Managing Files with cPanel’s File Manager

cPanel comes integrated with numerous tools and one of the most useful is the File Manager.  This handy utility allows you to manage your files on the server via HTTP rather than a third-party FTP client such as FileZilla.  It lets you upload files, create or delete files, create folders and more.  In this tutorial we show you how to utilize some of the basic functions in the File Manager.

Creating a Folder

- To get started, locate and click on the “File Manager” icon in the “File” section of cPanel.

Once inside, you will find managing options at the top of the screen along with directories and folders on the left.  The File Manager contains all your website files, therefore, creating folders allows for better structure and organization.  You will find that this greatly simplifies the file maintenance process.

- To create a new folder, click on the “New Folder” link

- Next, enter a name for the new folder and specify the destination where it will be created.

- To finish up, simply click the “Create New Folder” button and the new folder will be listed in the specified location.

Upload Files

- To upload a new file, choose the folder you want to upload files to from the navigation pane on the left.

- Next, locate and click on the “Upload” icon at the top of the screen.

- In the next window, click “Browse” and locate the files you want to upload from your hard drive or storage media.

- Double-click on the desired file and the upload process will start immediately.

You can also upload multiple files by clicking on the “Add Another Upload Box” link.  Simply repeat these steps for all the files you want to upload.

The files you upload to the server can be easily downloaded to your hard drive through the “Download” option.

Create New Files

Creating new files through the File Manager is simple, possibly easier than creating them on your PC.

- To get started, simply click on the “New File” link.

- Next, enter a name for the file you want to create.  Be sure to add the appropriate extension.  So if you create a PHP file, its extension will be .php.

- Choose the destination where you want the file to be saved.

- Lastly, click “Create New File” button and the file will be created.

Edit Files

The edit feature in the File Manager lets you make immediate changes without needing to upload new versions of your files.  This is particularly useful for relatively small changes.

- Find the folder where the file is located and click it.

- Click on the “Edit” link at the top of the screen.

- When the new window displays, alter the text of the file to your specific needs

- After making the necessary alterations, click on the “Save Changes” button.

The changes you made should take effect immediately.

Additional Features

Other functions in the File Manager include advanced editors such as the Code and HTML Editor, Extract and Compression tools, and the ability change permissions for your files.  For those users who don’t feel comfortable working with FTP tools, the File Manager in cPanel makes the perfect alternative.

Getting HotLink Protection from cPanel

After putting significant time and effort into building your website, you check your web stats and come to find that an unscrupulous webmaster has made you the latest victim of hotlinking.  A perfect example of hotlinking would be another site using HTML to display images from your site.  Not only are they stealing your data, but precious bandwidth as well.  While preventing the theft of your website data is difficult, there is a way to stop people from leaching off your monthly bandwidth.

HotLink Protection

The cPanel control panel is equipped with a useful feature called HotLink protection.  As the name implies, this feature prevents other webmasters from directly linking to the files on your site, thus allowing you to save preserve precious bandwidth.  This tutorial will show you how to use the HotLink protection feature within cPanel.

Enabling and Configuring HotLink Protection

- From the main page of cPanel, locate and click on the “HotLink Protection” icon under the “Security” category.

On the next page, you will see that the HotLink Protection feature is disabled.  Before enabling it, you should review the domains underneath “URLs to Allow Access”.  You should see URLs for all the domains you are hosting on the server.  Specify the ones you want to have access and move onto the next step.

- In the “Block direct access for these extensions (separate by commas)”, enter the extensions you want to block direct access from.  These could be extensions such as jpg, jpeg, gif, png, bmp, etc.

- To allow direct requests to the image URL from your browser, check the “Allow direct requests” option.  This option must be checked when enabling HotLink Protection for files you want to be viewed in QuickTime by your visitors.

- In the “Redirect request to this URL” box, enter the URL you want request for your images to be redirected to.

