cPanel and Webmail - cPanel Tutorials Ch.3

Those new to web hosting are likely to have email accounts from other Internet Service Providers or Yahoo.  You’ve been receiving mail there for years, so why even worry about creating new accounts?  Here a few reasons why you may think to use these additional email domains available on your website.

Credibility - Using an email address that relates to your domain adds to your professional appeal.  This is certainly an advantage when operating an online business.  joe@joestools.com is certainly more presentable than joe2000@yahoo.com    

Control - Emails included with your web hosting server will be much more manageable than one from an IP. cPanel allows you to forward automatic emails to multiple individuals, modify your accounts, implement auto-responders and more.  Users can also select how they’d like to access email.  This can be done securely from any browser.

Enhanced Spam Defense -   Several servers come equipped with anti spam filters with effective spam fighting functions.  

All your email functions may be accessed by clicking the “mail button” on the primary cPanel screen.

SET UP YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNTS  
  
Creating email domains via the cPanel is a fairly simple process.  Here are a few tips.  

- To begin setting up email accounts you must enter cPanel.  

- From there you enter a username and password.  

- Click on the “mail” icon. 

- Click “POP Email Accounts” from the menu section.

- Find the “Add Account” area.  Type in the new email address and passwords in the appropriate fields.  

- Click “Add”.

The new accounts have now been added and should work fine.  Any issues you may have can normally be resolved by your web host.

DELETE EMAIL ACCOUNTS

Deleting email accounts from cPanel is just as easy as creating them.  

- To begin deleting email accounts you must enter cPanel  

- From there you enter a username and password.  

- Click “POP Email Account” from the menu.  This will detail all existing accounts that have been added to the account.  

- To delete an account select it by checking the red circle beside it. 

REDIRECTING AND FORWARDING EMAIL
 
Redirecting and forwarding email to other domains shows creativity.  Lets say you have an account forjoe@joe.com.  You may wish to display a more efficient business by adding submissions@joe.com.  Your new domain can be redirected to the primary account and keep your message system simple and easy to manage.  

Many servers permit users unlimited forwards to redirect to a single account.  To makesubmissions@joe.com point to joe@joe.com follow these directions.

- Log into cPanel

- Click “Mail”

- Click “Forwarding” 

- Click “Add Forwarder”

You will then see your email domain with an empty box beside it that should be filled out with the address to be forwarded to.  

- Click “Add Forward” below and the process is complete.

SPAM SETTINGS

Most of us are familiar with the term “SPAM”.  This is the designated name for unsolicited email messages delivered to your inbox.  Spam Assassin is one filtering system used with cPanel to regulate this ongoing problem.  To access your spam settings follow the directions below.

- Log into cPanel

- Click “mail”

- Click “Spam Assassin” or what ever application the host supports

- Click “manage” beside the email domain you would like to regulate.  

- Click “configure” to determine how long the message will remain in the queue for your approval.

Email Autoresponders - cPanel Tutorials Ch.4

We have already learned that what has made cPanel such a widely used program for web hosting is its extensive email functions.  Aside from forwarding and redirecting messages cPanel also allows you to set email auto-responders.

A lot of users new to web hosting have a level of confusion concerning the “Auto-responder” tab in the cPanel.  This section will thoroughly describe this function and explain how to use it.

WHAT ARE AUTO-RESPONDERS?

The definition of auto-responders is rather clear cut and straight forward.  To keep it simple, they are email messages sent automatically when email is delivered for a specific account.  Here is a perfect example:  

After receiving your computer software in the mail you have some concerns about the condition in which it arrived.  You search the invoice for contact information and are instantly referred to an email address for a company representative.  You open your mail server and type a message into the body of the email.  After clicking the send button you receive a message similar to this, “On vacation, will return next week” or “Out of the office until tomorrow”.  This is the result of an auto-responder.

Several web hosting services provide a free auto-responder that can be found within your cPanel.  They are typically one shot responders that allow you to enable others to receive your documents via email.  Most browsers also permit users to have multiple auto-responders per account.  This can be done with plain text or even HTML scripts that allow you to select from a vast number of character sets.

SETTING UP AUTO-RESPONDERS

Using the auto-responder feature is a fairly simple process.  Below are detailed directions.

- First login into cPanel using the appropriate address

- Enter your username and password

- After you’ve reached the main page of cPanel you will observe several icons.  The one you are looking for is titled “mail”.  

- After clicking on that you will be prompted with a screen that displays several options.  You will search for the “auto-responder” tab which should be the fourth selection from the top.  

