When you sign up for colgate.domains, you get space on a Web host that is associated with the project. There are a few things you need to know about the Web host that will make it easier to understand what you can do with your new space.

The Web server is the main computer that is associated with the colgate.domains hosting account. It is literally a computer – a computer that has special software on it that allows it to be accessible via the Web. The files that run your applications, images or video you upload, or any other files you upload into your Web space are stored on this server.

(For comparison’s sake, your desktop or laptop computer, by default, doesn’t allow this; I can’t access files on your computer through a Web browser by default. You CAN actually install Web server software on your own computer, essentially making your files accessible over the Web.)

In order to run, a Web server has an operating system installed and some kind of Web server software. The colgate.domains server runs the 'LINUX' operating system and an 'APACHE' Web server.

In addition to the Web server, there is also an associated database server. This is another computer, but it is configured with software that allows it to host databases. It is also connected to your Web server so that your applications (hosted on the Web server) can retrieve data (from databases hosted on the database server).

Databases come in LOTS of varieties. The kind of database you can use for a Web application depends on the kind of software that’s installed on the database server. The colgate.domains server can run 'MYSQL' databases.

When you install open-source software on your Web account, it’s going to be written in some programming language. Your Web server has software installed on it that allows it to understand different languages. If you install software that’s written in a language that your Web server doesn’t read, it won’t work.

The colgate.domains server has software installed on it that allows it to understand 'PHP', 'PERL', and 'PYTHON'.

If you take a look at all the descriptions above, you can determine that we are running what is known as a LAMP server for colgate.domains:

• Linux (operating system)
• Apache (Web server)
• MySQL (database server)
• PHP/PERL/PYTHON (programming language)

Applications that are written for LAMP environments will, presumably, run on the server. HOWEVER, some applications do require additional extensions or libraries that aren’t included, by default, in a LAMP environment. The applications you can install via Installatron (in cPanel) should work just fine.

What makes LAMP environments special is that all of the component parts are open-source. Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, PERL, and PYTHON are all open-source programs or systems. Anyone can download them (for free) and install them. Anyone can also modify them and redistribute them. As a result, there are lots of online resources for using these systems that have been built by their communities of users. But, also as a result, since you’re not paying for these systems, you can’t just call up a company and ask them to fix a problem.

Static Websites

In the early days of the Web, almost all Web sites were what is known as 'static sites.' Content (text, images, video, audio, etc), was placed or embedded in a file in which HTML tags were used to format it. If you looked at the actual contents of the file, you might see something like this:

The content and the tags lived side-by-side. To edit the page, you’d open up the file (on your own computer) in a program capable of editing HTML files and make changes to either the content or the presentation. Every page had to be edited individually, even if the edits you were making were for common elements that appeared on many pages (like menu bars).

From a technical perspective, accessing a static Web site is fairly straightforward. When your computer is connected to the Internet, you can use a Web browser to access files on a Web server (as long as you know the address). The Web server delivers the contents of those files to your browser, and your browser displays them.

Over time, as the Web became more sophisticated, new systems emerged for creating and managing Web sites. These moved beyond the model of having content and HTML tags live in a simple HTML page which your browser accessed and displayed. Instead, these systems were Web applications – software that literally runs on the Web server and makes it possible to manage a Web site, often with very sophisticated features. One feature of these applications is that they separate content and presentation by storing most content (your text, images, etc) and data about the site (the title, options, etc). in a database.

On the Web server, the Web application installs files that are written in some kind of programming language. The server reads this code and obeys any requests in it to access data in the database (which lives on a separate server) and displays it according to the instructions in the code.

Essentially, the data for the site (living in a series of tables in a database on the database server) is entirely separate from the actual presentation of the site (living in the code of the programmed files on the Web server). Special software on both the Web server and the Database server enable the two to speak to each other and work together.

One of the benefits of using a Web application is that you usually don’t need to touch (or even look at!) the code in order to make changes to your content. In addition, editing the site usually involves accessing some kind of control panel through your Web browser and filling out a form, instead of having to download and access files in software on your own computer.

Sometimes when we talk about the difference between dynamic and static content we get bogged down in the idea of whether or not the content is “fresh” (dynamic, regularly updated) or “old” (static, never updated). How frequently you update your content has nothing to do with what kind of system you are using to manage your site. You can manage a static Web site (as described above) and update the content every day. You can also have a dynamic Web site (running something like WordPress) and never change the content after you create it.

Generally speaking, it IS easier to regularly update content on a dynamic Web site because the Web application just makes it easier. Sometimes, even when you just want a very basic page or placeholder, it’s easier to install a Web application (and only put up a single page) then to manually create an HTML page and upload it.

Another aspect of separating content from presentation involves the use of 'Cascading Style Sheets' (CSS). These are special files that live on your Web server and are linked to your Web pages. They contain information (written in a special markup language) about how to make elements on your site look. They allow you, for example, to define in a single location what all Level 1 Headings look like on your site. They are an important aspect of understanding how to separate content from presentation, but they’re not really an aspect of the difference between static and dynamic sites. Both static and dynamic sites can use style sheets.

