• I need a website, where do I start?
  

• What is website hosting?
  
• Do I need website hosting?
  
• What is managed hosting?
  
• What is the difference between managed and un-managed hosting?
  
• Do I need managed hosting?
  
• What is dedicated hosting?
  
• What is the difference between dedicated and shared hosting?
  
• Do I need dedicated hosting?
  
• What are the disadvantages of shared hosting?
  
• How much does website hosting cost?
  
• How long does it take to implement website hosting?
  
• Where can I get website hosting?
  
• How can I tell if I have shared hosting?
  
• How come some companies offer website hosting so cheaply?
  
• I already have a domain name, why do I need website hosting?
  
• Can I change my web host?
  
• Bottom Line: What kind of hosting do I need, how much will it cost and where do I go to get it?
  

• Why is there so much spam?
  

• What is DNS?
  
• What does DNS propagation mean?
  
• How long does DNS propagation take?
  
• Why does DNS take so long to propagate?
  
• Can DNS propagation be faster?
  

• What are the advantages of using a website design firm?
  
• Why wouldn’t I want to use a website design firm?
  
• If I don’t want to hire a website firm, what are my other options?
  

• How does this benefit me?
  
• Do I need to do anything?
  

• Setup Email - Outlook Express
  
• Setup Email - Microsoft Outlook
  
• Change Spam Settings
  
• Change SMTP Port - Outlook Express
  
• Change SMTP Port - Outlook
  

• How do they get my email address?
  
• Can I delist myself from the spammers’ lists?
  
• What can I do to prevent spam?
  
• How can I filter for spam?
  
• This isn’t good enough, what else can I do?
  

• How do I access webmail?
  
• How do I change my spam settings?
  
• How do I check my SPAM folder for email?
  
• What does whitelisting do?
  
• What does blacklisting do?
  

The simplest solution is to get a web design firm. A web design firm will help you to handle all of the details for putting your website online. They will help you with website hosting, website design, HTML programming, updating and marketing your website.

"Website hosting" is also known as "web hosting" or "hosting". In order to have a website on the Internet, you will need to have a computer server that is connected to the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Typically, your web host provider will rent out space on their computers. The services that the provider offers differ from company to company, but usually would include:

• Web space to host your files
• Reliable connection to the Internet
• DNS services so that you can point your domain name to their server
• Web services so that people can view your website
• E-mail services so that you can send and receive e-mail from that domain
• FTP services so that you can upload and download your files

If you want a website then you will need website hosting. After your website is designed and programmed, the files have to be "hosted" somewhere. This means that your website will be connected 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to the Internet, by renting space or bandwidth from a web provider.

Managed hosting is website hosting where a company takes care of all of your needs. Typically, this would include configuring or updating your e-mail, FTP and password settings. If you have an issue, you can call them up and they can help you.

Un-managed hosting is website hosting where a company programs a control panel for you to access all of your website settings. This is usually recommended for more advanced users, or for people that have a lot of time on their hands to learn their proprietary system.

Un-managed hosting is a lot cheaper than managed hosting, since there is no human intervention. You can call up an un-managed host and ask questions, but they will usually suggest that you read their online manual first and if you have any additional questions, to call back.

Usually, the technician will not give much in the way of consulting advice and will reply with standardized answers read from their knowledge database.

Your choice between the two will have to do with budget and how much time you want to allocate to configure systems, such as FTP, DNS and e-mail.

We would recommend getting managed hosting unless budget is of a particular concern and you have a lot of time on your hands.

The fact of the matter is that you could do your own landscaping or furnish your basement but if you don’t have the time, you could always outsource it.