- After clicking the auto-responder tab you will be taken to a fresh screen with numerous boxed 
categories that will read something like this:

Email:
From:
Subject:
Character Set:
HTML Message:
Body:  

Email: Starting from this line you will type in the prefix for email address that you will use.  On the right side of it is a drop down box.  Click on that and choose the domain or subdomain it’s relevant to.

Category: In this section you will type in just who the email will be sent from.  This may include a name, particular email address and more.

Subject: In this line you will of course type in the email’s subject.  This is what recipients will see before even opening the mail.  

Character Set: In this line you click the drop down menu to select the character of your choosing.  On most occasions there will be no need to make adjustments in this area.

HTML Message: This option allows you to add vibrant life to emails via HTML scripts.  By enabling it you can drop scripts into the body of an email and it will automatically be translated and sent with the message.
  
Body: This is perhaps the most important part of auto-responder.  In this section you fill in the text designated for individuals to read once the automatic response is sent out.  

Lastly you will find a “create” tab at the bottom of the page.  Click on this and you will be taken to a new screen that should explain if your “auto-responder” was created successfully.

Fantastico - cPanel Tutorial Ch.5

Fantastico is known as a popular library for commercial scripts.  It is commonly used as a third party add-on that works with cPanel.  It was designed to automatically install applications into a website and eliminate the need to upload files through FTP.  These scripts are executed from the administrative area of your website.  Websites running Fantastico scripts are said to be installed by over 10, 000 servers.  With millions of users on a global scale it is easily the most used product of its kind.

Fantastico is generally used at the creation of a new website or when new applications are added.
These scripts are able to create tables within a database, install other software and modify the configuration files of the web server.  It also acts an installation program for scripts in a primary domain, add-on domain, subdomain or even a directory.  This provides users with the ability to install a variety of different scripts.  

Fantastico is an open source software that welcomes many different components.  Some of the most frequently used scripts available for installation are listed below:

- Blog Scripts: Wordpress, Nucleaus, b2evolution
- Content Management Systems: Drupal, Joomla, Mambo, PHP Nuke, Post Nuke Siteframe and more.
- Customer Support: PHP support tickets, Help Center Live, Support Logic Helpdesk, Support
 Service Manager.
- Discussion Boards: PHPBB2, SMF
- E-commmerce: Zen Cart, OS Commerce, CubeCart
- FAQ: FaqMasterFlex
- Guestbooks: Viper Guestbook
- Hosting Billing: PHP Coin, Account Lab Plus
- Image Galleries: 4images Gallery, Coppermine Photo Gallery
- Mailing List: - PHPlist
- Surveys and Polls: PHP Surveyor, Advanced Poll
- Project Management: PHP Projekt, dotProject
- Site Builders: Templates Express
- Wiki: TikiWike, PHP Wiki

MORE SCRIPTS

Moodle, Noah’s Classifieds, Open-Reality, PHP Auction, PHP Form Generator, PHPAds New and Web Calender.

Fantastico integrates smoothly with well over 50 web applications, enabling you to take full control of your website. 

INSTALLING FANTASTICO ON CPANEL 

The installation of Fantastico does not require the download of any files.  After opening your server type in the following command:

cd /usr/local/cpanel/whostmgr/docroot 
rm -Rf fantastico* 
wget -N http://netenberg.com/files/free/fantasticoinstaller.tgz 
tar xzpf fantasticoinstaller.tgz 
rm -f fantasticoinstaller.tgz 

After logging into the cPanel you should notice an icon for the latest version of Fantastico.  By clicking the icon you will be taken to a new page.  Find the install tab and click it.  You will then follow these installation steps:

- Select the version of Fantastico you wish to install onto the cPanel.
- Leave your theme area set to default unless you already have one in mind.
- Check all your scripts as active
- Keep the wget binary path unless you plan to make adjustments.  Leaving it this way is typically suitable for most users.
- Select the appropriate drive for disk space
- Make adjustments to CRON notifications.  You can leave them off unless you plan receive them in your email.
- Choose to receive automatic updates on Fantastico on a daily basis.

After these settings have been made you find the “install” tab and click it.  Installation may take a few minutes before all files are processed.  When installation is complete you will activate Fantastico via the “Features Manager” in cPanel.  After checking the box next to Fantastico you simply click “save” and the application is activated.

Using PHP - cPanel Tutorial Ch.6

What exactly is PHP?  It just happens to be the oldest and perhaps the most frequently used language on the web.  Many of the sites you view online are composed of PHP scripts.  PHP works with your cPanel to enhance the visual effects of your site among other things.  