One aspect of colgate.domains that users may find a bit complicated at first is understanding the different accounts (and associated passwords) that you can manage as part of your participation in the project. This article outlines the types of accounts that you are likely to have, what they are for, and how you go about resetting passwords on each of them.

When you first sign-up for your domain and hosting, a cPanel account will be generated that provides you with access to your slice of the colgate.domains Web server. Your cPanel account is automatically associated with your Colgate username. Therefore, your Colgate user name will grant you access to your cPanel account.

Every time you install a new application in cPanel, an Administrator Account for that application will be created. You will likely use these accounts very often – every time you need to login to your application to manage the associated Web site, you will use this account.

For example, if you install WordPress to manage your Web site, every time you need to add content to WordPress, change your theme, approve comments, etc. you will use this account to login.

Usually, you will be given the opportunity to choose the username and password for that account. We recommend choosing something that you are likely to remember but that is strong and secure.

Upon installation, you will likely receive an email confirming the user-id/password combination you chose. It will also have information about how to access the login page for that application. You may wish to make sure you don’t delete this message.

Depending on the application you’re working with, managing and resetting the password for this account will vary. If you’ve used Installatron (in cPanel) to install the application, however, you can always review the account credentials:

• Login to cPanel through https://colgate.domains/dashboard/
• Click the Installatron icon in the Software/Services section.
• Find the application you installed under My Applications.
• Click the Edit button (this looks like a blue wrench).
• Scroll down to find the Administrator Username and Password.

In addition, most applications should have some kind of password reset link on the login page.

In addition to the three account types outlined above, there are a few other kinds of accounts you may have as part of colgate.domains:

• FTP: If you set up FTP on your account, you will need to set up an account.
• Application User Accounts: In addition to the Administrator Account that you set up when installing an application, most applications will also let you set up user accounts.

There may be times when you need to transfer files to or from your space on your Web server. There are a number of scenarios when this might be necessary:

• • You’re working with an application that allows you to install plugins/extensions, but the files need to be manually moved to the server in order to add them. (Note: This is NOT required with WordPress which allows you to install plugins through the backend in your browser.)

• • You’ve developed a custom site/pages using a Web design program, and you need to upload the files you created to the server

• You’re installing an application that isn’t part of the applications in Installatron.

One way to upload files is by using the File Manager that is part of cPanel. However, sometimes you’ll find it easier/necessary to use FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, to move files to the server. This can be particularly useful if you’re working with a web space where you’re not the owner (so you don’t have access to the File Manager in cPanel) or if you need to provide file access to someone else to your space on the Web server.

File Transfer Protocol is a method that allows you to remotely move files between a Web server and another computer – usually your local/personal computer. Using a pre-defined FTP account (with a username and password), you can configure an FTP client (a program you run on your computer that allows you to transfer files via FTP.

Note: FTP is not a secure protocol!  Your password and all FTP file transfer traffic are not encrypted. You should therefore no

There are lots of FTP clients that you can use; some are free and some are not. A few free ones you might consider:

• • FileZilla (Mac & PC)

• CyberDuck (Mac & PC)

For the purpose of this tutorial, we’ll show you how to set up FTP in FileZilla, but you should be able to generalize these instructions to use in any FTP client.

If you need to FTP to your the Web server, or if you’re setting up an FTP account for someone else to use to FTP to your space, you’ll need to start in your cPanel:

1. 1. Login to your colgate.domains account cPanel
      

1. 1. In the Search Box at the top of the page, search for “FTP”, and click the FTP Accounts icon that appears.

1. 1. You’ll have the option to create a new FTP account or you can use the default master SSH/SFTP account. To create an account, fill out the Add FTP Account form with a username and password. By default, the new FTP account will be limited to a directory with the same name as the account you’re creating under your public_html (or subdomain) directory but you can change this before creation.
   2. NOTE: FTP is not a secure protocol!  Your password and all FTP file transfer traffic are not encrypted. You should therefore not re-use current passwords here. 
   3. When you’re done, click Create FTP Account.
      

1. 1. Once you’ve created the new account, you’ll see it appear in the list at the bottom of the FTP Accounts page.
   2. In addition to this and similar accounts you’ve created, below in the Special FTP Accounts section you’ll see the default FTP Accounts. The username for the first of these accounts corresponds to your cPanel username (not your Colgate account name; you will find the username here but must find the password in your account creation email message). This FTP account has full privileges to access any space on your Web server.
   3. Further, this first Special FTP account can be configured to use the secure SFTP connection method which encrypts passwords and any transferred content.

1. 1. For whichever account you will be using for, click the Configure FTP Client link.

1. Write down the username, server, and port information that appears. You will use this (or will provide this to the person you are giving FTP access) along with the password you set in order to configure your FTP client.

Below are links to tutorials for setting up both FileZilla and CyberDuck to connect to you FTP account.

• • FileZilla Configuration Instructions

• CyberDuck Configuration Instructions