PLESK SUPPORT AREA

This is the place where we post basic information related to your account and the server setup. Before you send us mail to ask what, for example, the path to "perl" is or how your e-mail settings should look like, please always check out this page first to see if you find the answer/s here. We have also added a "Tips and Suggestions" section. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to e-mail them and we will post them if deemed appropriate:
support@123-web-host.com.

Control Panel Guides:
Plesk Control Panel Guide (Plesk PSA 8 - latest!) — same in PDF format
Plesk HOW-TO Flash Tutorials (Plesk PSA 8 - latest!)

Where do I go to log into my Web based control panel ?
https://server-1.com:8443/   (do not forget the "s" in "https" !)   server-1
https://server-2.com:8443/   (do not forget the "s" in "https" !)   server-2
https://server-4.com:8443/   (do not forget the "s" in "https" !)   server-4
https://server-7.com:8443/   (do not forget the "s" in "https" !)   server-7
https://eu-server.com:8443/  (do not forget the "s" in "https" !)   eu-server

... or login right here, using below form:

To upload your site before your domain name has propagated, you can use the shared IP instead of your domain name:
216.32.94.234   for server-1 accounts, using your assigned username and password
72.21.42.84       for server-2 accounts, using your assigned username and password
70.84.146.114   for server-4 accounts, using your assigned username and password
72.21.42.82       for server-7 accounts, using your assigned username and password
212.72.165.75   for eu-erver accounts, using your assigned username and password

Most Important Path Info (you need this if installing CGI and other scripts):
What is the path to Perl?
/usr/bin/perl
In most CGI scripts the standard path line is therefore:   #!/usr/bin/perl
And the path(s) to sendmail?
/usr/lib/sendmail
/usr/sbin/sendmail

Where to Do I Upload My Files?

Your Website's HTML and image files go into the httpdocs folder.
(with exception of secure files which go into the secure directory)

The absolute path (if ever needed) is:
/home/httpd/vhosts/YourDomain.com/httpdocs
(This is equivalent to the "public_html" folder on many other servers.)

Your Website's CGI scripts (if any) go into the cgi-bin folder.
PLEASE READ THE "CGI-BIN" ENTRY IN OUR "TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS" SECTION BELOW.

The absolute path is:
/home/httpd/vhosts/YourDomain.com/cgi-bin
In other words, the CGI-BIN folder is outsite the main folder.
PLEASE NOTE: You can execute CGI scripts in any directory, not just the cgi-bin directory !

Preview New Websites (whose Domain Registrations or DNS Updates Have not Resolved):
To preview your uploaded but not yet resolved domain, please use the "Preview Site" tab in Plesk.

Setting Up E-mail:

1. Log in to your account's control panel.
2. Click the 'MAIL' tab.
3. Type the username for this e-mail account in the 'Mailname:' field; click 'ADD' tab.
4. Check 'Mailbox' and enter the password for this e-mail account in both fields.
    Decide if you want to limit the space for this e-mail account (taken from
    the space of your main account).
    For other options, autoresponders etc., please read the Guide to the Plesk Control Panel.
    Click 'UPDATE' (near bottom) tab.
You can add forwarder etc. later -- just click on your e-mail username after havingclicked on the 'MAIL' tab first.

How to Check Mail via 'Webmail' Interface?

Log on to: http://<YourDomain.com>/webmail/ ->  SAMPLE   (Squirrelmail)
Simply insert 'webmail.' before your domain name when typing the URL. Log on using the particular username and password for the email account you want to check. You can choose the language of your interface.

Outlook, Eudora, and Other POP E-Mail Programs:

The basic settings for these should be:
Mail Server:  YourDomain.com  or  mail.YourDomain.com
SMTP:    YourDomain.com  or  mail.YourDomain.com
                     ...whereby 'YourDomain.com' stands as a placeholder for your actual domain name
Username:  <Your e-mail username for this e-mail account>
Password:  <Your e-mail password for this e-mail account>

Troubleshooting:
If these settings do not work for you, then the ISP you use to connect to the Internet has most likely blocked Port 25, so you cannot use your own mail server for OUTGOING mail (SMTP) while connected via their network. Some of the ISPs who do this are Earthlink/Mindspring, AOL, USA-Starnet, and MSN. Microsoft, for example, gives an explanation (as regards to their own blocking) and solution:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q302339
The solution is to use your ISP's SMTP settings for outgoing mail (in the case of MSN this is 'smtp.email.msn.com'). BUT MAKE SURE TO KEEP YOUR DOMAIN AS THE MAIL SERVER FOR INCOMING MAIL!

Changing E-mail Passwords:

You may change e-mail passwords from your domain control panel, using the MAIL tab. But you may also change email passwords following below links ... a solution that comes in handy if you'd like to give someone control over his/her e-mail account but no access to the domain's control panel:
From your control panel, click on the MAIL tab, then on the e-mail username, then check "Control panel access." The owner of this e-mail account will then be able to logon at the general logon page (https://server-1.com:8443 etc.), using his full email address as LOGIN and his email password as PASSWORD.

