FAQs

If you have a question that is not answered here, please use the support function in your CPanel account, or Contact Me.
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1. What is a domain name?

A domain name is a word or phrase along with an extension that uniquely identifies your website. google.com and yahoo.co.uk are examples of domain names.

2. How do I register a domain name?

Registering a domain name is very easy.
First you will have to make sure that the domain you want is available - using something called a WHOIS lookup at sites like Register.com or Whois Source you can make sure the domain you want is available for registration.
Afterwards, you simply need to visit a registration site such as DirectNIC or Register.com to purchase your domain name.
Alternativly, you can ask us to register a domain on your behalf when you order.

3. What exactly is space and bandwidth/data transfer?

Diskspace is the size your website can be. Every single letter on your website has to be stored somewhere on our server. Each letter is one byte, and a megabyte is roughly one million bytes. HTML pages are usually very small, but it is the extra images, scripts, and even databases that can take up large amounts of disk space.
Bandwidth/Transfer is the amount of data that your site can send in a month. Transfer is measured in gigabytes - billions of bytes.

4. How do I track how many hits my website gets?

We employ some of the most advanced statistics softwar available for you. It is available through your website control panel. You can see the number of hits you get, where they came from, their geographical location and much more!

5. What are PHP and perl?

These are two programming languages we allow customers to use on our servers to make dynamic websites. Each programming language has its own benefits and uses. It is best that you research on your own to find one that best fits your needs.

6. What is MySQL?

MySQL is a database system that we offer to our cutomers. When combined with PHP, it can be used to create powerful data applications such as forums, online stores and more.

7. How can I pay for web hosting?

Our prefered payment method is by PayPal recurring billing. However, we are happy to accept other payment methods including Bank Transfer, Cheque/Postal Order and One-Time PayPal payments. Please contact us for further details.

8. How do I upload my site?

Uploading your site can be done in 2 ways, but the most popular is FTP.
When your hosting account was created, you will have been provided with an FTP account. Using software such as CuteFTP or WS_FTP, you can log into your host. Then, using the program like a normal windows program, you can drag and drop files onto your web host. These files become live online instantaneously.
The other way is to use the file manager included in your Website Control Panel

9. What is the difference between UNIX hosting and Windows hosting?

Depending on which operating system to go with depends on your needs. Technologies such as ASP are better served on Windows servers, whereas PHP and Apache are served on Unix/Linux servers.
Just because you use Windows at home does not mean you should use Windows hosting. The two are completely different, and having a Windows system at home will not affect your ability to communicate with a UNIX server.
Secondly, Linux is much more common with web hosts due to its superior stability. Linux hosting is also usually cheaper than Windows.

10. How do I manage my hosting?

You get access to a hosting control panel, using the industry-standard CPanel. This has all the tools you need to manage your site, databases, email accounts, scripts and more!

11. Why would I need a dedicated IP?

For most people, a dedicated IP is not required. But for people that want to provide anonymous FTP or a website using SSL, a dedicated IP can make that easier.

12. I am using too much bandwidth! Is there anyway for me to make it less?

n most cases, yes.
You should first try to optimize the graphics on your website. Many GIFs look just as good with fewer colors, and many JPEGs look just as good with a higher compression level. NetMechanic offers an image optimizer program online.
You should also analyze the HTML of your site. Make sure you use relative paths, so that images are not downloaded more than one time. Remove any extra spacing and when linking to other pages, use relative paths and not absolute links.

13. What happens if I go over my bandwidth allowance?

Hopefully this will never happen - we activly moniter all bandwidth usage, and if a site seems in danger of going over their allowance, we will contact the user in plenty of time - most times, we can offer a temporary increasement of the bandwidth allowance for a very small fee (£1 per GB), to tide you over until the next month.
If you do ever go over your bandwith allowance, then we will try to contact you again to resolve the issue, and failig that, the site will be suspended until the bandwidth allowance is reset. This is only a last resort however.