extra email accounts you create from cPanel, the email username/login name will be the entire email address instead of just the "user" name you created for that email account. Whereas for your primary email account your login name is simply "username", for all other email accounts in your hosting account, the login name will be "user+yourdomain.com"

5. How do I set up my email account in Outlook Express?

There is a Outlook (Express) Autoconfig link in your email panel under "Mail"-->"Add/Remove Accounts" link

6. To setup email manually through Outlook/Outlook Express

• -(POP3) Incoming mail server is mail.yourdomain.com
• -(SMTP) Outgoing mail server is mail.yourdomain.com
• (if that does not work use your SMTP from your isp provider)

*remember to login with your email address using name+yourdomain.com with accounts password.

7. How do I setup my email accounts with Eudora?

• 1. Open Eudora client
• 2. Click Tools -> Options
• 3. Depending on the Eudora version: Under LOGIN or GETTING STARTED, enter name+domain It is very important to add the plus sign.
• 4. Tools -> Options -> SENDING MAIL Select "NEVER" on drop down box for Secure Sockets When Sending

As always, if you need any help at all, feel free to email us at support@cvmhosting.com

1. What is File Manager?

The File Manager Option within your Control Panel can prove to be a very powerful feature. It will handle many of the functions that an FTP or Telnet client will handle, all from within your browser. Functions include setting permissions, uploading files from your hard drive, creating and editing html files, and creating subdirectories.

2. How do I use File Manager?

Go to your cPanel at http://yourdomain.com/cpanel Click "File Manager" icon. File Manager will open up into a new browser window. You will find that the screen is divided into three sections. The left section will show you your directories and files. The upper right hand section is your action frame. The lower right hand section is your trash folder. Within each directory, you will see links to create a new file, create new folder, or upload files. These actions pertain specifically to the directory that you are currently in. You will also see a column of numbers to the right of each folder and file. The far right column are the current permission settings for that specific folder or file. The column to the left of the permissions is the actual size of that file or folder in kilobytes. When you click on the graphic next to the text link for a folder in your Control Panel, it will open that folder and display the files and folders within that directory.

When you click on the actual text link for a folder or file, actions for that directory or file are displayed in the upper right hand corner of your screen. If you locate your public_html folder and click on the text link for it, you will see the actions for the folder appear in the upper right hand corner of your screen. The actions are pretty self-explanatory, so we'll forgo explaining what each does. However, if you locate a file rather than a folder within your directory listing and click on the text link of a file, you will see that the action screen will change to the specific actions pertaining to actual files and you will notice that the actions that you can perform for files are quite different from those of a folder.

By clicking on Show File, a new window will open and show you what the file actually looks like in your browser. By clicking on Edit File, you will be taken to a window where you can actually edit the html code within the file itself and save the changes. You can also change the permissions for the file, copy, move, delete, or rename.

Remember, DO NOT DELETE OR RENAME any files that the system creates. Also remember, any files that you want to be visible online must be placed within your public_html folder.

As always, if you need any help at all, feel free to email us at support@cvmhosting.com

1. How can I activate FrontPage support on my account?

Go to http://yourdomain.com/cpanel then click on "FrontPage Extensions" icon and click "Install Extensions" link

2. How do I use FrontPage to publish my website?

Before you can publish an html file to your web site with FrontPage, you must either have a page already created, or create a page. To create a page with FrontPage, follow these simple steps:

• 1. With FrontPage open, choose File --> New
• 2. Type in "This is a simple test."
• 3. From the menu bar, choose File --> Save As
• 4. Name the html file. (If this file is to be your homepage, be sure to name it index.html)
• 5. Once you have saved the file to your hard drive, you are ready to publish the file.

