Get started with your new Fasthosts accounthelp.fasthosts.co.uk/euf/assets/pdf-guides/welcome-to-fasthosts.pdfGet started with your new Fasthosts account Step 1 Log in to your Fasthosts

Get started with your new Fasthosts account

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Table of contents

Get started with your new Fasthosts account.........................................................................................................1Table of contents ......................................................................................................................................................1

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................2Your control panel ......................................................................................................................................................2Preparing your domain name....................................................................................................................................3Setting up your email .................................................................................................................................................4

Adding a new mailbox ..............................................................................................................................................5

Using your new email address .................................................................................................................................7

Creating and uploading your website ....................................................................................................................10Creating your website with SiteBuilder...................................................................................................................11

Uploading your website with FTP...........................................................................................................................13

Your test domain ....................................................................................................................................................16

Where to find additional help and assistance .......................................................................................................17Glossary of terms .....................................................................................................................................................17


Introduction

Welcome to your new Fasthosts account.

Before we begin, we recommend you print the welcome email that we sent when you

opened your account. This includes important information, such as your account login

details.

Your control panel

Your new Fasthosts account can be managed through your online control panel. This

control panel provides full access to your account, and allows you to setup and maintain

the services you use, such as your email addresses, SiteBuilder, databases, website

optimisation, and blogs.

To log into your Fasthosts control panel open your web browser and visit

http://www.fasthosts.co.uk, then click on Customer Login at the top of the page.

Enter your username (this is most likely your email address) and password and click the

Login button.

Note: The Fasthosts control panel is hosted on an encrypted server to

protect our customers’ personal and business data.

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http://www.fasthosts.co.uk/


Don’t worry if you ever forget your login password. You can reset it by clicking on

Forgotten your password?

Preparing your domain name

When you opened your Fasthosts account, you told us which domain name you want to

use for your website and email. If you registered a new domain name this will also be

configurable in your new account.

You need to make sure your domain name points to your new account, otherwise your

website visitors won’t be able to see your website and you won’t receive their emails. It will

depend whether you bought your domain through Fasthosts or another registration

provider as to the steps you need to take to do this:

I registered a new domain name with Fasthosts

When you opened your account, we registered your new domain name straight away for

you. You don’t need to do anything else to ensure your domain works.

Important: It can take up to 72 hours for your domain name to become fully

active.

I am transferring my domain to Fasthosts

Full details on transferring domain names are available in the following guide:

https://help.fasthosts.co.uk/euf/assets/pdf-guides/transfer-domain.pdf

I chose to leave my domain name with its current provider

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https://help.fasthosts.co.uk/euf/assets/pdf-guides/transfer-domain.pdf


If you’d prefer to keep your domain registration with your current provider,

you can still use it with your new Fasthosts account. Simply ask your domain

registration provider to change the domain’s nameserver records to:

• ns1.livedns.co.uk


If your registration provider supports more than two nameservers, you can also ask them

to set the optional third nameserver to


Important: It may take up to 72 hours before all ISPs know that your

website and email are now hosted with Fasthosts, so not everyone will see

your new website straight away.

Setting up your email

Fasthosts offers four different types of email address, and you can add any of these to

your Fasthosts account.

Mail forwarder

Automatically forwards email directly to any other email address that you specify. For

example: You could set [email protected] to forward to

[email protected].

Quick tip: You can also set up a “catch-all” email address in your Fasthosts

control panel to forward any mail sent to email addresses that do not exist

on your domain, to a mailbox of your choice.

Standard mailbox

A POP3 / IMAP mailbox that is compatible with email software such as Windows Mail,

Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird and Mac OS X Mail, and provides Webmail

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access.

Advanced mailbox

Ideal for most people's needs, the Advanced mailbox takes the Standard mailbox's

features and adds:

• Virus and spam protection

• Roaming SMTP – You can use Fasthosts mail servers for outgoing mail, rather

than your broadband provider’s. This means when you’re using different

connections (ideal for laptop users) you don’t need to change your SMTP settings.

