Website Hosting FAQ

• What is website hosting?
• Do I have to have my Domain name hosted?
• Can I keep my domain name when I change a host?
• How do I upload my site and/or upload changes to my site?
• What are CGI, PHP, SQL, SSL, etc.?

• What is a domain name?
• Why do I need to register a domain name?
• How will I be able to tell if my desired domain name is already taken?
How do I change my domain name?
• If we move our domain name to your service, does it affect us owning our domain name?
• Does transferring my domain name cause us to change our e-mail addresses?
• What is involved with transferring a domain name?
• What is your Domain Name Re-direction service?

• What is an email alias?
• What does it mean to forward to an email address?
• Why do I need a new email address when I have one through my Internet Service Provider (ISP)?

• What is web traffic logging?
• Do I have to sign up for web traffic/logging software?
• Do I have to host my web site with you in order to use your logging software?
• What time period do we track with our logging software?

If you are a TR sales rep and would like to see more FAQs,
please click here to request a username, password and web site address.

• What is website hosting?
  Hosting a website means giving it a home on the internet. web site hosting refers to the process of publishing a web site so that it is available to the public on the World Wide Web through your domain name.
• Do I have to have my Domain name hosted?
  Yes. It is an international requirement when registering a domain name to provide the details of an active server which is set up to host the domain.
• Can I keep my domain name when I change a host?
  Yes. We recommend that you register your domain name before selecting a hosting plan. If you need help transferring your web site and domain name, Ecreativeworks can make this an easy process for you.
• How do I upload my site and/or upload changes to my site?
  The main method of uploading files to your site's account is by using FTP. When you sign up with a hosting plan, you have the option of getting FTP access that lets you access files in your account. Then you can use a built-in Windows or Internet Explorer FTP client, or some other software that supports FTP such as CuteFTP, WS_FTP, or Windows Commander, to transfer files from your computer to your web site account.
• What are CGI, PHP, SQL, SSL, etc.?
  These acronyms refer to various features such as programming languages, databases, and security that might be available with a hosting plan.

• What is a domain name ?
  A domain name is basically the address of your site on the internet. This site's domain name is "www.ecreativeworks.com." You need to register a domain name before your web site becomes accessible at that address.
• Why do I need to register a domain name?
  Registering a domain name for your business or organization is essential to your marketing efforts. A domain name gives your business a unique identity on the World Wide Web.
• How will I be able to tell if my desired domain name is already taken?
  When you begin registering a domain name, we will search the domain name database (known as "WHOIS") to see if your requested domain name is available.
• How do I change my domain name ?
  Once a domain name is registered, it is unchangeable. Instead, you can register the different domain name you want and stop using the one you don't.
• If we move our domain name to your service, does it affect us owning our domain name?
  No, you own your domain name and the transfer only changes where the name for your site is being managed and how your email is managed.
• Does transferring my domain name cause us to change our email addresses ?
  No, we will set up your email to work the same as it is now if you are using it for mail. In many cases we are able to set up more email addresses for your company or to make sure you are using your domain name in an effective manner.
• What is involved with transferring a domain name?
  The process for transferring a domain name is different for many companies. If you received an account number and password when you registered your current domain name, that information will make the transfer go faster. For older domain names we will put a transfer through and, with the acceptance from your current provider, it should go through in a matter of days. When we put the request through we make sure that your web pages are ready to be presented on our servers and your e-mail is working as it is now.
• What is your Domain Name Re-direction service?
  Domain Name Re-direction allows you to use your new domain name to access or view your existing site. With our re-direction service your new domain name is displayed in the address bar to the user. For example, if you have an existing site (www.thomasregister.com/yourcompany), and you have acquired a new domain name or an additional domain name (www.yourcompany.com), re-direction is a perfect way to get your traffic re-directed to your current site and users will only see your new domain name (www.yourcompany.com) in the address bar.

• What is an email alias?
  An email alias is another name for your email account. It allows for different email addresses to share the same mailbox. It can be used to have mail for a given email address be sent to one or more different recipients. For example, if your email address is janedoe@yourcompany.com and you would like your contacts to send mail to info@yourcompany.com, this can be done by adding "info" as an alias pointing to the "janedoe" mailbox.
• What does it mean to forward to an email address?
  Forwarding to an email address is very similar to an alias for an email address. The difference is that if the two or more email addresses you want to check under one mailbox are in two or more different domains, you must 'forward' the mail from one email address to another email address.
• Why do I need a new email address when I have one through my Internet Service Provider (ISP)?
  If you change your ISP, you will lose your email address. If you had a personal email address and want to keep that one in addition to adding new email address, you may do this using aliases or mail forwarding.

• What is web traffic logging ?
  Using Urchin web traffic logging and statistics software you can look at the activity on your web site. We provide our customers with access to detailed browser-based reports viewable on a simple web interface that are designed for users at all levels. Reports are based on referrals, search engine keywords and click-through visitor navigation, segmented by number of visitors, page views, page hits and bytes.
• Do I have to sign up for web traffic/logging software?
  Web traffic logging software can be started at any time; you just need to notify us.
• Do I have to host my web site with you in order to use your logging software?
  Yes, in order for us to track the activity through your domain name it must be under our management; therefore, we must host the web site.
• What time period do we track with our logging software?
  We update our reports each night and we are able to showing records for each 24-hour period.