Now to Publish Your Web Page

• 1. From the menu bar, choose File --> Publish Web
• 2. Click on the "Options" button.
• 3. In box below, specify the location to publish your site: Enter the full URL for your site including the http:// prefix
• 4. If this is the first time you are publishing your site, select "Publish all pages"
• 5. Select "Include Subwebs". (Obviously, you will have to put your real domain name instead of 'mydomain.com')
• 6. Click the "Publish" button.
• 7. Enter your hosting account username and password.
• 8. Click "Done". If you have entered all the details correctly, FrontPage will then publish your site.
• 9. NOTE: Depending on the version of FrontPage software at your home, the above options can differ from steps 2-5

3. How do I password protect a directory if I am using FrontPage? Can I use .htaccess to do this?

Since Apache's .htaccess password protection and FrontPage use the same file, you cannot use Apache's htaccess or the cPanel Password Protect Directories feature to password protect a directory if you have FrontPage installed. You can still password protect a directory using FrontPage by following these instructions.

Note: A FrontPage sub web and a folder under your domain are basically the same.

1. First, you will need to create a sub web that you want to protect. This sub web is the name of the directory you want to protect and CANNOT exist. Once in FrontPage:

• Select File -> New -> Web
• Click on 'Empty Web' In the text box labeled 'Specify the location of the new web' put in your complete domain name and the name of the folder or sub web you wish to create (i.e. http://www.yourdomain.com/folder)
• Then click on 'OK' and wait while you new sub web is created.

1. Now that your new sub web is created, you will need to set the password protection for this sub web. You should already be in your new sub web. To verify, look at the URL in the title of FrontPage. To password protect this sub web:

• Select 'Tools' -> 'Security' -> 'Permissions'
• A 'Permissions' box will appear.
• Click 'Use unique permissions for this web' and click 'Apply'.
• Click on the 'Users' tab in the permissions box. You will see your current username listed. DO NOT remove this username.
• Click 'Only registered users have browse access'.
• Click 'Apply'.
• Click the 'Add' button
• Fill in the 'Name' 'Password' and 'Confirm Password' text fields and click 'OK'. If you want to add more users just go click on the 'Add' button again and fill in the new users information.
• Click on 'OK' and the 'Permissions' box should disappear.

Now only your FrontPage username/password and the user(s) you just setup can view that sub web or directory.

NOTE: The above steps can vary depending on the FrontPage version at your home.

4. I get an Error 500 Internal Server Error when trying to view my FrontPage site online.

The most common cause is the use of FTP in uploading FrontPage generated webpages. This can damage the FrontPage extensions. In this case the FrontPage extensions will need to be reinstalled. This can be done in your cPanel Control Panel. If you are utilizing FrontPage to create your site, you MUST use the file upload feature in the FrontPage program to deliver these pages to the web server. If FrontPage webpages are transferred by another FTP client, FrontPage extensions will become damaged. And even though the pages may be successfully uploaded, they will not be viewable (translatable by a web browser) due to corrupted code.

5. The default page still shows up even after I have uploaded my index.html page.

SOLUTION: If your main entry (home) page is already created but is still named default.htm, you must rename it index.htm or index.html. If you already have an index.htm or index.html page, you MUST DELETE the default.htm page before your index page will show up.

NOTE: You may see that the page is renamed on the server. Click here for info / solution.

6. I'm getting error - "Root Web Busy" when I try to publish with FrontPage.

FTP to your site and remove the "service.lck" file in /public_html/_vti_pvt. This usually happens when an FP session is interrupted before completion. NOTE: Just to be safe, it would be a good idea to reinstall FrontPage Extensions via your cPanel after you use FTP in your site.

7. The server keeps timing out when I try to publish large sites.

This difficulty arises when the uploading link times out in the process of copying the web to our server. The only suggestion Microsoft has offered so far is to break the main web into a group of sub webs on your PC, then upload these individually.

8. I'm getting "Error - FrontPage Extensions not Installed"

We often see this error being reported even when the extensions have been installed. If you get this error, please reinstall the FrontPage extensions from your Control Panel.

NOTE: The extensions are easily corrupted. Please use ONLY FrontPage Explorer to update your web site on the server, not FTP.