• 1 GB storage space

• Direct Mailbox Control Panel access, which enables you to configure email

settings quickly, without needing to access your main hosting control panel. Ideal

to delegate mailbox control to staff or colleagues.

Microsoft Exchange® mailbox

Business-grade email with optional mobile push email. Features include:

• Shared contacts, calendaring, tasks and public folders

• Free Outlook 2007 software

• Outlook Web Access web mail

• ActiveSync and Outlook Mobile Access

• Microsoft Exchange Direct Push for Windows mobile devices or Good Mobile

Messaging. Pushes email directly to your Pocket PC, Windows Mobile or Palm

device

• POP3 and IMAP support

• 2 GB storage space

• Direct mailbox control panel access.

Adding a new mailbox

Before you can use the email facilities included with your account, you need to create your

mailbox through your Fasthosts control panel.


Step 1 Log in to your Fasthosts control panel and click on Email & Web Hosting.

Step 2 Click on the domain name you would like to add the new email address to.

Step 3 Click on the Email tab.

Step 4 A list of any mailboxes created on your domain will be displayed. Click the Add Mailbox

button.

Step 5 Select the type of mailbox you would like to create.

Step 6 Enter the email address you wish to create, and choose a display name for the mailbox.

This is the name most people will see when they receive an email from you.

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Step 7 Choose a password for your mailbox, and retype it to confirm there are no mistakes. Make

a note of this password; you’ll need it when setting up your email software. When you are

done, click Create Mailbox.

Your new mailbox will be created and you will receive an on-screen confirmation

message. You need to repeat this process for each email address you would like to use

on your domain.

Using your new email address

There are three methods of connecting to your new mailbox to send and receive email.

The first is by using email software installed on your computer. The second is using our

online Webmail facility through your web browser. The third is using a mobile device.

Email software provides more features than Webmail, and you only need to be

connected to the web to receive and send mail, you can read and compose mail offline.

You can set up several mailboxes in the software, and it is easy to backup and restore

your emails, contacts, calendar, and sent items. You are also not limited by the number of

messages you can store, or the size of attachments, providing you have the space on your

computers’ hard disk.

Webmail, however, is an advanced interface with all the features most users would need.

Because it is an online facility you can use it from any computer anywhere in the world,

making it ideal for users who travel regularly or use more than one computer.

You can also use your mobile device, providing it has support for POP / IMAP email.

Users of Microsoft Exchange mailboxes can get their email pushed directly to the device

with Direct Push (for Windows Mobile devices) or by using Good Mobile Messaging.

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Using email software

Email software is widely available, and it will depend on which operating system you use

on your local computer as to which software you may choose. Some examples of

available software are:

For Windows Computers

• Outlook

• Outlook Express

• Windows Mail

• Thunderbird

For Mac OS Computers

• Thunderbird

• Mac Mail

• Entourage

We have created a guide for each mailbox type, which covers configuring the most

popular email software to use your new email address.

Standard Mailbox Email Software Setup Guide:

https://help.fasthosts.co.uk/euf/assets/pdf-guides/Standard-Mailbox-Setup-Guide.pdf

Advanced Mailbox Email Software Setup Guide:

https://help.fasthosts.co.uk/euf/assets/pdf-guides/Advanced-Mailbox-Setup-Guide.pdf

Microsoft Exchange® Mailbox Email Software Setup Guide:

https://help.fasthosts.co.uk/euf/assets/pdf-guides/MSExchange-Mailbox-Setup-Guide.pdf

Using the online Webmail

There are two types of Webmail facility, Fasthosts Webmail and Outlook Web Access. If

you use a Standard or an Advanced mailbox, then you need to use Webmail, while

Outlook Web Access is available for Microsoft Exchange® mailboxes.

https://help.fasthosts.co.uk/euf/assets/pdf-guides/Standard-Mailbox-Setup-Guide.pdf

https://help.fasthosts.co.uk/euf/assets/pdf-guides/Advanced-Mailbox-Setup-Guide.pdf

https://help.fasthosts.co.uk/euf/assets/pdf-guides/MSExchange-Mailbox-Setup-Guide.pdf


Webmail for Standard / Advanced mailboxes

Fasthosts Webmail allows you access to send/receive emails through any web browser,

and provides all the tools you need to administer and maintain your mailbox. Using

Webmail you can do the following:

• View your emails

• Reply to and create new emails

• Move emails between folders

• Update your address book

• Set up auto-responders

Fasthosts Webmail also provides the following features for users of Advanced mailboxes:

• Calendar and Tasks.

