Sixie.net Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can I have a website?
A. If you've been a member of the Cybersix Message Board before July 15, 2005, yes, you can. Go
here for details. Otherwise,
email me and we'll see.
Q. How much does it cost?
A. Nothing.
Q. Does it have to be a Cybersix fansite?
A. No. Sixies are quite creative people, and I wanted to provide websites so y'all can strut yer stuff.
Q. I had an old website at sixies.net or sixies.org. Can I move it?
A. Yes. Go
here for details.
Q. I'm a Sixie and have my own domain name. Can you host it?
A. Absolutely! That's one reason why I got this new account in the first place! Details are
here.
Q. How do I manage my website?
A. The webhoster uses CPanel. Add ":2082" to the end of your website name. (www.sixie.net becomes
www.sixie.net:2082) You'll need your user name and password from your sign-up e-mail.
Q. Does the webhoster provide a file manager?
A. Yes, a very good one. Log onto CPanel and click on "File Manager" under "Site Management Tools". Click on the folder icons on the left to go into the folder: clicking on the name brings up a menu in the upper right hand corner allows you to manipulate the folder itself (move it, delete it).
Q. How do I start the HTML editor?
A. Open the CPanel File manager and click on the name of a file. If it is recognized as an HTML file, the menu in the upper right hand corner will have "Html editor" as an option. Click on that, and it'll open the editor and load the file you selected. It's a really good one: I prepared this file using it, and prefer it to Netscape Composer.
Q. How do I get help for CPanel?
A. When you log into CPanel, click on the "help" button at the top right hand part of the page.
Q. Where do the files for my website go?
A. When you first run the
File Manager, you'll be at the top-level directory of your website. Files uploaded here and into most directories will not appear on your website. However, what goes into the "public_html" or "www" directories (they both are the same directory, just different names) WILL appear on your website.
Q. Where do CGI files go?
A. "www/cgi-bin".
Q. How long does it take for my website to become available?
A. If you have a sub-domain of "sixie.net" or "sixies.net", (waiwai.sixies.net), then it should appear immediately. If you have your own domain name, it'll take a few days for the change to your DNS Name Servers to percolate through the system.
Q. What Domain Name Servers should I set my domain name to use?
A. NS39.SECURENET-SERVER.NET and NS40.SECURENET-SERVER.NET.
Q. I forgot my password!
A.
E-mail me with your site name and I'll change it and e-mail a random password to the e-mail that's on file. You can then log in to CPanel and change it to what you want.
Q. I've uploaded pictures and web files to my website, but they don't show up on a web browser.
A. Your stuff must go into the "public_html" or "www" directories. The top level directory is for private stuff.
Q. Into which directory do I put my files? "public_html" or "www"?
A. Either one goes to the same directory: one is an alias, or nickname, for the other. In Unix-ese, this is called a symbolic link.
Q. The script "randhtml.cgi" doesn't work!
A. The html that they want you to insert is incorrect: the required script is already in your cgi-bin. Insert <!--#exec cmd="cgi-bin/randhtml.cgi"--> instead of what they tell you.
Q. My CGI script doesn't work!
A. First, make sure it is in the "www/cgi-bin" directory of your website, that you have the correct path to it (normally "/cgi-bin/<script>"), and that the execution bits are set in the file permissions.
Q. How do I set file permissions?
A. One way to do this is to
start the File Manager, click on the file name, click on "Change File Permissions" in the menu that comes up in the left-hand pane, select which bits to set and reset, then press the "save" button to set the permissions.
Q. I need help to put together my web-site.
A. That's kinda tough without a lot of hand-holding. However,
start up Fantastico and select one of the entries under "Site Builder", "Wiki", "Blogs", or "Content Management" (easiest to hardest.). They'll set up a sample web-site, but they won't do more than simple configuration. Use the
File Manager to upload files and images into the "www" directory.
Q. How the HECK do you get those random images to work?
A. I used "randhtml.cgi"! Log onto your CPanel, go to the "Preinstalled Scripts" section, select "CGI Center", then "Random HTML". Instead of putting text lines in, I put in <img src="/image/<file>.jpg" /> lines and uploaded the images into the "www/images" directory that's already been created for you. I then named the file with an "shtml" suffix to make the magic work! NOTE: Don't use the insertion text they provide. Insert
<!--#exec cmd="cgi-bin/randhtml.cgi"-->
instead of what they tell you, since you already have the script pre-installed in your "www/cgi-bin" directory.
Q. I want to install an image gallery/blog/website management system, but need help installing it.
A. The webhoster provides Fantastico, a web-based installer of various Open Source programs. Log onto your CPanel, go to the "Preinstalled Scripts" section, select "CGI Center", then "Fantastico". Click on each link on the list pane to get a description, a link to the support site, and a link to install it. I've installed and uninstalled several different products, and I'm impressed with how easy it makes installing these packages. MODIFYING them is another thing, however!
Q. I need a free FTP client that can synchronize directories between my computer and my website.
A. One freeware client that seems to work is
FTPShell Client. It free for non-commercial use.