9. I published but my web site's not there!

This will happen when the "Destination Web Name" is filled in when publishing to our server. This box should be left blank. If you put any other name in this box it will create a subdirectory off of your root web and copy all of your files into it. Your site will exist under a subdirectory instead of in the top level /public_html where it should be.

10. My counter, bbs, guestbook, etc. isn't working.

These problems are generally due to incorrect permissions on either the directory, file(s), or cgi script(s) that are associated with them. Please don't change the permissions of your files or directories unless you have a specific reason for doing so and you know what effect it will have on your site.

11. My forms won't work through the Secure Server.

The call to a cgi script using the Secure Server must not be within a webbot. Use a normal cgi call in your html script for Secure Server calls.

12. My Search bot doesn't return any results.

The /public_html directory must be world readable AND you need to recalculate links BEFORE publishing (or after editing directly on the server). If it still doesn't work: FTP to the server and go to the /public_html/_vti_txt/default.wti directory. Delete any files that begin with "ALL". Don't delete any other files. Then using Windows Explorer, do the same thing on your PC. Recalculate links, test locally with your browser and Publish.

13. FrontPage starts the Web Publishing Wizard when I try to publish.

Cancel the operation and reinstall the FP extensions. They have been damaged.

14. Why is my page renamed on the server when I publish?

The "Default Document" of your web is automatically renamed by the server to what is required by the configuration of the server. For example, if you've named the main page "default.html", it may be renamed "index.html". Just check the links to your main page to make sure they refer to it the same way.

15. Do you provide Microsoft FrontPage Technical Support?

Because of Microsoft policies, we are not allowed to provide technical support for the FrontPage client. We can only verify that the FrontPage server extensions are working correctly. However, we have provided you with the following information as a courtesy:

Should you need assistance with FrontPage 2002 please visit Microsoft Support

As always, if you need any help at all, feel free to email us at support@cvmhosting.com

1. I uploaded my files but still see your page. Why?

If our "Future Home of" page, index.html, has not been replaced by another index page, then anyone going to yourdomain.com will still see the "Future Home of" page instead of some other home page.

This is the order in which the web server looks for a page to put up as the "home" page:

index.html index.wml index.cgi index.shtml index.jsp index.js index.jp index.php4 index.php3 index.php index.phtml index.htm default.htm default.html home.htm

Just delete the index.html file and anything after it in this list will then come up automatically.

2. How can I upload my site?

Unless you have or will be utilizing Frontpage Extensions on your site, you can use the File Manager located in your cPanel Control Panel to view all the directories and files in your account, as well as change permissions for directories and files, create directories, create and edit files, and upload files from your hard drive to your account.

If you would like to use another FTP client for uploading files to your site, we highly recommend using WS_FTP if you are not familiar with FTP clients. When the FTP client asks for a hostname or address, make sure to enter your IP ADDRESS until your domain name is indexed by the registry (which usually takes 24 to 48 hours but sometimes can take up to one week). All of your files and subdirectories go into your public_html directory .

Now that we've distinguished where your files go, there are several ways, depending on your computer system, that you can transfer files to your account directory. The process by which files are transferred to the web server is called "FTP" (File Transfer Protocol). You have unlimited access via FTP 24 hours a day. As such, you can create and maintain your web pages on your own computer and upload files to your web site at your leisure.

To upload your files to your account without using the File Manager in your Control Panel, you need an FTP program. For the PC users, visit: http://www.wsftp.com to download the newest version of WS_FTP Pro for the PC, one of the most popular FTP programs on the web.

For the Macintosh, a program called "Fetch" is used. Visit http://fetchsoftworks.com to download the newest version of Fetch.