• Modify auto-responder settings.

• Spam filtering settings.

Step 1 You can access your webmail by visiting http://webmail.livemail.co.uk or you can access

webmail using http://webmail.yourdomain.com (Replacing yourdomain.com with your

actual domain name).

Step 2 Enter your email address and the mailbox password in the text boxes provided.

Step 3 Select which interface you wish to use from the drop down menu.

There are three types of Webmail interface, the advanced option which is better for

Internet Explorer or Firefox, the Simple version for any modern browser, or the Basic view

which has been designed for any other browser.

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Step 4 Click the Log in button to access your Webmail.

Outlook Web Access for Microsoft Exchange Mailboxes

Outlook Web Access allows you to connect to a Microsoft Exchange mailbox to send and

receive email through your Web browser. Outlook Web Access includes all the features of

the Webmail facility, but also allows you to:

• Create rules that can be used to automate tasks as emails arrive, such as moving

emails from a particular email address into a specific folder, or forwarding emails

to another email address.

• Administer and maintain public folders, including calendars, contacts, tasks and

email folders.

It is recommended that you access the secure Outlook Web Access interface at:

https://exchange.livemail.com. You can also login to Outlook Web Access at:

http://exchange.yourdomainname.com (Replacing yourdomainname.com with your actual

domain name).

There are two versions of Outlook Web Access, depending on the browser you use—

Premium and Basic. Premium functionality is only available to users of Internet Explorer 6

SP1 (Service Pack 1), or later. Basic functionality is available to users of any current web

browser.

Creating and uploading your website

Publishing your website is easy, and you have two different ways to do it:

• Use SiteBuilder, our easy online website creation tool.

• Create your website on your PC, and then upload it using FTP.

Important: You can only use one of these options at a time. If you try to

use both, you may lose some of your files or damage your website.

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Creating your website with SiteBuilder

SiteBuilder is a web-based utility that allows you to create websites without the need to

learn the HTML language or web design skills, or install any special software onto your

local computer. SiteBuilder comes with ready-made templates that can be modified with

text or images, allowing you to create a website that suits your needs.

SiteBuilder is offered in three packages (10, 25 or unlimited pages), to fit the size of your

website. Should your website grow, you can always increase the size of your SiteBuilder

package along the way.

Activating SiteBuilder on your domain

Step 1 Login to your Fasthosts control panel and click Email & Web Hosting.

Step 2 Locate your domain in the list and click on it.

Step 3 Click on the SiteBuilder icon.

Step 4 Choose a username and password for your SiteBuilder login, and confirm the password in

the Re-type Password text box.

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Note: The username must be completely unique on our system, so if

another customer has chosen the username already you will need to select

another.

Click on Set up SiteBuilder to add the product to your account.

Step 5 If there are any charges confirm them by clicking the Order button.

SiteBuilder will be added to your domain on the lowest plan available. You can upgrade

this later on through your control panel if you require more pages.

Logging in to SiteBuilder

You can log into SiteBuilder at http://sitebuilder.livedns.co.uk/ or

http://sitebuilder.yourdomainname.com (replacing yourdomainname.com with your actual

domain name).

You will be asked to enter a User ID and Password, so enter the username and

password you created when activating SiteBuilder through your Fasthosts control panel.

Further help and assistance

SiteBuilder has a comprehensive help system, which shows you how to build and maintain

your website. You can find it when logged in to SiteBuilder by clicking the yellow question

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http://sitebuilder.livedns.co.uk/


mark in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Uploading your website with FTP

If you’ve already created your website in desktop web editing software, or have a local

copy of your website, you can upload it using FTP.

