PRE-SIGNUP FAQ: PAID HOSTING - FREE HOSTING

General Pre-Signup Questions

1. My web site relies on one well known PHP-based software/script. How can I find out if your servers support that software?

   First, we have tested the following software/scripts, and they all do work properly on FreeHostingEU web servers:
   - Forums: phpBB, Simple Machines Forum (SMF), YaBB SE;
   - Weblogs: WordPress, b2evolution;
   - CMS: Mambo, Drupal, Joomla, Moodle, Nucleus, WebSiteBaker, phpWebSite, Geeklog, dotProject, PHProjekt, PHP-Nuke, PhpFusion, Xoops;
   - Photo Albums and Guestbooks: 4Images Gallery, Coppermine, AdvancedGuestBook;
   - e-Commerce software: CubeCart, osCommerce, AgoraCart, Zen-cart;
   - Customer support: Help Center Live, PHP Support Tickets, Support-Logic Helpdesk
   
   and, second, you can signup for our free web site hosting plan, install your software and try if it works properly on our servers. It is free to signup and totally risk-free!

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2. What software (PHP, MySQL, Perl) versions does your hosting support?

   PHP version 5.2.17, and PHP version 5.3.6 (you can switch versions)
   MySQL v. 5.1
   Perl version 5.8.4

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3. What is the PHP memory size limit at your web servers?

   It is 16 MB by default.

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4. Does your hosting support PHP 5 and MySQL 5 server?

   FreeHostingEU does support PHP5 (PHP v.5.2.17 and PHP v.5.3.6).
   You can switch PHP versions inside your web hosting account control panel.
   
   Since 15 March 2009 FreeHostingEU supports MySQL 5.1, and we stopped the support of MySQL4 since 2010.

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5. Do you support SSH (secure shell) access at your hosting?

   Yes, both FreeHostingEU paid hosting packages do support SSH access.

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Possible Signup Troubles

1. I try to sign up for your service but I constantly get messages like: "Warning! Check your security code!". I am sure I type the correct code. What's wrong?

   Please make sure to turn cookies in your browser ON. This should resolve the issue. However, if you still can not pass through the anti-bots protection, please disable any firewalls and ads/spyware blocking software that you might have on your PC.

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2. I have not received my welcome email, so I do not know what are my login details. What should I do in this case?

   First, please wait for about 24 hours, to allow all the middle-man providers to resolve their issues with delayed delivery. Perhaps the welcome email is on its way to your inbox.
   
   Second, please carefully check your spam/junk/trash folders. Perhaps the welcome email casually got filtered at your email account. This can happen due to improperly setup email filters. Please also make sure your mailbox/filters accept emails from @freehostingeu.com.
   
   And finally, it is also possible that the mail server you are using has blocked the welcome email that we had sent you. In this case you can contact us via the contact form, providing email address at another mail server and we will resend the welcome email to the new email address. For example, if at the signup you have provided email address at Yahoo, you may contact us, providing your email at Gmail.

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3. For some reason your signup/order page does not work for me. What should I do?

   First, please make sure to have cookies switched ON and javascript is allowed in your browser. If that does not help, please try to use one of the following browsers that should work properly with our web site: IE 6+ (Internet Explorer), FireFox 1+ or Opera 8+

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General Questions

1. OK, I've signed up. And how do I start to setup my first site?

   (a) Setting up .com, .net, .org, etc. domain bought from FreeHostingEU:
   In case you bought e.g. domain1.com from FreeHostingEU, it should be automatically configured. Just upload your website files to /home/www/domain1.com folder using file manager or any FTP client (see next FAQ sections to learn how to use file manager and FTP access).
   
   (b) Setting up .com, .net, .org, etc. domain bought elsewhere:
   In case you already have a domain (e.g. domain2.com) that you bought somewhere else and want to host it with FreeHostingEU, please log in your account control panel, go to "Domain Manager" section and add your domain there. Once your domain is added, you should see the DNS settings (nameservers) next to the domain:
   ns1.freehostingeu.com
   ns2.freehostingeu.com
   Make sure to point your domain to those nameservers properly and wait 24-72 hours till the changes propagate around the world. When done you can upload your website files to /home/www/domain2.com folder.
   
