Getting in touch
Getting in touch
Email us at: contact@digitalmountain.com.au
Telephone
Australia-wide: 1800 702 203
Post
Mail to:
Digital Mountain
PO BOX 546
Hazelbrook
2779, NSW
Australia
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Basics
Basics
Okay, so now what?
You've got a new web site up and running. Okay, so now what? You've probably got a few questions on how it's organised and what you can do with it.
Q.Is this information about your site?
A.If we built it and we host it, almost definitely.
If your site has more functionality and depth than a few static pages, then chances are either you or we will be managing the site using cPanel and Drupal, or another content management system like Drupal.
cPanel
What's cPanel do?
'cPanel' is short for 'control panel'. It enables you to administer many aspects of your site. For example, you can create and delete email addresses, view comprehensive statistics about site visitors, or find out how much space your web site takes up. The Wikipedia screenshot gives a pretty good idea of the scope of cPanel. Some of it will be gobbledy-gook. At the very least, you'll get a sense that cPanel performs a whole range of web site functions. Be warned that cPanel also offers to the uninitiated the power to derail, break, or even completely erase your web site, so be cautious if you really don't know what you are doing.
How do I access my cPanel?
Type your web site address into your web browser, or click on your site bookmark, and at the end of your web site address add cpanel. For example, www.yourwebsite.com would look like www.yourwebsite.com/cpanel. Then hit 'Go', or enter, and a box will pop up where you need to enter your cPanel user name and password. If we haven't provided you with your cPanel user name and password, ask us for it.
So now you're in cPanel
Stuff you might particularly want to know about:
- Mail: the cPanel manual gives clear instructions for accessing, creating, and deleting email accounts, amongst other things.
- Site statistics: To find out detailed information about visitors to your site, click on the 'Web/FTP Stats' icon, probably about the fourth row down the page. You get to choose from a bunch of different site statistics tools. Awstats is pretty good.
Drupal
What's Drupal?
Drupal is a type of 'content management system'. A content management system, is, as the name suggests, a system designed to manage the content of your web site, typically with a high level of functionality.
You may remember a time, not too long ago, when web pages were largely limited to text and pictures, and you didn't interact much with them except to read them and click on links to other pages to read. Some web sites still don't require anything much more than that. Most web sites, however, now provide a much richer experience and more functionality. You can shop on them, add your own comments to them, chat with other site visitors, watch videos, or listen to radio programs, to name only a few. In short, building your site with a content management system such as Drupal enables us to provide you with a site capable of performing just about any function you've seen on the web without the added expense of scripting it all from scratch. What might have required two or three hundred hours to script without a content management system would now take twenty or thirty hours to create.
Drupal is also 'open source', meaning the scripting from which it is created is openly available for people to study, add to, and make use of.
You can get a good overview of Drupal at Wikipaedia.
What's 'modules' got to do with it?
A module is a function that can be added on to your content management system, such as a blog or an online poll. Drupal comes pre-packed with commonly used modules, called 'core' modules, and you can add additional modules to suit your needs. Anybody with an interest in scripting can create a module for other Drupal users to download, so the list of Drupal modules is huge.
One or two modules, for example
Front Page
The Front Page module allows different front pages to be displayed for different types of users and also allows you to have splash pages or front pages for your site with a different layout to the default theme/style.
To edit your front page/s, click on Home » Administer » Site configuration » Advanced front page settings. You will then see a number of links starting with 'Front page for...', designating page content for each kind of site user - anonymous (not logged in), authenticated (logged in), and other site roles you might have. A warning for the uninitiated, unless you are confident with html, you ought to copy-paste the contents into a html editing program, to edit in a WYSIWYG environment. Alternatively, get somebody who can work in html to do the update for you.
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Resources
Resources
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Making payments
Making payments
Cheque or money order
Post your cheque or money order to Digital Mountain at:
PO BOX 546
Hazelbrook
2779, NSW
Australia
Internet banking
Deposit to:
Commonwealth Bank
Account Name: Digital Mountain
BSB Number: 062559
Account Number: 10255074
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