After that point, you may use ftp.yourdomainname.com where it asks for host name. The FTP client will also ask for a Username or Login Name and Password. Enter your account Username and Password. (Make sure that Anonymous is NOT checked and Host Type selected is UNIX STANDARD. Also make sure "Passive" mode is NOT checked.) Once logged in, you will see several directories: cgi-bin, ftp, and public_html. If you have any scripts such as CGI's that need to be executable, place them inside the cgi-bin directory. In your HTML code, link to files in this directory by /cgi-bin/filename.cgi. For text and images files, place in the public_html directory. It's usually helpful to have an "images" directory to keep all your images organized. You will notice we already created one for you when we uploaded your "Future Home of" page.

REMEMBER -- When uploading files:

ASCII vs. Binary

• Text-based files get sent in ASCII mode (.txt, .doc, .html, .htm, .shtm, .cgi, etc.)
• Non-text based files are binary mode (.jpg, .gif, .exe, .mdb, .zip, pdf, .doc, ect...)

3. How do I use Cute FTP to upload files?

When CuteFTP is loaded the first time, a window will appear. If the window doesn't appear, press the F4 function key. Click on "Personal FTP Sites" and then click on "Add site." Add the following to the FTP Site Edit window:

• Virtual domain users should enter their domain name in Host Address
• All users must enter their username and password in the appropriate boxes
• Make sure Login type is Normal
• Do not add anything to the Initial Remote Directory Box

To download Cute FTP or for more information please visit: http://www.cuteftp.com . Or you can download a Cute Ftp user's guide here: http://cuteftp.com/support/manuals.shtml

4. How do I use WS_FTP to upload files?

When WS_FTP is loaded the first time, a window will appear listing stored FTP locations. If the window doesn't appear, click on Connect. Click on New. Add the following to the Session Profile window:

• Virtual domain users should enter their IP Address (NOT the nameserver ip)
• All users must enter their username and password in the appropriate boxes
• Leave blank the Account and Remote Host boxes
• Make sure the Anonymous Login box is not checked.
• Host Type selected should be Automatic Detect or UNIX Standard (either is ok).
• Passive mode should not be checked.
• Click on Save and then OK.

As always, if you need any help at all, feel free to email us at support@cvmhosting.com

1. What is .htaccess?

The .htaccess file can be placed in one or more of your /home/user/public_html subdirectories. Among other things, this file can be used to restrict access to other files and web pages. When a request for a web page is made, the web server first checks for an .htaccess file. The server begins this check by looking for .htaccess in the root of the current web directory, and on down the directory tree until it reaches the directory where the requested file resides. Since the placement of the .htaccess file determines when it is executed, this fact can be used to restrict access only in certain subdirectories.

2. If I'm using FrontPage, can I edit the .htaccess file?

NO! If you're running FrontPage, you cannot custom-edit the .htaccess file within your public_html or www space. You'll either create a security hole or break FrontPage. There are no other options. This includes ANY .htaccess file in your domain, including one in the cgi-bin. (Having said this, please note that an .htaccess file may be used in any directory within the webspace that is *not* owned by the user; for example, a directory owned by root.)

3. How do I password protect directories from control panel?

• Login to your control panel, click "Password Protect Directories" icon
• Click directory name to password protect
• Click "Folder requires a password to access via http://" and type a name such as Members in "Folder requires a password to access via http://" then click SAVE
• Then add the username/password you want to give access to

As always, if you need any help at all, feel free to email us at support@cvmhosting.com

1. What is the Mailing List feature and what can it do?

We have Mailman v. 2.1.2 installed on our servers. You can read a basic summary of what it can do at Mailman site for specific details and docs.

2. How do I set up a new mailing list?

• 1. Go to your Control Panel
• 2. Click on the "Mailing Lists" (under the "Mail" icon)
• 3. Create a list by clicking on "Add Mailing List"
• 4. Enter the Admin name and the Admin password you want to use for the list
• 5. Click Create.

Your list is now created.