   (b) Setting up a free .eu.pn domain:
   In case you'd like to use a free .eu.pn domain, please log in your account control panel, go to "Subdomain Manager" section and add your domain (e.g. domain1.eu.pn) there. In 2-5 minutes you can upload your website files to /home/www/domain1.eu.pn folder, and you can access your site via http://www.domain1.eu.pn web address.

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2. My PHP-based web pages fail to display such symbols as £, €, ¥, etc. when they are taken from a database.. How to resolve this issue?

   Here are several things you should do in order to have these symbols displayed correctly:
   
   - make sure to set 'utf-8' unicode standard in phpMyAdmin inside your Control Panel;
   
   - setup Meta tags on all pages to be:
     <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
   
   - make sure to import all texts in databases using 'utf-8' unicode standard.

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3. I have already uploaded my web site, however I still can not see my site online?

   If you use your own domain name, please make sure you setup the correct DNS settings (proper nameservers), and also make sure you uploaded your files to the proper directory/folder through File Manager or FTP client.
   
   To learn more about proper DNS setup and proper folders to upload files, please refer to the first Question of this FAQ section, or check the next FAQ section related to DNS stuff.

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4. I want to cancel/delete my existing account. How do I do that?

   In order to delete/cancel you account, please log in you web hosting account Control Panel, go to Account Manager section and choose "Account Closure" option. This way you can easily close your account with just few mouse clicks.

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DNS, Domains and Subdomains

1. What's the difference between Domain and Subdomain manager? What for should I use each of them?

   In Domain Manager you setup and manage so called top level domains, such as .com, .net, .org, .us, etc., that you either bought from FreeHostingEU or from some other domain registrar, i.e. if you already own e.g. domain1.com you should add it through Domain Manager
   
   In Subdomain Manager you can setup both free .eu.pn domains and subdomains of the top level domains that you have already added through Domain Manger, so that you can setup and manage web addresses like domain2.eu.pn and subdomain.domain1.com in Subdomain Manager.

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2. What is DNS and how does it work?

   The domain name server (DNS) is the way that Internet domain names are located and translated into IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. Domain Name Server is a program running on a web server that automatically translates domain names from www.domain.com into their correct TCP/IP addresses, e.g. 123.123.123.123.
   
   In order to make your domain name work properly using DNS system, you should point your domain to working nameservers that have already been set to support your domain name (also see the next question for the details).

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3. How do I use my already registered domain name with your web hosting service?

   In order to set up a domain name at FreeHostingEU, please login your control panel and add the domain through the Domain Manager section. Once the domain is added, you can see the proper DNS (nameservers) settings 'NS' column next to the domain name. You should point out your domain to those name servers either by asking your domain name provider, or you can do it yourself if you have a control panel at you domain name registrar.

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4. I already have a domain name and I want to host it with you. Should I transfer the domain or change nameservers (point the domain to nameservers)?

   When you transfer the domain, you change the registrar (the company that provides you a domain registration/renewal service and that deals with all the matters related to your domain), while when you change nameservers (point your domain to other name servers) you just change the DNS that serve you domain, but keep the same registrar.
   
   A domain transfer is not a very easy thing to do, and in general, we recommend NOT to transfer your domain unless you absolutely sure you know what you are doing, but instead to change your DNS settings and point it to nameservers.

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5. I signed up for your service, but I can't see any domain assigned to my account inside my Control Panel. What's wrong there?

   Upon account activation, we do not assign or create any free domains. You should create one yourself e.g. domain1.eu.pn in Subdomain manager of your hosting account Control Panel. Once you create a eu.pn domain the system will automatically create a corresponding folder inside the File Manager section with the same name as your eu.pn domain. You should upload your web site files inside that directory to have the site files setup and accessed through the Internet properly.
   
   Please note: When you delete a domain the system automatically deletes all subdomains, mailboxes, email accounts and corresponding folders/files of this domain.

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6. How do I setup domain aliases (several domains pointing to the same site)?

   First, make sure to add all you domains through Domain or Subdomain manages as per the previous FAQ questions/answers. Second, go to Subdomain manager section and Edit ("edit" button) the "Path" option for those subdomains that you'd like to point to the same site, i.e. to make them point to the same "Path" shown in the table.