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and is a method of connecting to your web hosting

server to upload and update your website. You will need special FTP software installed on

your local computer in order to do this. There are plenty of different FTP applications

available, and all perform the same task, including:

• FileZilla

• SmartFTP

• WiseFTP (provided free of charge from your Fasthosts control panel)

• CuteFTP

• WS_FTP

• Dreamweaver

• CyberDuck (MAC OS only)

Quick tip: If you don’t already have any FTP software, Fasthosts provide a

free copy of Wise-FTP which you can download and install from your

control panel.

Internet Explorer also has basic FTP capabilities built in, making it as easy as dragging

and dropping files from one folder to another.

Your FTP connection details

Once you have selected and installed your FTP software, you can use one of the following

hostname / IP address to connect to your FTP space.

• ftp.yourdomain.com (replacing yourdomain.com with your own domain name)

• ftp.livedns.co.uk

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• 213.171.193.5

You also need to know your FTP username (typically your domain name) and password,

which are available through your Fasthosts control panel.

Setting or changing your FTP password

Before you connect to your FTP for the first time you need to set your FTP password. It is

also a good idea to change your FTP password regularly for extra security.

Step 1 Log in to your Fasthosts control panel and click on Email & Web Hosting.

Step 2 Locate and click on your domain name.

Step 3 Click on the FTP icon.

Step 4 Make sure the Master tab is selected, and click Set Password.

Step 5 Enter your new password in the Choose Password text box, and confirm it in the Re-type Password text box then click Save Password.

Your new password will be saved, and may take a few minutes to register before you are

able to login to the FTP with it.

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Uploading your website

After connecting to your web space with an FTP program, you should see the following

directories listed:

• htdocs: All your web content should be stored in this directory, or a sub-directory

of this. Your home page should be within this directory and should be named

index or default. The htdocs folder contains a folder called cgi-bin, which is for

files that require execute permissions. For example Perl or Python scripts, or

compiled CGI. HTML and PHP files will not work if placed in this directory.

• logfiles: The logfiles directory contains the raw logfiles for your domain. This is

where any monitoring software such as Matrixstats will get the information needed

to show you website statistics. You should not upload any files to this directory.

• private: This directory contains private files that are not accessible to anyone

accessing your site from the Internet. You should use it to hold information that

the site needs to run, but which is not displayed (e.g. files and databases

containing the names of users and their passwords). Any scripts running on your

site have access to this directory.

What to call your home page

When someone visits a folder on your website, the webserver will look for the default

document within your htdocs folder. Our webservers are configured to look for a file called

index or default, to display as your home page.

While it is good practice to have just one default file within your htdocs folder, if you have

more than one, the server will display whichever is highest on its precedence list. The

order that it chooses a default page is slightly different, depending on the type of server

you are using.

Below is a list of default files, with the highest priority at the top.

• default.html (Static HTML page)

• default.asp (Microsoft Active Server Pages)


• index.htm (Static HTML page)

• index.html (Static HTML page)

• index.php (PHP page)

• index.pl (PERL page)

• default.aspx (Microsoft ASP.NET page)

Your test domain

Fasthosts provides a test domain for you to use while your domain name is becoming

active on your new hosting account.

The test domain is a web link which points to your web server, and is independent from

your own domain name. Its main purpose is to allow you to visit your website without

having to use your domain name, so you can test your hosting account before you point

your domain to Fasthosts. Simply enter the test domain URL into your web browser’s

location bar, and you will be able to see if your site is working properly and correct any

issues or problems before you start directing your visitors to the new server.

Your test domain link is available from your Fasthosts control panel.

Finding your test domain

Step 1 Login to your Fasthosts control panel and click Email & Web Hosting.

Step 2 Locate and click on your domain name.

Step 3 Scroll to the bottom of the Package Overview page, and click on Enable.

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Your test domain will be generated and displayed in your control panel.

Where to find additional help

Fasthosts provide a comprehensive support site, complete with a searchable knowledge

base and various guides and manuals. The support website is available by clicking

Support from your Fasthosts control panel.