3. How do I administer the list?

You will need to know the Admin ("Maintainer") email address and password to administer the list. The results of the commands will be sent to the list admin's email address. Go to Mail icon then Mailing Lists then click "Edit" button. Edit List allows the administrator of the list these management options:

• General Options
• Passwords
• Language options
• Membership Management
• Non-digest options
• Digest options
• Privacy options
• Bounce processing
• Archiving Options
• Mail<->News gateways
• Auto-responder
• Content filtering
• Topics
• Tend to pending moderator requests
• Go to the general list information page
• Edit the public HTML pages
• Go to list archives

4. Can I delete specific messages sent by members once they have been posted?

Unfortunately no. This is why we recommend adjusting your list settings to require that a moderator review messages before they are posted. The only way to delete a message is to delete the entire list. Therefore when you are setting up a new list, we also suggest that you create a test list first, do some test messages so you get a feel for how it works, then delete the entire test list and create your "real" list anew.

As always, if you need any help at all, feel free to email us at support@cvmhosting.com

1. What are MIME types?

The MIME Types option in your cPanel Control Panel (MIME Types icon) allows you to set certain programs to be used for specific extensions. In easier-to-understand terms, MIME Types help your web server to identify what type of file is being requested by your browsers. For instance, when the web server gets a request from a browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape, for a file that ends in .html, the web server knows that it is an html document because that extension is stored in the MIME Types. If the web server gets a request from a browser for a file that ends in .gif, the web server knows that it is an image because that too is stored in the MIME Types. This applies to every file, image, application, etc. that may be requested by a web browser. If the extension is not stored within the MIME Types, the web server will not recognize it and will not be able to assist the browser and that particular file type will not be viewable by the user.

MIME types are identified by the server by the following format:

subtype/type extension

For example, adding the following two MIME Types will allow users to view ipx images on your web pages:

• application/x-ipscript .ips
• application/x-ipix .ipx

where application identifies the subtype, x-ipscript identifies the application, and .ips identifies the extension used for that application.

For more information on MIME Types you can visit http://www.cnet.com/Resources/Info/Glossary/Terms/mime.html

2. Can I use the MIME types feature if I'm using FrontPage?

No. This feature is not available for FrontPage users. If any MIME types are needed, FP users will have to add them using FrontPage or else your web files may not be accessible online.

As always, if you need any help at all, feel free to email us at support@cvmhosting.com

1. How can I manage my database via the web?

We have installed a powerful web interface that makes it very easy to administer your database. This interface, called phpMyAdmin, is based on the PHP scripting language and lets you create, drop, edit, and manage tables and data in your MySQL database. You can read more on phpMyAdmin by going to phpMyAdmin . A demo of phpMyAdmin is available at http://www.phpmyadmin.net/phpMyAdmin/ .

2. How do I use PHP to connect to MySQL?

To merely display the information in your database without the use of a form to call a php script, you simply create your HTML document as you would any other web page but instead of the extension of .htm or .html you need to name the file with the extension .php. Then within the document itself, for the section that you'd like to use the PHP code, you begin it with .

3. How do I use phpMyAdmin?

Click "MySQL Databases" icon. You can see a 2-minute Flash tutorial about how to do this HERE . Then go down to the phpMyAdmin link at the bottom of the MySQL Databases page. This will take you to the phpMyAdmin interface where you can work with your MySQL database/s.

A good tutorial for working with phpMyAdmin is here: http://nuketutorials.com/phpmyadmin.html . The entire first half of the page deals with installing phpMyAdmin on the server, which you don't need to deal with since it's already installed. Skip to "Section 4: Running" (about exactly halfway down the page) for screenshots and information about how to actually use phpMyAdmin.

