STATION 1: FAQ

Web Hosting

WWW Publishing at STATION 1

Commerce on the WWW

WEB HOSTING

The term "web hosting" refers to the provision of disk space on a web server connected to the Internet. This space can be used for storage and distribution of World Wide Web documents.

What do STATION 1's web hosting services include? - Index

Station 1 hosting services include everything you need for publishing documents on the World Wide Web. For more details on our hosting service plans, please visit our Hosting Services section.

How can I check if a domain name is available? - Index

Domain name (i.e. yourname.com) availability can be verified via INTERNIC's Whois service which contains all registered domain names.

What is different about STATION 1's hosting services? - Index

Unlike most other Web hosts, STATION 1 is not an Internet Service Provider (ISP). When your documents are hosted on an ISP's web servers, your documents are accessed using the same Internet connection that the ISP's customers are using to access the Internet. Access to your web space has no higher priority than another user's telnet session, web browsing, or e-mail. In addition, an ISP's Internet resources (Internet servers, technical support, etc.) are shared by many different services.

At STATION 1, our Internet resources are used exclusively for web space access. By concentrating on web hosting, we are able to provide better web server response times, expanded hosting services (use of CGI scripts, ODBC connectivity, etc.), better server administration, and easily accessible technical support. Our staff is also experienced in Web publishing, and can provide you with fast answers on any Web publishing issue.

How do I sign up for web hosting with STATION 1? - Index

Download our hosting agreement, read it carefully, fill in all the required information, and mail it with your payment to : STATION 1 INTERNET SERVICES, 2665 30th Street, Suite #214, Santa Monica, CA 90405. Our agreement is available in HTML, Word 7.0, Word 6.0, and Word for Macintosh format.

If you are paying by credit card, you may also fax us the agreement and credit card information, at (310) 581-4290. We will notify you (by phone, e-mail, or fax) as soon as your account is ready. Credit card orders are processed within 24 hours. If your order is placed during business hours (9:00 am - 5:00 PM Pacific Standard Time) your order may be ready for use within a few hours. Domain name registration depends on INTERNIC's response time, and the process typically requires 24-48 hours.

How do I download my web pages in my account? - Index

We provide 24-hour FTP access to your STATION 1 hosting account. In order to download your web documents in your account, you will need to use a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) compliant program ( client ). In addition, you will need to use your account name and secret password. The FTP host address is "www.station1.com", or "www.your_domain_name.com" for Domain Name hosting accounts. Your FTP login will transfer you in your own web space.

FrontPage users can upload their material using the Publish Wizard or the FrontPage Explorer Publish feature.

Where can I get an FTP client? - Index

There are several available FTP client programs. Some provide a graphical user interface and others use a command line interface. In addition, there are several different clients depending on your platform ( Windows, MacOS, Unix, etc. ). Unix, Windows95, and Windows-NT users can use the ftp client included with their operating system utilities. Mac users will need a copy of FETCH. If you are looking for other available FTP clients, some shareware versions can be found at these sites :

TUCOWS ( For MS-Windows users )
UMich Mac Archive ( Mac users)
STARS

How do I view my web site? - Index

Each web account account is associated with a Universal Resource Locator(URL). This is your unique address on the Internet. URLs are in the form of an alias (i.e. http://www.station1.com/your_account_name), or a Domain Name (i.e. http://www.your_name.com). After you have downloaded your web documents in your account, you may view them by pointing your browser to the URL : http://www.station1.com/your_account_name/document_name.html. If you have your own domain name then you may also use the URL : http://www.yourname.com/document.html. Please note that your home page must be named "index.htm". Filenames can be 32 characters long, and must have a ".htm" or ".html" extension. Your home page is the default document that an Internet user sees, when accessing your URL. How do I use my email accounts at Station 1?

How do I use my email accounts at Station 1? - Index

Before we can setup any email accounts you will have to notify us with the type of email service you would like. We offer two types of email accounts:

Email Aliases

When you have an email alias (i.e. myname@yourcompanyname.com) all email sent to that address is transparently forwarded to another email address of your choice (i.e. myname@myisp.com). This option provides the convenience of having multiple email addresses, but one mailbox to check for all incoming email. If you would like email aliases, you will have to provide us with the alias name you would like, as well as, the address to which our mail server will forward all email sent to your email alias.

