Control Panel Site Manager tutorial (Site Tools)

This article will give you a quick outline for getting started with your site. Log in to the Winhost Control Panel, click the Sites tab and then the domain link to get to the Site Tools page [].

Site Tools
This is where you will control and configure many important aspects of your site. For information on the Site Info section, see this Knowledge Base article.

Email
When you use the Email Manager for the first time you will find that the service is enabled by default, and one POP user has been created. The default POP account that is set up automatically is [email protected] (using your domain name, of course).

To access web mail and to set up new email accounts, click the SmarterMail Manager link in the Email Manager section of your site []. This will automatically log you in to the postmaster account, which is the "admin" account for your mail service.

To create a new email user in the SmarterMail interface:

Click on Domain Settings (Gear with a global icon) at the top.
Click on Accounts
Click on New to create the new email account.

For more information, please see the Knowledge Base article; Getting Started with the SmarterMail email system.

Stats
SmarterStats site statistics are available for each site at no additional charge. Stats are disabled by default. To activate them, go into the Stats Manager and set SmarterStats: Enabled, and hit the Update button. Allow 24 hours for your first stats report to be generated.

Raw Logs
If you run your own stats program or require the raw web server logs for any other reason, you can enable raw log service here. Logs are made available as .zip files which must be downloaded via FTP. Logs are maintained on a 30 day rotating schedule, so logs for the past 30 days only will be available.

For a how-to on downloading log files with free FTP client FileZilla, see this forum post. The instructions there will be applicable to many FTP clients.

Usage Meter
The Usage Meter gives you a quick view of how much disk space and bandwidth your site is using.

MS SQL Manager
To create a SQL database for your site, click the Add button. Sites on the Basic plan can create one database with a 500mb size limit.

Accounts on the Max plan can create an unlimited number of databases, and allocate 2GB of space between the databases (e.g. 1 database with a 1GB limit, or 10 databases with 100mb each, etc.).

Accounts on the Ultimate plan can create an unlimited number of databases, and allocate 5GB of space between the databases.

Accounts on the Power plan can create an unlimited number of databases, and allocate 10GB of space between the databases.

When you add a database note that the database name you provide is prepended with a number of characters. Those characters become part of the database name. The prefix is in place to provide you more flexibility in naming your database.

DSN Manager
If your application requires a DSN (data source name) for a database connection, you can create it here. A DSN is used to connect to an Access database in your account (Access DSN), or a remote SQL server (SQL DSN).

MySQL Manager
To create a MySQL database for your site, click the Add button. Sites on the Basic plan can create one database with a 500mb size limit.

Accounts on the Max plan can create an unlimited number of databases, and allocate 2GB of space between the databases (e.g. 1 database with a 1GB limit, or 10 databases with 100mb each, etc.).

Accounts on the Ultimate plan can create an unlimited number of databases, and allocate 5GB of space between the databases.

Accounts on the Power plan can create an unlimited number of databases, and allocate 10GB of space between the databases.

When you add a database note that the database name you provide is prepended with a number of characters. Database user names can be defined to any format however, it must be unique throughout the entire system. If you choose a database user name that may already exist in our system, you will get a red warning message stating 'The database username you selected is not available. Please choose another database username'.

FTP Users
You may want to create an FTP user that only has access to a certain directory. You can do that by creating an additional FTP user here. You will enter the directory name in the Directory Path field (leaving this field in its default state - with just the slash - allows the additional user access to your entire site). Permissions for the new user are set using the Permissions dropdown. Select Read Only if you want the additional user to be able to download files only, or Read/Write if you wish to allow the additional user to upload files. Remember that allowing write access means the additional FTP user can overwrite (replace) any existing files.

Additional FTP users cannot access archived log files. You must log in using your primary FTP user if you wish to access logs.

For FTP client configuration instructions, please see this Knowledge Base article.

Integrated or Classic Mode
The IIS 7 Application Pool Pipeline Mode can be set to Integrated (the default setting) or Classic mode if you are having problems running older applications developed under IIS 6. This is an either/or setting, you cannot run both modes on one site.

Subdomain Manager
A subdomain is a URL such as admin.HostingAccountDomain.com, or forum.HostingAccountDomain.com. Subdomains point to the root level of your account by default. If you wish to direct a subdomain to a specific directory you will have to do so programmatically, with code in the root index page of your site.

For sample code that can be used to redirect subdomains, see this Knowledge Base article. If you need further help redirecting subdomains, please visit our community forum.

Domain Pointer
A domain pointer is an additional domain name that will point to the root of your site. So, for example, if you own HostingAccountDomain.net and want it to point to your HostingAccountDomain.com site, you would add the .net domain as a domain pointer. Domain pointers do not get full email service, however you can set up aliases (forwarding addresses) on your subdomains. If you intend to use forwarding addresses, remember to check the Enable Email Alias box when adding the domain pointer.

Application Starting Point
The Application Starting Point tool allows you to designate a directory as the starting point (application root) for an application. So if you are running an application in a directory under your root directory, you would set that directory as an application starting point here.

DNS Manager
The DNS Manager allows you full control over the primary domain for the site. If you are knowledgeable and experienced in DNS settings, this tool can be very useful. We do recommend, however, that if you are not sure about a DNS entry or setting that you do not make any changes to the DNS record for your domain. A mistake here can render your site and email inaccessible. Use the DNS Manager with caution.

Recycle App. Pool
If your site is malfunctioning in some way you may want to try recycling the application pool to see if that remedies the problem. The sites in your account run in a dedicated, isolated application pool. Recycling that pool effectively terminates any active processes and resets the memory for your account. So recycling the application pool will cause the loss of any dynamic site user data stored in server memory.

IIS Manager
IIS Manager is an administration interface that provides you with a great way to remotely manage the IIS settings for your site. For more information on IIS Manager, see this Knowledge Base article.

SSL Manager
If you are on a WinHost Max plan and wish to add SSL to your site, you can do so here. It is a multi-step process that involves a third-party certificate provider. Detailed information is provided in this Knowledge Base article.

For information on the Site Info section, see this Knowledge Base article.

Article ID: 714, Created: 11/2/2009 at 2:56 PM, Modified: 6/26/2019 at 12:22 PM

Control Panel Site Manager tutorial (Site Tools)

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