- Lastly, click the “Enable” tab at the top of the screen or the “Submit tab at the bottom of the screen.  Both will provide the same results by enabling the HotLink Protection.

cPanel will give notification that HotLink Protection has been enabled for the specified URLs.

Give it a Try

After making the configurations, you can perform a test to see if the HotLink Protection feature is working.  If you don’t have a website located on another server, use MySpace or a similar site that allows you to add images.  When trying to hotlink one of your images from another site, you should be greeted by an error message either denying the request or redirected to the URL that you specified in the configuration steps.

Conclusion

Working with the HotLink Protection feature in cPanel is fairly easy.  The entire process should take you no longer than a couple of minutes to complete.  Keep in mind that this will not prevent people from copying your text or images and uploading them to their server.  However, it will protect you from the lazier thieves and most importantly, stop them from stealing your bandwidth.

cPanel Tutorial: Installing SohoLaunch Site Builder

When purchasing a web hosting plan, there is a great chance that your account is already equipped with a default site builder.  This could be the RV Builder utility or similar program.  While these tools may perform the needed services, many prefer more powerful and comprehensive applications to build their site with.  If this sounds like you, a handy little software tool known as SohoLaunch may be of interest.

What is SohoLaunch?

SoloLaunch is a user-friendly software program that allows you to easily build and maintain a professional website regardless of experience.  You don’t have to know PHP, ASP or even programming technologies as basic as HTML.  Unlike applications such as Microsoft FrontPage and Dreamweaver, you don’t have to install SohoLaunch on your local hard drive. The software operates on your host’s web server and can be directly accessed from a web-based interface. Best of all, the program is free to use as it comes included with your web hosting account.  Getting started is easy, but first you have to make the installation, which is what we will discuss in this cPanel tutorial.

How to Install SohoLaunch Via cPanel

- Log into your cPanel account, locate and click on the “Fantastico” icon at the bottom of the main page.

- Under the “Site Builders” category, click on the link that reads “SohoLaunch Pro Edition”.

- On the new page, you should see information regarding the SohoLauch application.  Click on the “New Installation” link to proceed with the installation.

Installing SohoLaunch is much easier and even faster than other Fantastico scripts.  All you have to do is select the domain you want to install the software on.  You will also be required to create a username and password to designate as your administrative credentials.  Keep in mind that SohoLaunch requires a clean directory for a successful installation.  If you already have a website stored on your root directory, you will have to create a separate one to install the program.  After entering the required information, simply the click “Install Pro Edition” tab.

When the next page loads, Fantastico will let you know that it needs to create a MySQL database and user in order to install the software.  Simply click on “Finish Installation” and wait for Fantastico to work its magic.  This process shouldn’t take long at all.  Once the process is complete, Fantastico will give notification and provide a link that takes you directly to the SohoLaunch administrative area.  From there, you can log in and start building your new website.

Something to Keep in Mind

Take note that only the basic version of SohoLaunch is free.  The full functionality of the software is generally provided on a 15-day trial basis.  After this, advanced features such as member logins and the integrated shopping cart will be disabled while all the standard features are free fore life.  In order to enjoy the advanced functionality, you would need to purchase a software license from the official SohoLaunch website. Once you upgrade, all the additions made will be returned as you created them.

How to Install Joomla in cPanel

Joomla is one of the most widely used content manage systems available.  Experienced users prefer the software because of its power while beginners choose Joomla for its ease of use.  With the release of version 1.5 came a level of simplicity that even allows users with no technical knowledge to excel.  There is a lot you can do with this amazing CMS, but before you can experience Joomla, the software must be installed on the server you are using.  This easiest way to do this is through the cPanel control panel.

cPanel is a highly functional control panel and gives you the ability to install Joomla in two different ways.  You can download the application from the Joomla website, upload the files to your root directory and perform a manual installation, or install it automatically via Fantastico.  The manual option is recommended for advanced users who want to start customizing the software from the installation.  It is also best for those with a knowledge of FTP, file permissions, databases and other web technologies.  This tutorial will provide instructions on the easiest method, which is installing Joomla through Fantastico.