NOTE: You should know something about MySQL or other relational databases before you try to work with phpMyAdmin. phpMyAdmin does not stop the user from entering incorrect syntax, therefore it will accept a line like the one below even though it is incorrect:

Bad: ALTER TABLE bmt_userinfo ADD first_name TEXT (25) not null , ADD last_name TEXT (25) not null , ADD address1 TEXT (100) not null , ADD address2 TEXT (100) not null , ADD city TEXT (30) not null;

However the same line minus the text length does work:

Good: ALTER TABLE bmt_userinfo ADD first_name TEXT not null , ADD last_name TEXT not null , ADD address1 TEXT not null , ADD address2 TEXT not null , ADD city TEXT not null;

This is because "TEXT" is a set length. The thing to remember is that any syntax that will not work on the command line will not work in phpMyAdmin either. A good place to find out correct syntax for a command that you want to perform is http://www.mysql.com/documentation/index.html

4. How can I create a MySQL database?

Click "MySQL Databases" icon, type a name in db: box and click "ADD DB" button. Then all you need to do is add the user into the database. See our cPanel Tutorial for a graphic demo of how to do this.

5. Do you have any additional help files for beginners for MySQL database management?

Additional information that will help you manage MySQL is located here

6. My PHP program tells me it can't access the database because of incorrect username/password. I've checked the configuration settings in my script and everything's in there as I created them.

When you create your MySQL database, first you create a database by giving it a name. Then you create a user by entering a username and password. For best results keep your database name, database username, and database password at no fewer than 6 and no more than 7 letters or numbers. Then you must be sure to add the user to the database.

In your script, your database name and your database username must be prefaced by your hosting account username_. Your password, however, stands alone. For example: If your hosting account username is "joedoe1", your database name is "testdb", your database username is "dbuser", and your database password is "passwd", here is how you need to put them in your script:

• database server should usually be localhost
• database name should be written as joedoe1_testdb
• database username should be written as joedoe1_dbuser
• database password should be written simply as passwd

As always, if you need any help at all, feel free to email us at support@cvmhosting.com

1. How can I change a password for my domain and primary POP3 email account?

Go to your cPanel Control Panel at http://www.yourdomain.com/cpanel and click on "Change Password" link and follow the instructions

2. How do I change passwords for secondary POP3 email accounts?

Go to your cPanel Control Panel at http://www.yourdomain.com/cpanel, click the "Mail" icon, then click on "Add/Remove Accounts". Any secondary email accounts you have set up will be listed. On the far right side of the list, click on "Change Pass" for the appropriate account.

3. I can't access my cPanel Control Panel because I've lost my password and I can't read my password in any of my FTP or email settings because it's all asterisks.

You will need to send us an email from the same email address you used to sign up for your hosting account, or from your domain email address, or from the same email address as what your domain registrar shows as the Registrant (legal owner) of your domain name. We can either provide you with a new password or reset your old one. If you have changed your primary password since getting your hosting account, we will not be able to reset your old password because passwords are one-way encrypted and even we can't pull up whatever your newer password was. In that case we will create a brand new one for you.

4. How do I password protect a specific page or directory in my web site?

To password-protect specific pages or areas of your web site, you can use either the Password Protect Directories feature in your cPanel, or if you are familiar with .htaccess Files you can use .htaccess to assign a password to a specific area of your site. If you want to protect a specific page, you must first create a special directory for it, put the page into the new folder, and then assign username and password access for that folder. NOTE: If you are using FrontPage you cannot use the Password Protect feature in your cPanel. See special instructions for FrontPage users on the FrontPage FAQ page

As always, if you need any help at all, feel free to email us at support@cvmhosting.com

1. What paths to server resources should I use in my CGI or PERL scripts?

Here are the correct paths to the common server resources that CGI scripts often require:

• Date: /bin/date
• Sendmail: /usr/lib/sendmail
• Path to Perl interpreter: #!/usr/bin/perl
• Serverpath: /home/username/public_html/cgi-bin
• Root path: /home/username/ (puts you in the root of your account)
• Domain directory: /home/username/public_html (puts you in your public_html directory)
• Cgi-bin path: /home/username/public_html/cgi-bin/filename (puts you in your cgi-bin)

2. Where do I put my CGI scripts?

Put your cgi-bin scripts in the public_html subdirectory named "cgi-bin".