One common function of PHP in regard to the cPanel is to create a CRON JOB.  Cron jobs are simply automated tasks that are executed over a Linux server, very much like SCHEDULED TASKS on a Windows server.  The purpose is to allow users to execute an important process without manually starting it every day.  Below is a perfect example:

Let’s just say that your website is hosting an auction.  It must operate on fixed period; something similar to what you find on Ebay.  We will use an example of five days here before the bidding ends.  So what happens when the bidding period has come to a close?  Your database will display a message letting visitors know that the auction has ended.  PHP cron jobs allow you to automatically restart the process in the event that no bids were made.

PHP scripts handle the maintenance of these functions.  They also allow you to execute cron jobs that run on preferred intervals. The user looking to operate several tasks on different schedules has the luxury of creating multiple cron jobs to manage them.

SETTING UP A CRON JOB

- First login into your cPanel
- click the cron jobs icon located towards the bottom of the main page
- Choose the time you want the PHP script to run.  For instance, selecting 30 means that your script will run for thirty minutes on whatever day and time you choose.
- Type in the command to run on the cPanel to load your scripts.  The command should resemble something like this:  /usr/local/bin/php -f /home/myusername/scripts/ascript.php.  

Take note that the first part of the command is your path to PHP.  The next part is the actual path to your file.  If this command does not work you should certainly inquire with your web hosting server to find what does.

PHP has many more functions as it relates to your cPanel.  Here is list of programs that are written in PHP scripts to liven your website.

- Create Custom Mailboxes Using cPanel - This multi named software was designed for email utilities.  It helps the user create dazzling automated email forms and creates eye catching mailboxes.

- Cpanelmail - PHP brings out the best in this reliable tool.  It allows the user to create an email account with ease.

- Super Web-Mail - This script allows you to implement your domain into an email account.  It also permits others to have their own accounts.  The password protected area allows you to maintain control while setting up contact info for the staff.

We previously learned that one of the many benefits of cPanel was its email features.  We now know that PHP scripts are a large part behind what makes the magic happen.

phpMyAdmin - cPanel Tutorial Ch.7

cPanel comes readily available on most web hosting servers you will run across these days.  One of its many functions is allowing users to manage their databases; this includes creating, modifying and even deleting tables.  There are a few things you will not be able to do such as retrieving selective backups, having the ability to backup only certain tables in a database or execute queries.  

This is where PHPMyAdmin comes in.  This user friendly application was designed to make the management of your website easy, in this case your web hosting server that runs with a cPanel.  PHPMyAdmin simplifies the process of maintaining your databases, specifically those scripted on MySQL.  

The PHPMyAdmin application is essentially composed of PHP scripts, the language of the web. 
The control it gives you over a database is remarkable.  PHPMyAdmin currently allows you to:

- create and drop a database
- create, copy and alter tables 
- delete, modify and create fields
- execute any database statement with the inclusion of batch queries
- load text into your tables
- import and export data
- administrate a primary database

ACCESSING PHPMyAdmin IN CPANEL

PHPMyAdmin can be accessed through the “Databases” panel of your website.  This will typically be labeled “MySQL”.  You should notice a link for PHPMyAdmin near the bottom of the page.  After clicking this you will now be able to maintain your databases.  Let’s go further into the process and detail how PHPMyAdmin will manage a database you plan to create.

- Create a MySQL user ID and password for whom ever will access to the database
- Click “Add User”
- Assign privileges to the user; they can alter, create, create temporary tables, delete, drop, select, insert, update, reference, index or lock tables.  In this instance we will check the “all” box.  
- Click “Add User To DB”
- Download the zipped config.inc.php file and extract the main component
- Open this in your text editor screen and modify the lines with your, IP address or web host and the username you created above
- Save the file and close the screen
- Go back and login in your cPanel
- Create a directory such as “phpmyadminstaff_html”
- Upload all your content into the directory you created

From there installation is complete and PHPMyAdmin can be used to effectively manage your database.  Be sure to add password protection the directory for security measures.

MORE ON PHPMYADMIN

The PHPMyAdmin application is widely used because of its actual interaction with the database.  This program is currently available in over fifty languages.  Since PHPMyAdmin is mainly configured for MySQL there are other versions that rival its function with cPanel.  PHPPGAdmin works similar to maintain databases of PostgreSQL.  PHPMSAdmin is designed to manage Microsoft SQL Servers.  While it has many of the same capabilities it includes no actual codes from the PHPMyAdmin application.  The closest tool in resemblance would be PHPMinAdmin.  This includes all the most crucial features of PHPMyAdmin but is composed of only one PHP file.

PHPMyAdmin typically comes free with most web hosting servers.