POP Accounts
: POP accounts are the equivalent of postoffice mailboxes. All email sent to a POP account (i.e. joe@yourcompanyname.com) , is kept in a private mailbox, accessible only by using a userid and secret password. The userid is the name of the email account (i.e. joe) and the password is your choice. If you are setting up POP mailboxes, you will need to supply us with the preferred userids/names and passwords. To pickup up your email from your POP account, you will have to configure the INCOMING (or POP) mail server entry in your email program. For domain name hosting accounts, this entry is your domain name (i.e. www.yourcompanyname.com). Otherwise your incoming POP server will be www.station1.com In addition to the outgoing server settings, your e-mail program must be configured to include the userid and password that correspond to your POP account.; Please note that although you may be receiving email at STATION 1's mail servers, you will still need to use your Internet Service Provider's (ISP) mail server for all outgoing email. The address of this mail server must be included in all OUTGOING (or SMTP) mail server configuration settings, for your email program. This entry is typically in the form mail.myisp.com, and it is provided by your ISP as part of your access service. Please contact your ISP for this setting. The use of your ISP's SMPT server for your outgoing emails, doesn't affect the email address you recipients see as the sender's email address.; To receive email at your POP mailbox, please also ensure that any email settings referring to you e-mail or "Reply-to" address, include the preferred POP address.

For more information on how to configure your email program to receive email from one or more POP mailboxes, please contact the developer of your email program.

I am having trouble receiving email at my Station 1 account. What should I do? - Index

Email troubles can be caused due to errors attributed to you email program, the outgoing server, or the incoming server. The table below shows some typical email problems, and what to check for when they occur.

Cannot send any e-mail. - Check your Internet connection, Can you browse the web? If not, then you have a connectivity problem. Contact your ISP.
- Check your SMTP settings. Contact your ISP and confirm the Outgoing mail server settings in your email program, or that the ISP's mail server is functioning

Cannot receive any e-mail. - Check your Internet connection, Can you browse the web? If not, then you have a connectivity problem. Contact your ISP.
- If this is an alias account and you were receiving email before, check with the service provider that maintains your mailbox.

- If you are using a POP account with us, check the setting for the Incoming (POP) server in your email program. Is it your domain name (i.e. www.yourdomainname.com)?

- If your email is bouncing back to the sender, please have the sender forward us the returned message, at techsupport@station1.com

- Send us an email message to techsupport@station1.com describing your problem. Don't forget to include your account information, and if this is an alias account, the email address of your POP mailbox.

Cannot download email from my POP account. - Check your userid and password setting in your e-mail program
- This is a problem that may also be associated with large email attachments. Send us an email message to techsupport@station1.com describing your problem.

How do I place my web site in the top 10 listings of all major directories and search engines? - Index: This is the "million dollar" question that every web publisher asks! Unfortunately the only definite way to enter your web site in the front page of every major search engine (i.e. Altavista, HotBot, etc.) and directory (i.e. Yahoo, Infoseek) is to purchase banner advertising from each and every one of them! If your Internet advertising budget doesn't allow you to purchase banner space, the best you can do is to ensure that your web site has the right elements that will help it rank well among other similar web sites submitted to a particular directory. In order to achieve a good ranking make sure that your home page includes "META Keyword" and "META description" tags, the text on the home page is descriptive and includes words which are associated with your services and products, and that your home page doesn't include frames. Please note that all images are ignored and only text is considered for the evaluation of your site's content and its indexing by different search engines .For more information on META tags please read this document.
: In addition to adding some basic elements for the various search engine "spiders" that will index your web site's content, it is important that you follow the submission guidelines for each particular search engine or directory you are submitting your web site. Please note that certain directories and search engines penalize sites that are submitted multiple times (index "spamming"), reject "deep" submissions (the submission of each individual page from your web site), and may reject web sites that are "under construction" (Yahoo is known to have such a policy).

After submitting your web site, allow 4-6 weeks before your web site appears in all the directories and search engines you have chosen to submit your URL. If it doesn't appear in all of them, feel free to contact each site by email or phone and ask for an explanation. Typically you will get an answer and some assistance, although most search engines and directories do not guarantee the entry of a URL in their databases.

To submit your web site to different Internet directories, or to check if your web site is included in major directories and search engines you can use a variety of free web tools such as Web Site Garage , Rank This, and Submit-it.