Fantastico Installation

To install Joomla, log into your cPanel account, locate and click on the “Fantastico” icon at the bottom of the page.

When Fantastico opens, you will see a list of add-on programs that came free with your web hosting account on the left side of the page.  Under “Content Management”, locate and click “Joomla”.  You will then be prompted to enter information that will be specific to your Joomla website.  The areas you will see are as follows:

Install in directory - This field is for the location where the Joomla installation will be placed on the server.  If you plan to run the CMS from your home directory, simply leave this field blank.

Admin access data - Enter the username and password that will be used to access the Joomla administrative panel.

Base configuration admin e-mail - Enter the email address that will be used as the contact source for your Joomla website.

Admin full name - Enter your full name

Site name - Enter the name you want displayed on the front page of your website.

After you have correctly entered all the required information, click on the “Install Joomla” button.  A new page will display asking that you “confirm the installation.”  Once you confirm, the process should only take a few minutes and when it is complete, you will receive confirmation of a successful installation.  You will then be provided with the URL to the administrative area which should be written down or bookmarked.  There should be a link that you directly there.  Click on the link, enter your login details and start building your Joomla site.

Joomla Requirements

Whether you choose a manual installation or Fantastico, take note that a successful installation of Joomla 1.5 requires a few vital elements.  Your web hosting provider’s server will need to be equipped with Apache 1.13.19 or higher, MySQL 3.23 or higher and PHP 4.4.3 or higher.

How to Install Tiki Wiki in cPanel

TikiWiki is a content management system/groupware application commonly used to build content-rich websites and portals.  It can also be used to create everything from blogs and forums to knowledge bases and structured wikis like those you will find on Wikipedia and much more.  Like most content management systems, this one can be greatly enhanced through various add-on modules.  This tutorial will provide you step by step instructions for installing Tiki Wiki through your cPanel control panel.

cPanel gives you two ways to install TikiWiki.  You can install the software manually, or through Fantastico, which is integrated into cPanel.  We will go over both installation methods.

Fantastico Installation

Login into your cPanel account.

Locate and click the “Fatastico” icon at the bottom of the main page.

When Fanstastico opens, you will see a list of add-on programs that came included with your web hosting account.  Under “Content Management”, locate and click on “TikiWiki”.

To right of the page, click the “New Installation” tab.

The next step of the installation process calls for you to enter the directory where you want the TikiWiki application to be placed.  If you want it installed on your root directory, simply leave this field blank.

Below you will be required to enter the following information:

• Install in directory

• Admin access data

• Base configuration admin e-mail

• Admin full name

• Site name

Enter the required information and click on the “Install TikiWiki” tab.

On the next page, you will see a summary of the installation.  After reading this, click on “Finish Installation”.  From here you will provided with a link that takes you directly to the administrative area where you can login and start building your TikiWiki site.

Manual Installation

To install the software manually, visit the official TikiWiki site and download the latest version of the application to your local hard drive.  Unzip the file you downloaded to a specified directory of your choosing

Upload the extracted files to your web host’s sever on a specified directory of your choosing.  To do this, you will need an FTP client.

Login into your cPanel account, locate and click the “MySQL Databases” icon.

From the MySQL main page, create a database for the TikiWiki software.  Save this information, along with the username and password for later use.

After successfully creating a MySQL database, go to the location where the files you recently uploaded are stored.  An installation wizard will launch and ask that you enter the credentials for your database.

Once you enter these details, you will be prompted to select the installation profile.  You can choose the default option.

From here, the wizard will create the database tables and entries.  Once complete, you will be provided with results that let you know if the installation was successful.  You should then be provided with a link that takes you directly to the administrative area where you can login and start building your Tiki Wiki site.

Tiki Wiki Requirements

In order to get the best out of Tiki Wiki, your server must be equipped with the Apache web server, PHP 4 or higher and MySQL 4.1 or higher.  Postgre SQL and MS SQL are only partially supported and therefore not recommended.