Home Hosting Services 

Web Hosting Information

The following information is all you will need to get your site up and running. Should you require additional information or have any questions, email us at hosthelp@sirunning.com.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

FTP is used for transferring files(HTML pages, graphics, etc.) to/from your server. We suggest using programs specifically designed for FTP'ing (transferring) your files. Listed below are some suggestions for FTP programs to use.

For Windows(tm), we suggest the following ftp program: WS_FTP from Ipswitch, Inc.
You can get a shareware (evaluation) copy of WS_FTP, or purchase a full featured version of WS_FTP, from the following site:
ftp://ftp1.ipswitch.com/pub/win32/ws_ftple.exe

For Macintosh(tm), we suggest the following ftp program: FETCH
You can get a copy of FETCH from: ftp://ftp.dartmouth.edu/pub/mac/Fetch_3.0.3.hqx
For more information on fetch, visit: http://www.dartmouth.edu/pages/softdev/fetch.html

Logging in with FTP

Based on the assumption that you are FTP'ing with WS_FTP, the following section will give you a basic run-down on how to configure and use WS_FTP for tranferring files.

  1. You will need your initial email received when you opened your account. Locate the part of the email with the "IP#", "Login", and "Password" information.
  2. You will need to start up WS_FTP. You should first be prompted with a "Session" dialog box.

You will start configuring WS_FTP in the following areas:

Click the "OK" button and WS_FTP should start logging into your FTP site. If there are any login error messages in the message box in the lower part of the WS_FTP screen, please check your IP #, Login, and Password (the password is CASE sensitive. We suggest that you cut and paste your password DIRECTLY from the initial email that was sent to you when your account was opened.)

Once you have correctly ftp'd to your server, you may begin transferring files. Remember, when setting up yout HTML files, BE SURE to name your homepage (your main page) - 'index.html' or 'index.htm'. This file must be saved to the root directory of your server. This is the directory that you are in when you log into your account via FTP.

You may create as many subdirectories as you like. If you are using WS_FTP, the 'MkDir' button creates a directory and the "RmDir' button removes a directory.

You will see a directory titled "cgi-bin" when you log into your server. This is the directory where you will store your cgi programs. For more information on your cgi-bin visit the CGI section of this tutorial.

POP Email Account

You may request up to 20 POP(Post Office Protocol) email accounts. Just fill out the form below and you will receive an email confirming your new account within 48 hours.

Enter Your Name
Enter Your Account Name(Domain Name)
Enter Your Password
Enter your current email address
Enter the requested email address up to 8 characters (ex.requested email address@yourdomain.com)
Enter your requested password (6-8characters, case sensitive)
(Optional) Enter the destination email address that you would like this new email address forwarded to. Use this only if you want your new email address forwarded to an existing address.

Configuring Popular Email Software

There are many email programs currently being used on the internet. Below is some information on setting up several popular email programs.

Netscape Mail

Open Netscape Browser
Go to Options menu bar and choose Mail and News Preferences
Choose the Servers tab:
a. Outgoing SMTP should be the mail server address of your dial-up company
b. Incoming POP server should be yourdomain.xxx (substitute your domain name)
c. POP3 username is the username that you requested when you submitted your POP email account.
Click the Identity tab:
a. Enter your name
b. Enter your full e-mail address
c. Enter your reply e-mail address
Click Apply

Internet Mail Setup

Open Internet Mail
Go to Mail menu and choose Options
Click the Servers tab and enter your personal information
Outgoing SMTP server should be the mail server of your dial-up account
Incoming POP server should be the yourdomain.xxx (substitute your domain name)
In the Log On Settings, enter the mail account username and the password you requested for that account.
Click Apply

Outlook Express

Open Outlook Express
Go to Tools menu and choose Accounts
Select the Mail tab and the Add button
Setup Wizard will appear. Follow the Wizard until Finish is selected.
Repeat above steps to create multiple e-mail accounts in Outlook Express

Eudora Mail Setup

Go to tools, options
Click getting started:
a. Set the pop account to user@domain.com
b. Set real name to the name you want to display when sending e-mail
c. Set the return address as the e-mail address you want people to reply to (usually username@domain.com)
Click hosts, set the SMTP server to the one that your ISP provides
Everything else should be set up correctly.

Netscape Communicator Mail

Open Netscape Communicator
Go to Edit menu and choose Preferences
Click on Mail and Groups and the + sign adjacent to it
Click on Identity and enter your name and mail address
Click on Mail Server and enter the following:
a. Incoming POP should be yourdomain.xxx (substitute your domain name)
b. Outgoing SMTP should be the mail server of your dial-up company
c. Choose the POP3 radio button under Mail Server Type
Click OK

Counters

Our Servers are configured with counter capabilities. Simply add the following line to your html document.

<img src="/cgi-bin/Count.cgi?ft=5\dd=C\tr=T\frgb=159;137;30;&df=username.dat">

If your want more than one counter per server - name your .dat file username1, username2, etc...