WWW PUBLISHING AT STATION 1

HTML development does not require any special programs. All you need is a standard text editor. Novice HTML developers however, may want to try an HTML editor. If you would like to try some shareware HTML editors, we recommend looking at The Web Developer's Virtual Library. This site provides extensive information on HTML, and features a collection of HTML editors (shareware versions). Each HTML editor has different features, so you may want to try several, and pick the one that fits your needs.

For extensive information on creating a web site, you can visit the following sites:

What should I include in my site, any content ideas? - Index

First you have to ensure that your site includes quality content. Too many graphics, particularly animated images, tend to distract your visitors from your actual message. In addition, heavy use of graphics tests the patience of your visitors, since it increases your site's response time. Quality content is the key, and quality graphics look impressive only the very first time!

In order to find out what you must include in your site, you must think what type of questions, or requests you commonly receive from your friends, business associates, clients, or whichever audience your site is targeted to. Typically you may consider the following types of content :

Description of products or services
A description of your company
Listings and contact information of your employees
Job listings
Maps and directions to you offices
Financial information such as your annual report, SEC fillings, etc.
Investor information

Weekly or monthly newsletters
Articles or headlines about your company
Customer support information
Online quotes
Downloadable software, demos, utilities, shareware, etc.
Case studies and research projects

Online customer surveys and survey results
Calendar of significant events
Contests, and drawings
Partners section
Foreign language pages for visitors that don't speak English

In addition, you should include everything that you would like to find when visiting your own site. If you were visiting you site often, what you would you like to find in it? The answer to this question usually gives you some excellent ideas!

Last but not least you must always keep in mind the fact that your first time visitors will return to your site only if you provide current, and useful content. Be prepared to invest a reasonable time in maintaining, and upgrading your content.

How do I create graphics for my web pages? - Index

Graphics developed for the web must be in JPEG or GIF format. Although browser developers are discussing support for other formats, JPEG and GIF are the only formats supported by all browsers. For more details on these formats you can visit the World Wide Web consortium.

In order to create graphics for the Web, you will need a paint program that allows you to save your images in JPEG or GIF format. There are several commercial packages ( i.e. Adobe Photoshop, Fractal Design Painter, CorelDraw ), as well as, shareware (i.e. PaintShop Pro ) programs that can be used for this purpose. References for creating graphics for the Web can be found through the The Web Developer's Virtual Library.

What about imagemaps? - Index

Our server currently supports CERN, NCSA, and FrontPage compatible imagemaps. In order to create an imagemap, you will first have to create a GIF image for your clickable graphic. After you have created your image, you will need to define the "hotspots" on your map. You can define your imagemap's active regions ("hot spots") using a map tool such as Mapedit (shareware), or the FrontPage imagemap tool.

What are CGIs? - Index

CGIs are programs that the server executes at the request of a browser. Those programs utilize the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) specification, to process input supplied through an HTML form. An excellent CGI tutorial is presented at this site.

What types of scripts STATION 1 allows? - Index

STATION 1 allows use of Perl CGI, IDC, and Active Server scripts. For security reasons, scripts written in other programming languages are not allowed, unless prior arrangements are made with STATION 1. Exceptions to our CGI policy will be made only if you supply us with the source code for the scripts in question. All scripts are subject to removal, if they are found to violate STATION 1 policies.

What are IDC scripts? - Index

Microsoft's Information Server allows you to query ODBC compliant databases, and use the results to generate HTML pages "on-the-fly." Database queries are written in the form of IDC scripts, and the results are processed using HTX templates. IDCs are written using SQL syntax, and HTXs are written using HTML. An excellent tutorial on the use of IDCs to connect your pages to a database, is provided by Dynamic Systems International.

Please note that before you use any IDC scripts, you must contact us so that we setup your Data Source.

How do I install my Perl scripts? - Index

When your account is created, your home directory contains a sub-directory named "cgi-bin". Your Perl scripts can only execute in that directory. Please note that Perl scripts must use a ".pl" or ".cgi" extension. Scripts using the ".pl" extension are processed by the ISAPI interpreter provided by HIP. For more information on Perl in a Win32 environment you may visit Activeware.

How do I install my IDC scripts? - Index

IDC scripts must be stored in your "cgi-bin" directory. Before you can run them however, we have to setup our ODBC driver so that it recognizes your database. To set it up, we will need from you the database name and its path in reference to your home directory.