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Using FTP and File Manager

1. What is FTP? What for do I need it?

   FTP is an abbreviation for File Transfer Protocol. This protocol enables to quickly and easily transfer files (your web pages, images, etc.) to your web hosting account using so called FTP client - a software that helps to use FTP.

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2. How do I upload my website to FreeHostingEU servers?

   You can upload your website using any FTP Client or using File Manager that is located inside your hosting Control Panel.

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3. Where (what folder) do I upload my web site files?

   If you'd like to use a top level domain e.g. yourdomain.com, then please make sure to add that domain via Domain Manager of your Control panel, and upload your files to /home/www/yourdomain.com folder;
   
   and if you you'd like to use a free .eu.pn domain e.g. yourdomain.eu.pn, then please make sure to add that .eu.pn domain via Subdomain Manager of your Control panel, and upload your files to /home/www/yourdomain.eu.pn folder.

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4. I don't have any FTP clients. Where do I get one?

   We'd recommend to use Cute FTP, Smart FTP, FreeFTP, and you can use any other ftp client that you can find e.g. with Google for free ftp client and similar keywords.

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5. What are the FTP settings to use for FTP client/connection?

   Please use the following FTP settings:
   
   » FTP Host: FTP hosts for all your sites are listed in FTP Manager section of your Control Panel, at the bottom of that page;
   
   » FTP Username: FTP username(s) are also listed in the FTP Manager section;
   
   » FTP Password: use the password that you assigned to the corresponding FTP account. And the password for the default FTP account is the same as your initial hosting account password, provided you haven't changed the default FTP password.

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6. How to Delete, Rename, Copy or Move files and directories?

   You can do that via File Manager located inside your web host account Control Panel. Simply mark the check-box corresponding to the file or directory you would like to manage and click the command button ( Delete, Rename, Copy or Move ).
   
   Or your can manage files via your FTP Client. Please see FTP Client's help to learn more.

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7. Can I edit my files through the Control Panel?

   Yes, you can. There is an icon (that looks like a paper sheet) next to each file in File Manager section of your Control Panel. Click the icon to view and edit each file content.

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8. How to change permissions (CHMOD) of a file or directory?

   In case you upload files via File Manager then all files/folders are uploaded/created with 755 permissions by default.
   
   You can change the permissions of your files/folders only via FTP client. In most FTP clients there is an option to choose a file/folder with a right mouse-click and change that file/folder permissions.
   
   Please note: All php files must get 755 permissions to work properly?

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9. How do I upload my files using the File Manager?

   In order to upload files stored on your PC, please follow these steps:
   
   1. In the File Manager browse to the directory where you'd like to upload file(s);
   2. Select the file using the 'Browse' button and then click the 'Upload File(s)' button.

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10. What are the limits of file sizes I can upload via File Manager and FTP client? Are they different for free and paid hosting plans?

    Limits for Free accounts: Upload via File Manager - 2 MB, FTP Client - 2 MB;
    
    Limits for Paid accounts: Upload via File Manager - 10 MB, FTP Client - no limits.

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11. I can't establish FTP connection. I constantly get this error '500 Unable to service PORT commands'. What should I do there?

    We'd suggest to enable 'Passive mode' in your FTP client.

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E-mail Accounts and Webmail

1. How do I create an E-mail account?

   In order to create a working e-mail account you should first setup a domain name in Domain Manager section of your hosting Control Panel. Once the domain is set, you can move to Email Manager section and enter the e-mail account name and password and click on 'Create E-mail' button.
   
   Please note: free accounts can only receive emails, but they can not send emails! Also, if you use a free hosting plan, you can create email accounts only if you have a top level domain name, so that you can not create email accounts with free .eu.pn domains.

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2. What is a mailbox?

   It is a place (actually, a folder) where all your incoming e-mail messages are stored.

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3. What happens if I delete a mailbox?

   Please be careful deleting a mailbox, as it will result in deletion of the selected mailbox along with all e-mail aliases, e-mail filters and spam protection assigned to that mailbox.

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4. How do I check my e-mails using the Webmail?

