Using the MindSpring Web Hosting Control Panel

MindSpring's Hosting Control Panel gives you hands-on access to your MindSpring Web Hosting Site with (1) tools that help you administrate, design, or upgrade your site, (2) information about services that are available to you as a Hosting Site owner, (3) access to your account options, (4) site statistics and (5) online help.

This chapter will explain how to use the Control Panel and will point you to the appropriate section of this Guide for help in using the specific tools, services and options made accessible through the Control Panel.

For detailed documentation on every tool available in the Control Panel refer to the MindSpring Business Help Desk at http://help.mindspring.com/webhelp You may also use the Help Options menu on the Control Panel itself.

Finding the Control Panel

The Control Panel is a Web page, so you will need to access it through a Web browser. The URL is as follows:

https://control.business.mindspring.com

After entering this URL into the location or address field of your browser, you will be presented with a secure Web page resembling Figure 1-1, which will ask you to log in. To log in, click in the box labeled User ID or Domain and type your Web Hosting User ID, which should look something like www##### or wfp##### .

Figure 1-1: the Control Panel Login Screen

Next, click in the box labeled Password and type your Web Hosting Password. 

Last, click the Log In button. Your Web browser will load the Control Panel. [See Figure 1-2]

Figure 1-2, the Control Panel

Using the Hosting Control Panel

The Control Panel is a Web page that contains two frames. The upper or menu frame allows you to select which Control Panel tool or service you wish to use. Make this selection using the drop-down menus, or the buttons in the lower-right corner of the menu bar. The lower content frame changes each time you make a menu selection and gives you access to the information or tool you have selected. When you first log in to the Control Panel, an introductory message containing important news will fill the content frame.

The Menus: Accessing the Control Panel's Tools and Services

The Hosting Control Panel gives you access to many services and tools available to you. These options are divided into five categories, represented by five drop-down menus. To choose an option from a drop-down menu, click on it, then select the option of your choice from the menu that drops down, and click again.

The options on the Control Panel are categorized by function:

Tip: To find out more about a tool, 1) select it using the Hosting Control Panel drop-down menus, 2) select Help Index from the Help drop-down menu.

Toolbox

• Site Administration Tools
  • File Manager ­ transfer files to or from your hosting site
  • Post Office Manager ­ administer e-mail accounts and FTP drop boxes
  • Site Registration ­ automatically list your site with top search engines
  • Password Protection ­ require a password for certain subdirectories
  • Perl Debugger ­ check the validity of Perl scripts you have installed
  • File Exchange ­ install an area for visitors to upload and download files
• Design Tools
  • Web Creator ­ create a simple web site by filling in the blanks
  • Email Form ­ install a starter e-mail form on your web site
  • Hit Counter ­ install a graphical counter representing visits to your site
  • Guest Book ­ install a form page where visitors can send you their names
  • Message Board ­ install a web page where visitors can post messages
  • Site Search Engine ­ install a web page for searching your site

Advanced Services

• SSL Server ­ learn about using Secure Socket Layer security on your site
• Real Audio ­ learn about using Real Audio files on your site
• Real Video ­ learn about using Real Video files on your site
• Perl ­ learn about using Perl/CGI scripts on your site
• FrontPage Extensions ­ learn about editing your site with FrontPage
• HTML Script ­ learn about using HTML Scripts on your web pages
• PHP ­ learn about using PHP scripts on your web pages

My Account

• Account Info­ view and change your basic account information
• Change Password ­ edit your password
• Change Disk Space ­ add disk space to your site for a fee
• Change Billplan ­ choose a new Web Hosting account bill plan
• Change Webmaster ­ change the webmaster e-mail address for your site

Site Statistics

• Disk Usage ­ display your disk space quota and current usage
• Bandwidth This Month­ display your bandwidth use, and set limits
• Raw Log Download ­ download your site's access log in zip format

Help Options (viewed in a separate help window)

• Help Index ­ display the Web Hosting Help Desk start page
• Contact Support ­ learn how to contact Web Hosting Technical Support
• How To:
  • Get Started ­ learn the basics of your Web Hosting Site
  • Upload Files ­ learn how to transfer files from your computer to your web site
  • Add Forms ­ learn how to use e-mail forms to collect information from visitors
  • Promote Your Site ­ learn how to automatically register your site with popular search engines
  • Use the Control Panel ­ learn how to use the Hosting Control Panel
  • Use POP Email Features ­ learn how to set up and maintain e-mail addresses for your domain