3. How do I use FormMail?

The FormMail Clone Email Form Script we offer pre-installed from cPanel is a clone of Matt Wright's FormMail.cgi under a less restrictive license. It should behave almost exactly as FormMail.cgi, but it is completely written from scratch so there might be a few minor visual diffrences. The FormMail CGI script is already configured on our server for your account. From your Control Panel under Scripts Library, click FormMail and there you will find the location of your preconfigured FormMail script. NOTE: Due to spammers using spider software to attempt to hijack FormMail scripts on servers in order to send spam from those servers, many servers (including ours) no longer use the scriptname FormMail.cgi. We provide you with a new name for your script if you decide to use the script.

The 'method' to select for your form is POST. If you would like a handy tutorial on using FormMail, go to http://www.scriptarchive.com/readme/formmail.html .

If are familiar with Perl/CGI and you would like to use the original FormMail script because you prefer to have more control over configuring your variables, please use version FormMail v1.91 or v1.92 to prevent spammers using your script at your bandwidth expense. You can download it at http://www.scriptarchive.com/download.cgi?s=formmail .

4. Why am I getting the "Server: Error 500" message?

500 errors are typically something wrong in the syntax of your script. Most often you should check to make sure you have the path to PERL correct. Currently we are running Perl5.6+ on our servers.

The correct path to PERL is: #!/usr/bin/perl

If you are using FrontPage to create your site, you may need a different solution.

5. What file permissions do I need for my CGI script?

CGIs must be set with executable file permissions, or requests for the script from the web server will result in an Internal Server Error. Scripts that need to be executable should have their permission set with chmod 755. This sets the file's permissions so that the file's owner may read, write, and execute the file; and anyone else can only read and execute it.

6. How do I run my own CGI programs?

Put your CGI programs inside the cgi-bin directory. Make sure you upload them in ASCII mode. Change permissions to 755 for the script (chmod 755 scriptname). Access them via http://www.yourname.com/cgi-bin/scriptname

7. How do I look at my website before the DNS switches?

Type http://ip-address/~username in your web browser replacing username with your actual username and replace ip-address with ip address containted in the welcome email.

1. How can I create my own backup of my web site?

This option in your control panel allows you to compress your directories and/or files located in your account. This is an excellent way to backup your own files. It will serve as double protection should anything ever go wrong with our backups. We cannot guarantee the quality of our backups as these are geared more toward restoring an entire server. We HIGHLY recommend that you make it common practice to backup your own web pages. In the event that we are unable to recover your pages, you will be able to restore your own pages. In control panel go to "Backup " icon and save the backup file to your hard drive for safe keeping.

2. How do I restore my web site from a backup I made this way?

If you ever need to restore the "Backups" from your hard disk file, just return to this part of your Control Panel and select "Restore Backups".

3. Can I restore individual files from a server backup?

No. These kinds of backups are for entire accounts only. Individual files cannot be restored, only the entire account.

As always, if you need any help at all, feel free to email us at support@cvmhosting.com

1. Do you have RealAudio server software running on your servers?

WE DO NOT have RealAudio or RealVideo server software running on our servers. However, you can stream Real Media files by using HTTP Streaming.

2. How can I use streaming media or Real Audio/Video on my web site?

You can use RealAudio/Video on your web site by using HTTP Streaming. You will need to create a .ram file that calls your Real audio/video file. The .ram file is a text file with an absolute URL. This URL will need to be:

http://yourdomain.com/filename.rm

Typically you'll create a realaudio file subdirectory under public_html (that is, in a subdirectory of your public_html folder), and put all your audiofiles there. Then your .ram file, a.k.a., metafile, will contain an address with this format:

http://yourdomain.com/subdirectory/filename.rm

The "subdirectory" is a subdirectory of your public_html directory. So for example:

http://yourdomain.com/musicfiles/music.rm

Notice: The above address goes in the .ram/metafile, not in your HTML code. Your HTML code calls the .ram/metafile. Then the .ram/metafile is used to call up the .rm/realmedia file. So your HTML code would look something like this:

<a href="http://yourdomain.com/filename.rm">Click here to listen to music.</a>

For further detailed support and information, please visit www.realnetworks.com

As always, if you need any help at all, feel free to email us at support@cvmhosting.com

1. How can I see statistics for my web site?

We provide several different built-in statistics programs with every hosting account. This feature is accessed from inside your Control Panel and provides you with valuable information regarding visitors to your site.