   Please select the Webmail icon in E-mail Manager section of your hosting account Control Panel, and login using your e-mail address and password. Once logged in you'll see an easy to use interface to manage your e-mails.

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5. How many e-mail addresses do I get with my account?

   Depending on the chosen webhosting plan you can use as many e-mail addresses as stated in your hosting plan description. Compare web hosting plans.

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6. What are the POP3/IMAP settings to configure my email client?

   Please use the following E-mail settings:
   
   » Username: Your e-mail address, e.g. you@yourdomain.com;
   » Password: Your e-mail password;
   » POP3 Server: Your .eu.pn domain or mail host of your top level domain,
      e.g. yourdomain.eu.pn or mail.yourdomain.com;
   » SMTP Server: if you have a paid account, please use mail.yourdomain.com;
   
   Please note: SMTP is limited to 30 ourgoing emails per month for all free accounts due to anti-abuse reasons.

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7. I can't send e-mails. All outgoing e-mails are rejected. Why?

   Please note: SMTP is limited to 30 outgoing emails per month for all free hosting accounts due to anti-abuse reasons.
   
   In case you have a paid account, please make sure to setup the proper SMTP authentication in your Email client. It should be something like 'SMTP server requires authentication'. If that does not help, please make sure non of your firewall/ads-blocking software block SMTP port, and make sure your ISP allows to transmit emails via the remote SMTP port.
   
   You can check if something blocks your SMTP (25) port using the following test:
   Open Command Prompt and type: telnet mail.yourdomain.com 25, press 'Enter'
   
   If you do not get a response '220 mail.yourdomain.com mail server' this means your PC (Firewall, AntiVirus, Anti-Spyware, Ads-Blocker, etc. program) or your ISP blocks port 25 and thus rejects your outgoing emails.
   
   Solution: Disable everything that could block port 25, contact system administrator, ISP or Antivirus/Anti-Spyware/etc. program producer for help on how to disable port 25 filtering.

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8. I can't receive e-mails. It seems that POP3/IMAP connection does not work. Why?

   In order to check if your PC can connect to POP3, please follow these steps:
   
   1. Open command prompt: press Start button -> Run -> type cmd -> press 'Enter' - that will open a black window;
   2. Type there telnet mail.yourdomain.com 110 -> press 'Enter' - where yourdomain.com is the actual domain name that you host with FreeHostingEU.
   
   You should receive OK status, this means POP3 does work and connection to the mail server (mail.yourdomain.com) is ok. Otherwise, please make sure that you had setup your domain (yourdomain.com) in your hosting account Control Panel properly, and that your Firewall/Antivirus software or your ISP does not block your connection to 110 port.
   
   In order to check if your PC can properly connect to IMAP, please do the following test:
   
   1. Open command prompt: press Start button -> Run -> type cmd -> press 'Enter' - a black window should open, where you are going to run the test;
   2. Type in -> telnet mail.yourdomain.com 143 -> press 'Enter' - please make sure that 'yourdomain.com' is the actual YOUR domain name that you host with FreeHostingEU.
   
   You should receive OK status - this means IMAP does work and connection to the mail server (mail.yourdomain.com) is OK. Otherwise, please make sure (1) that you had setup your domain (yourdomain.com) inside your hosting account Control Panel properly, and (2) that your Firewall/Antivirus/Anti-SpyWare/etc. software or your ISP does not block your connection to 143 port.
   
   And in case both tests produce OK status, but you still can not receive emails, please check the previous questions in this section and make sure that you had set the proper options in your Email client.

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9. It looks like I am unable to use PHP mail() function at my paid web hosting account. Why?

   Here is an example script you can use to test php mail function:
   
   <?
   $from = "From: You <you@yourdomain.com>";
   $to = "you@yourdomain.com";
   $subject = "Hi! ";
   $body = "TEST";
   
   if(mail($to,$subject,$body,$from)) echo "MAIL - OK";
   else echo "MAIL FAILED";
   ?>
   
   This script sends a email (to you@yourdomain.com) and prints "MAIL - OK" on the page.
   
   Please note that the 'from' header should be an existing email account that is inside the Email Manager of your hosting Control Panel.

