| Q: | Why does my domain bring up a page saying my domain has been deactivated? | |
| A: | This could happen for 2 reasons: 1) You haven't paid your bill. or 2) Your account has been deactivated at your request and you have not updated your whois record with your registrar to point at another DNS server. Email admin@riddlesoft.com to have your account reactivated.
| |
| Q: | Why does my domain bring up the riddlesoft.com web page instead? | |
| A: | This could happen for 2 reasons: 1) You are typing something other than www before your domain name and the web server hasn't been configured to respond for the subdomain you are trying (i.e. http://nonexistant.domain.com instead of http://www.domain.com). or 2) Your account has been disabled. If this is the case, you will need to notify admin@riddlesoft.com to have your account reactivated.
| |
| Q: | What are the nameserver addresses? | |
| A: | If you are not managing your own DNS (i.e. Register.com) you can use
the following:
NS1.RIDDLESOFT.COM
You will need to notify admin@riddlesoft.com about any DNS additions or modifications.
| |
| Q: | Where can I see how many hits a day my site gets? | |
| A: | You can view many web site statistics by going to the stats page in
your browser. For example, if your site name were www.example.com, you
would go to http://www.example.com/webstats/awstats.pl to view your statistics.
These are updated every morning around 4:00 AM central time.
| |
| Q: | When are my web statistics updated? | |
| A: | Every morning around 4:00 AM central time.
| |
| Q: | Where do I put files so they appear on my web page? | |
| A: | If your site name is www.example.com you would put them in
/www
If your site name is testing.example.com you would put them in /testing
| |
| Q: | How do I check my email? | |
| A: | You can use your site name for both the POP and SMTP server addresses.
So if your site name is www.example.com, you should use www.example.com
for your POP and SMTP server address. Your username and password
provided when you signed up are also required.
You username is in the form 'username@domain' so if your username is 'john' and your domain is 'example.com' you will use 'john@example.com' as your username. Another method is through a web interface located at http://riddlesoft.com/webmail. Your username and password are the same as they would be if you used the above method. This can also be accessed by using your own domain (i.e. http://example.com/webmail)
| |
| Q: | What are my username and password? | |
| A: | If you have forgotten your username and password, please contact admin@riddlesoft.com with a
password change request. Please specify your username in the email.
| |
| Q: | How do I get to my site's web directory? | |
| A: | When you log in using an FTP client, you should be in your site's web
directory by default.
The most important directory is www. This is where you put
files you want to display on the web for a particular site. The absolute path
to your site's web directory would be:
So, if you wanted to change your index.html page, you would place it in www and the change should immediately be visible on your web
site.If you wanted to change your index.html page for dev.example.com, you would place it in /dev and the change should immediately be visible on your web
site assuming you have a DNS entry for dev.example.com or a DNS wildcard for
example.com.All of the above assumes you are familiar with your FTP client. It is important to know how to change directories, upload files, set permissions, list directories, etc. Please review the documentation for your FTP program. FTP programs sometimes 'remember' where you were when you last logged in. Some might find this behavior confusing because you aren't in the same place each time when you log in. Most FTP programs will let you turn this feature on or off.
| |
| Q: | I still don't know what directory I'm in while using my FTP client. | |
| A: | You can always try changing to a specific directory. Most FTP applications
allow this, but it usually in a menu and isn't on the 'main screen' in your
application. To get to your site's web directory, change directories to:
| |
| Q: | How many usernames do I need? | |
| A: | This depends on how you are using the accounts. We recommend using one
account for FTP only (FTP transmits passwords in plain text) and one for
email. I fyou have more than one person who needs email, then you can use
additional accounts for them. If you are still in doubt, contact
support@riddlesoft.com and we can assist you.
| |
| Q: | How do I pick my password? | |
| A: | Choosing a passwordThe password complexity we require depends on whether you have shell access1 to the server. If all you need to do is send files back and forth for your web site, you probably don't have or need shell access. If you're still not sure, it's safe to assume you are not a shell user. Shell usersShell users must choose a password that conforms to the general guidelines set forth by attrition.org. If you are a shell user (or wish to be), you will be expected to read and live by these guidelines. Non-shell users - (email, FTP, etc.)Non-shell users are greatly encouraged to read the guidelines as well, but we do not require complex passwords in this case. That said, you choose your password at your own risk; if your password can be guessed (by man or machine), rest assured that someday it will be. 1Shell access means you can login to the server using a command-line terminal like telnet. (We actually use SSH instead of telnet for security reasons, but in the context of this FAQ the differences are negligible.)
| |
| Q: | What is the difference between a POP account and an email alias? | |
| A: | POP accounts are actually used to log in to a server and check the mail.
Aliases are other email addresses a POP account can use to receive mail. For
example, if your POP account name is john and your site name is
www.example.com, by default, the user john can receive mail at
john@example.com. If you also wanted the user john to receive all mail sent
to sales@example.com, sales@example.com would be an email alias. In short, POP accounts are 'mailboxes' and aliases are additional addresses you may use to direct mail to a particular mailbox.
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