2. What kinds of visitor tracking statistics programs do I get and what do they do?

You get AW Stats, Analog, and Webalizer.

3. Do I have to do anything to turn the statistics programs on?

No. All of these statistics programs are preinstalled and are already turned on and functioning for your web site.

4. Do any of these stats programs put anything visible on my web pages?

No. They all gather detailed web site statistics without the need to have tacky advertisements on your web site's pages. It all works completely in the background and is totally invisible to your web site's visitors.

5. Do the stats programs in my hosting account slow down page loading like some of the "free stats" advertising progams do?

No. This is because of the way they are installed and run from the server.

6. How can I see my web site's Error logs and Raw Access logs?

• Error Logs: This will show errors in your site, images not loading, missing files, etc. This is very useful for debugging a cgi script.
• Raw Access Logs: You can download these straight from the server from your cPanel. They show every IP that accessed your web site, and what page was accessed along with date and time. We also provide a Raw Log Manager so you can archive your Raw Access Logs in your home directory at the end of each month, and/or remove the previous month's archived logs from your home directory at the end of each month.

7. What other kinds of statistics can I see for my web site?

• Bandwidth Viewer: This will show how many bytes of transfer your account has done. It is broken down by domain, subdomains, pop3 mail, etc. so you can see how much transfer each is responsible for.
• SubDomain Stats: This shows stats for any subdomains.
• Latest Visitors: This will show you the last 300 visitors who came to your site and some interesting information about them.

As always, if you need any help at all, feel free to email us at support@cvmhosting.com

If you already own a domain name, you will need to transfer it to CVM Hosting's DNS numbers before you can access your website using your domain name. Depending on whom your domain name is registered with, the transfer processes are different.

Once your account is initialized you will be able to access it by IP number immediately, however, if your web site was previously active, we strongly advise you to keep it up and running with your previous hosting company for at least for a week to allow name servers across the system time to update, and avoid any possible downtime.

Propagation of your transferred domain Propagation is the time it takes for all the internet service providers around the world to update their information internally. Each domain name IP number has an expiry date as part of its properties. This date is normally set at an industry standard 7 days. When the IP expiry is reached, the ISP will update the new IP address of the domain. At this time the ISP receives any new information, such as a transfer of the location of the domain name. Depending then on where in this cycle your domain name might be on various ISP's across the system, your new location is updated at various intervals. This is why it may take up to seven days before your new site is completely accessible across the entire Internet by domain name.

• Note: It is not possible to know where your IP is in the cycle with any given ISP.
• Networksolutions: If your domain name is registered with Networksolutions we will contact them. Networksolutions will send an email to the administrative contact of your domain name. The administrative contact must reply back acknowledging the transfer. The new setting takes effect in 48-72 hours and your domain name will work.
• Other Registrars: If your domain name was registered elsewhere, please contact them directly and point your domain name to our DNS numbers. Most Registrars have a control panel where you can login and administer your domain.

When you purchased your domain name, you were given a username and password. All you need to do is to login to your account and point your domain name to CVM Hosting's DNS.

• Primary Server Hostname: ns1.cybervisionmedia.com
• Primary Server ip address: 66.199.185.241
• Secondary Server Hostname: ns2.cybervisionmedia.com
• Secondary Server ip address: 66.199.174.127

If you would like us to complete the transfer, we will need your domain username and password. (...in the future you always have the option to modify your password with the Registrar.)

If you have any problems, please contact support@cvmhosting.com