If you don’t find the help you require in the support site, our helpful support staff are on

hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to handle your query by phone or email. Details

of how to contact us are also available in the support website.

Glossary of terms

While setting up and maintaining your hosting services and domain name, you may come

across a few terms that you are unfamiliar with. This glossary describes some of these

terms, with the aim of making the process a little clearer.

Alias

Emails and website requests sent to the alias will be forwarded to the parent domain and

any changes made to the parent domain will be mirrored in the alias.

Catch-all forwarder

Also known as undeliverable email handling, the catch-all forwarder simply catches mail

sent to email addresses that don’t exist on a domain, and forwards the caught messages

to an address that does exist. Catch-all forwarders can be useful for catching genuine

email which is sent to misspelt addresses, but can also increase the level of spam

received.

Domain / Domain Name

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A domain name is essentially a signpost on the Internet. Almost every website you've ever

been to, and every email you've ever composed, has used a domain name in its address.

People register domain names in order to 'stake a claim' to a particular name -- whether

for business or personal reasons. Once a domain name is registered to a person or

company, it is that person's to use exclusively as long as they continue to pay the yearly

renewal fee and abide by the terms of use.

DNS – Short for Domain Name System

DNS is a method for resolving human friendly domain names to numerical IP addresses.

DNS uses a database to map a host name, such as www.yourdomain.co.uk, to the IP

address of the machine that hosts the site. DNS is built on the notion that some of the

server’s are “authoritative” for certain domains. There is a distributed name server

hierarchy, beginning with the A Root Server and ending at the thousands of nameservers

active on the internet. This ensures that the naming and directing system will work the

same from anywhere. For example www.google.com will translate to 209.85.171.100.

Email with web forwarding

Space on a server where you can store email content, including email accounts and the

space to store emails. The website records (A Records) will point to another destination of

your choice. There is no FTP space associated with this type of account.

Forwarder

An email forwarder simply forwards email received to one address to another. For

example you could set up [email protected] to forward to [email protected].

FTP

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) allows you to easily transfer files to and from your web space

to publish your website.

Hosting

Space on a server specifically for website or email content.


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HTML

HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is the name given to the code that tells web

browsers how to display a page. An HTML document contains the text displayed on a

page, along with a set of tags to determine how to layout and display the page.

IP address

Numerical address of a server on the internet. They usually take the form

123.123.123.123.

ISP

An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is a company who provide an internet connection. The

company who supplies your broadband or dialup account is your ISP.

Mailbox

A mailbox is used to store email on the mail server, until you receive the messages to your

local computer. Each email address has its own mailbox.

Nameserver

Nameservers will resolve a human friendly address into a numerical IP address and will

guide browsing machines to the server hosting your website using DNS.

POP3

Short for Post Office Protocol version 3, POP3 is the standard method that most

mailboxes use to download mail to your email software.

Propagation

Propagation is the time for all outdated DNS information to be cleared from all hosts and

ISPs across the internet. This can take up to 72 hours for all content across the internet to

be updated.


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Registrant

The person or company who registers a domain name. The domain name is legally

registered to the registrant.

Registrants Agent / Registrar

The agent of a registry that can make changes to the record of a domain name. The

company through whom you registered the domain name is the registrar.

Registration period

The length of time you are able to register a domain name for. The registration period

varies for different domain types. You are able to register top level domain names such as

.com, .net and .org for between 1 and 10 years.

Registry

The company responsible for the administration of the top-level domain database. Any

changes the registrar requests to the domain name are made by its registry.

Registry settings

Any changes to your domain name (such as changing the DNS, or contact details for a

domain) will result in a change being made at the registry.

SMTP

Short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, SMTP is the standard method used by email

software to send mail. In your email software you specify an SMTP server to use to send

the mail.

Transfer

Move the records of a domain name to another registration provider.

Documents

Get started with your new Fasthosts accounthelp.fasthosts.co.uk/euf/assets/pdf-guides/welcome-to-fasthosts.pdfGet started with your new Fasthosts account Step 1 Log in to your Fasthosts