Variables

tr=T makes numbers transparent. Removing the tr=T will make the numbers opaque.

ft=size of frame around counter ft=0 is no frame. Larger numbers will put a frame around the counter.

dd=A,B,C,D,E,T, purple. You can try different ones. You can add other digits to your server. DigitMania has a extremely large collection of digits specifically for counters.

frgb=color of frame frgb=255;255;255 is a white frame, 0;0;0 is a black frame.

If you would like a more advanced counter visit one of the many free script sites on the web such as Matt's Script Archive, and load the script in your cgi-bin. For more information on your cgi-bin visit the CGI section of this tutorial.

CGI-Bin

Your server includes a directory titled "cgi-bin". This is the directory where you will install your cgi programs. Just FTP the required files to your cgi-bin and read the information listed in this section for tips and common paths needed for cgi access. When installing your own CGI scripts, you will, most likely, need to modify some of the script's parameters. In most scripts the parameters to modify will be located at the top of the actual script file after any instructions or headers (most are clearly marked and have concise instructions in the comments for modifying the parameter. Always be sure to READ THE INSTRUCTIONS before modifying a script).

Common paths for CGI programs

Most CGI scripts need to know the location of certain files to run properly (sometimes they even need to know where they are located themselves). Here are some common paths and tips about paths for CGI scripts.

  1. A commonly requested path is the path to Perl. This is required as the first line in a Perl script:
    #!/usr/bin/perl
  2. Absolute path refers to a file's location on the server itself. Standard absolute paths are:
    /yourdomainnamecom/  *note - there is no '.' between 'yourdomainname' and 'com' when you are referring to an absolute path. Of course, 'yourdomainname' should be replaced with the domain name of your account.
    /yourdomainnamecgi/scriptname.pl  *note - 'yourdomainname' should be replaced with the domain name of your account and 'scriptname.pl' should be replaced with the name of the script or program that you are calling.
    Most times an absolute path will be asked for when the script needs to find the directory of certain files (READ THE DOCUMENTATION TO BE SURE)
  3. URL path refers to something's location via the WWW. Standard URL paths are:
    http://www.yourdomainname.com/ - this is the path to your web site files.
    http://www.yourdomainname.com/cgi-bin/ - this is the path to your cgi-bin via the web.
    Most times a URL path will be asked for to handle HTML directions and coding.
  4. Another commonly requested path is the path to the sendmail program for mail interfaces. It is:
    /bin/sendmail
  5. Lastly, a commonly requested path is to the date program, for date and time tracking. It is:
    /bin/date

Tips for CGI installations

  1. Read the documentation for the script you are trying to install.
  2. If you don't find any documantation with the script, check inside the script itself, some scripts have the instructions written in with the coding.
  3. If you can't find any help, contact the author of the script. Most scripts have the author's information in the header of the script.
  4. Make sure that you have properly set any permissions for the file on your server. Most scripts require CHMOD 755, or read-execute permission to properly execute on the server. Use your FTP software to CHMOD, or set permissions, on a file or program/script.
  5. Make sure you have properly set all paths and parameters.
  6. Make sure, if it's a Perl script, that you have FTP's, or transferred, it to your server as an ASCII file. Perl scripts are text files (ASCII) not binary files, like some compiled CGI scripts.

Configuring Form Mail for HTML Forms

Our servers are pre-configured with a 'fmail.pl' (form mail) script. This script is designed to process any forms that you write for your site. No knowledge of CGI programming is necessary to implement a working form on your website.

Add the following 4 lines to your form document and your form will send the information to the specified email address.

<form action="yourdomainnamecgi/fmail.pl" method="POST">
<input type="hidden" name="recipient" value="email address to receive form info">
<input type="hidden" name="subject" value="information that should be entered in the subject line of the email">
<input type="hidden" name="thankurl" value="http://yourdomainname.com/thankyou.html">

The above 4 lines need to be placed at the beginning of your HTML coding for your forms. They declare that the forms in your HTML page will be processed by the fmail.pl script in your CGI-BIN.
Line 1 declares that the form in your HTML page will be processed by the fmail.pl script.
Line 2 tells the form script to send the completed forms to the specified recipient's email address.
Line 3 tells the form script to place the decalred subject line into the form sent to the recipient via e-mail.
Line 4 tells the form script to send the visitor filling out the form to a page thanking them for filling out the form. Don't forget tom create a thank you page for your form! The URL of this thank you page should be entered under the value field in line 4.

Also,  the coding on your form where you ask the visitor to enter their email address should look something like this:

<input type=text name="username">Please enter your email address.

The key parameter is name="username".  This will take the e-mail address from the form and place it into the e-mail form that is sent to the recipient. Otherwise, the recipient will receive e-mail from "No-Email_Given@whatever.com.

If you would like a more robust form processing script try FormMail from Matt's Script Archive. This will give you the ability to add additional functionality to your forms such as required fields, etc.. Just place the FormMail.pl file in your cgi-bin and read the informative and easy to follow readme file that accompanies the script. For more information on your cgi-bin visit the CGI section of this tutorial.