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Databases and Database Manager

1. What settings should I use in my scripts/software to connect to MySQL database?

   The correct settings to connect to MySQL database are the following:
   
   » DB Host: See your MySQL Database Manager section under DB Host column;
   » DB Port: 3306
   » DB Name: The database name that you assigned. It is listed inside Database Manager section of your hosting account Control Panel;
   » DB Username: The database username that you assigned. It is also listed inside Database Manager section;
   » DB Password: The database password that you assigned;

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2. Can I manage my databases online via Control Panel?

   Yes, you can manage your MySQL databases using phpMyAdmin, a powerful database management tool.
   
   In order to use it please login your Control Panel, click on the phpMyAdmin icon, and then use the following username/password:
   
   » Username: The database name that you assigned, it is listed inside Database Manager section of your hosting account Control Panel;
   
   » Password: The database password that you assigned;
   
   

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3. Can I access MySQL server via SSH? What mysql command to use?

   Please use the following command: mysql -h<HOST> -D<DB> -u<USER> -p<PASS>

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4. How do I manage PostgreSQL databases?

   Please manage PostgreSQL databases inside PostgreSQL Database Manager section of your web hosting account Control Panel, and manage records in PostgreSQL databases using powerful online tool called phpPgAdmin that is also accessed via your account Control panel.

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Password Protection Manager

1. What is Password Protection?

   Using Password Protection feature you can protect your directories against unauthorized access. When a visitor tries to open the protected directory (or a file located inside that directory) a window pops up and requests the username and password.
   
   Please note: Password Protection feature is disabled for all free hosting accounts

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2. How do I setup a password protected area (directory)?

   Please log in your hosting Control Panel, locate and enter Password Protection section there, and type the username in the Username text-box (after "username_" ), the password, and the path (the complete path to the folder to be protected e.g. /home/www/yourdomain.com/admin - in case you'd like to protect 'admin' folder that is located in yourdomain.com root directory) and click the 'Set Password Protection' button.

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3. I know the Password Protection is disabled at free accounts. That's why I use .htaccess to setup password protection at my free account. But it still does not work? Why?

   The Password Protection feature is disabled at free accounts due to security reasons, and there is no way go around, neither using .htaccess nor some other way.

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Email Filters and Spam Protection

1. I receive a lot of spam e-mails. What can I do to block them?

   There are 2 options to block unwanted emails:
   
   1. You can use E-mail Filters to create a custom filter to delete, move or forward (forwarding is disabled for all free accounts) e-mails that contain certain words in mail headers, subject or body of an e-mail message. This way you can get rid of some unwanted emails.
   
   2. And you can do via Spam Protection section where you can configure all e-mail accounts to be filtered by a certain spam score value (from 1 to 40 ) and assign certain actions such as 'delete', 'move to a specific folder' or 'forward' (forwarding is disabled for all free plans).

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Traffic Statistics and Server Logs

1. Is there a way I can check my web site statistics? How do I do that?

   You can see the traffic statistics for all your web sites inside the Traffic Statistics section in your hosting Control Panel.
   
   Paid hosting account users can also take advantages of statistics provided by Webalizer - a very powerful web site access analysis program that produces statistics in HTML format. Yearly, monthly, daily and hourly usage statistics are presented, as well as usage by site, URL, referrer, user agent (browser), search strings, entry/exit pages, country, etc.

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2. What is 'Access and Error Logs'? What for do I need them?

   An access log is a list of all the requests to the web pages or files that visitors requested from your web site. The Error log is the file that stores instances of errors and failures encountered by the system and related to your sites. Monitoring those access and error files you can always be aware of what happens around your web site.

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Account Information and Password

1. My contact details changed since I signed up. How do I update them?

   You can log in you hosting Control Panel and edit all your contact details in the Account Manager section -> Account Information menu.

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2. It is difficult for me to remember the password. How can I change it?

   You can log in your site hosting account Control Panel and reset your account password in the Account Manager section -> Account Password menu.

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3. I forgot my password. How do I retrieve it?

   Please go to our Clients Login page, and click 'Forgot a Password?' link there.

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If your question is not answered here, please consider contacting support or sales team