Backing Up Your Domain:

To BACK UP your domain data to your PC's hard drive:
(1) click on "Backup" tab (in your control panel)
(2) click on "Make Dump"
(3) check the second option: "do not create domain dump file, only download";
     enter a file name in "Dump file name:" field and your comments in "Comments:" field
(4) click on "Back up" tab

To RESTORE your domain data from a backup file on your hard drive:
(1) click on "Backup" tab
(2) click on "Browse.." button to find the backup file on your HD, select it
(3) click "Upload" tab
(4) the uploaded backup file is listed under 'Dump files;' click on the file name, then click on "Restore" tab

Tips and Suggestions

CGI-BIN: On our server CGI scripts can be executed in all directories! The main complaint that users of the PLESK system have always had is that the cgi-bin directory is outside of the main Web directory (httpdocs). Most other system have the cgi-bin folder inside the main folder, and many standard CGI scripts do therefore not work without changing paths in/to these scripts. This can be tiresome. We therefore enabled the server to execute CGI scripts anywhere, in any directory (you still have to set the permissions right, of course ... chmod 755, and so forth). In other words, you can, if you like, create a CGI-BIN folder within the httpdocs folder to store your cgi scripts there. Perl scripts (.pl), on the other hand, can only be executed in the original CGI-BIN folder.
One more point: PSA utilizes Suexec as a CGI wrapper for security. The Suexec wrapper prevents the CGI script from having permissions set over 755. Scripts should run fine with 755 permissions.

Pre-installed cgiemail Script: There is just one pre-installed script. You will find it in the cgi-bin folder: this is "cgiemail" – a script written in C. The cgiemail script is an alternative solution to "FormMail.pl." It is pretty simple to use ... you should be able to use it by just looking at our example: please look at the source code of our own "Contact Us" page. The content of the form is send to a TEXT file, here called "request.txt," by the following line:
    <form action="http://123-web-host.com/cgi-bin/cgiemail/request.txt" method=POST>
The "request.txt" file, however, resides in the "httpdocs" folder! In the first line of this TEXT file you determine to which e-mail address it is send then. Further info and readme text can be found at MIT's site.
Of course, you can also use Matt Wright's popular FormMail script ... more here.

Spam Protection: Please note that we have MAPS Spam protection software installed on all servers, accessing ORDB.org's anti-spam database. There is no way to completely eliminate spam ... as with virus scanning, anti-spam protection is by no means perfect, but it still should dramatically reduce the amount of spam you and your customers would otherwise receive.
SpamAssassin: SpamAssassin is the most efficient anti-Spam tool available. You have to activate SpamAssassin for your domain/s from yor Plesk control panel. You can then decide what to do with SPAM messages ... e.g. to have Eudora or Outlook filter them out, or to simply ignore them.

Virus Scanning: All servers have Dr.Web ant-Virus installed. The program updates itself every 4 hours with the latest virus database. But you will need to enable Dr.Web from within Plesk for each email account.

Advertising Your Site: You'll find tons of info about this issue on the Web, and you may know more about this than we do. Here just the very basics:
Yes, it makes a difference if you submit your site to search engines and directories like Yahoo! or if you don't. We strongly suggest to either buy a license for the program SubmitWolf PRO or WebPosition Gold - or to use a service that uses one of these - they are simply the best. But by now more and more search engines and directories, certainly all the big ones, are charging to list your site. According to our experiences it does pay out very well to invest a decent amount. The place to go is LookSmart as well as Overture and ah-ha.com, covering several search engines that together make up for 80% of all searches. Before you submit your site you want to make sure that all the HTML tags in the header are just right. Use mentioned WebPosition Gold or a free service offered by Scrubtheweb (go to the VERY bottom of these pages and enter your URL). Also try SelfPromotion.com which offers plenty of webmaster tools to promote your site, the last two for free.
In addition to search engine and directory listings you should get listed in a couple of Web hosting directories ... ad banners, however, generate little income, although they are useful to create brand name recognition.

Billing Your Customers: You may already have your own system set up ... if not, by far the best, easiest and fastest (immediate) solution is 2CheckOut.com which integrates a shopping cart with a credit card processing system in one package. Except for a one time $49 setup fee there are no further monthly fees (quite different from almost all other billing services). Those with much of their customer base in Europe may want to check out WorldPay.com and BIBIT.com. Also consider to add PayPal with low fees, but do not rely on PayPal alone - you might then loose prospective customers. QuickCommerce offers e-commerce solutions that make use of the popular Authorize.Net software to bill your customers and arranges a merchant account for you. You can use their shopping cart systems and easily integrate it into your Web site.