How do I send e-mail from my Perl scripts? - Index

In order to send messages through our SMTP server, all accounts have access to BLAT, a command line e-mail utility. In order to use it you will need to make a system call in the form :

blat filetosend.doc -t towhom@where.com -f fromwhom@xyz.com -c cctoanyone@xyz.com

Why do I get an "INCOMPLETE HEADER" error message? - Index

Our Web Server is very picky! The HTTP header must include three new line characters. For example :

print "HTTP/1.0 200 OK\n";

    print "Content-Type: text/html\n\n\n";

Which Operating System do you use? - Index

All our Internet services are running on WindowsNT. Our web servers are powered by WindowsNT Server 4.0.

Which web server do you use? - Index

For our web hosting accounts we are using Microsoft's Internet Information Server 4.0 . For more details on what features are supported by IIS, you can read this excellent FAQ document.

Do you support FrontPage extensions? - Index

Server extensions for MS FrontPage version 3.0 (aka FrontPage98) are available for all hosting accounts, except WWW Self Serve accounts. FrontPage extensions are installed in your hosting directory, upon request. For additional information on using MS FrontPage for Web Publishing you can visit the FrontPage site, or contact us.

What about Active Server pages? - Index

All hosting accounts served by IIS 4.0 enjoy full use of the features of Microsoft's Active X server. For more information on "activating" your site, please refer to the following Active Server Pages references :

Active Pages FAQ
QUE'S Digital Bookshelf

What about counters? - Index

We support several different types of counters ( non SSI based), plus a counter webbot for FrontPage 98. If you would like to set one up, please e-mail us and we will send you instructions.

How do I get my web site's traffic reports? - Index

Every hosting account includes a directory by the name of "stats" which contains your daily traffic logs. In addition, this directory contains an HTML form with a unique name, that can be used to get analytical site traffic reports for previous dates, or detailed statistics for the previous month. The complete URL to that form is sent to you when your account is created and it is in the form http://www.yourdomain.com/stats/myreport.htm . If you forget the name of the traffic report form, you can ftp (or connect via FP97) to your "stats" directory and check the report's name.

Please note :

The "stats" directory should not be removed, since you will loose your daily traffic reports.
Monthly detailed reports become available on the second day of the following month.
Real-time report generation for the current date may take several minutes.

COMMERCE ON THE WWW

What are the benefits of putting my business on the Internet? - Index

An Internet Presence (aka "web site") for your business will assist you in:

Marketing your services and/or products to millions of consumers around the world.
Improving customer service via on-line manuals, order forms, and e-mail.
Reducing company literature distribution costs, by providing on-line catalogs and broshures.
Collaborating with associates in different geographical locations, via interactive World Wide Web sites.
Distributing up to date information to your customers.
Selling your products on-line.

Who is using the Internet? - Index

The best answer can be found in an independent survey conducted by Georgia Tech's Graphic, Visualization, & Usability Center. This survey covers everything one needs to know on the demographics, political profile, and user habits, of the Internet audience.

What do you mean by "interactive" sites? - Index

Traditional web sites are static in the sense that they primarily give users the ability to read text. Interactive sites on the other hand, give users the ability to generate transactions. An interactive site allows Internet users to order a product, make a reservation, or check the status of a claim. Current Web technologies, allow the linking of existing business applications to the Internet, making possible the use of a standard Web browser for accessing many different application services and databases.

How secure are Internet transactions? - Index

Without a doubt, the success of the Internet depends on the ability to conduct on-line transactions. Contrary to traditional communication media (telephone, fascimiles, etc.), the Internet allows the use of security and authentication technologies. Using digital signatures, all parties involved in a transaction can be authenticated, while all Internet transmissions can remain private using different encryption methods. The acceptance of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and the Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) specifications by all WWW software vendors, has made the implementation of such mechanisms easy and cost efficient. It is only a matter of time, before Internet stores become commonplace.

Do you provide facilities for credit card transactions? - Index

For businesses that would like to setup an on-line store, STATION 1 provides access to its CYBERCASH server. Our CYBERCASH server provides secure and reliable facilities for real-time credit card authorization and capture (deposit to your credit card Mechant Account). STATION 1's experienced staff, will also assist you in setting up your payment forms, and integrate them with your on-line products' and services' forms. For more information on using CYBERCASH for Internet credit card transactions, you can visit CYBERCASH, or contact us.

� Copyright 1995,1996 Station 1. All rights reserved.
For more information, your ideas, or suggestions, e-mail us at webmaster@station1.com Trademarks appearing on this document are property of their respective owners.