Typically, this is what usually happens to an un-managed hosting account

• One day you hire a new secretary
• You need a new e-mail account and have to change contact information on your website
• You dig through old files to figure out who your host is
• You find your old host, but don’t know the password
• Your old computer had all the passwords in it and your new laptop doesn’t
• You call to reset your password and have to go through some security questions
• They finally give you the password and you can log in
• You log in and have to figure out the control panel to add a new address
• You have to figure out how to reset the FTP password, since you don’t remember that one either
• You finally update all of the information on the server
• You have to configure the e-mail account on the computer

In an ideal world, a good managed hosting company will do this:

• One day you hire a new secretary
• You tell the hosting provider what you need
• They make the changes
• They walk you through how to configure your Outlook and SMTP settings
• You return to concentrate on your business

However, un-managed hosting definitely has its advantages in terms of cost. Especially if you know what you need to do technically and have a good filing system, un-managed hosting may be right for you.

Dedicated hosting is hosting where your website is the only website on the computer system or server.

Shared hosting means that your website is on a computer system with other websites. You are sharing system resources, such as hard drive space (web space), computer processing power (CPU sharing) and bandwidth (web traffic).

The short answer is NO. You probably don’t need dedicated hosting unless you have enough revenue and bandwidth to justify the expense. The company should grow a step at a time and expand as needed. There are some instances when you would need dedicated hosting right at the beginning, but most of the time, it isn’t justified. Usually, this occurs when you need to install a program that your shared hosting environment will not allow.

Shared hosting is definitely cheaper than dedicated hosting. That’s a big plus. It’s also a lot simpler than dedicated hosting. Many websites simply do not need anything complex that would justify a dedicated server.

You should consider leaving a shared hosting environment when the shared system resources are compromised. This occurs when your IP address is black-listed, the system isn’t secure or there aren’t enough resources to service all the websites on the server.

Black-listed IPs: If your server host doesn’t have a good ethical hosting policy, your server IP address may be black-listed. This is most notable in 2 cases, firstly, if spammers are allowed on your server, many mail servers will black-list you, disallowing you to send out e-mail.

Secondly, if there is adult content on your server, some parental-control software might black-list your IP address since you are coming from the same place.

Unsecure services: Depending on how proactive your host upgrades their software and operating systems, there may be large security holes. Compromised security will allow hackers to get on to the system and possibly steal or corrupt data.

Insufficient amount of system resources: Since you are on the same computer system, poor monitoring of the server health will result in your websites being less efficient. For example, if one of the users take up the majority of hard-drive space, the system will cease to run. Similarly, if one of the websites on the server is running a program that takes up much of the computer processing power, then your website will be very slow.

Your website may also be slow if there is limited bandwidth coming in. Depending on how big of a "pipe" your provider has that is connected to the Internet, bandwidth spikes may be a problem.

These are the 3 main reasons why you may want to move from a shared hosting environment. However, as long as your web host is pro-active, many of these points can be disregarded. For example, if your web host has an ethical hosting policy and doesn’t allow any adult-oriented websites or spammers on your website, you can largely ignore the point about being black-listed.

Hosting rates differ between different companies. These are the typical rates in $USD.

Currently, there is a large amount of competition for unmanaged, shared hosting accounts. It has been largely commoditized so you shop around for the best deal.

In terms of pricing, it totally depends on the company involved. Smaller shared host companies often have only one server and try to put as many websites on there as possible.

Similarly, some companies are much cheaper because they will "accept anyone". This should be a red flag since it will usually mean your website will get into trouble further down the line.

Un-managed website hosting typically is instantaneous once DNS propagates since it is pretty much a cookie-cutter activity. The systems are already in place to make a duplicate of a directory and everything is already pre-configured.

Managed website hosting usually takes about a day after the host talks with you to understand your requirements. The longest part is the human factor, since the managed website hosts have to understand your business and setup your website accordingly.

There are many websites out there that offer website hosting.

For un-managed website hosting, we recommend www.MaknetDomains.com. This is a reseller of the world famous GoDaddy franchise and we recommend it often to our hands-off clients who just need something good but cost effective.

For managed website hosting, we recommend www.Maknet.com. You can contact us for a website inquiry form or call us at 1-866-625-6383 (1-866-MAKNET-3) for someone to discuss your specific needs.

For managed dedicated servers, we recommend www.iNetu.net. They are an amazing company with great customer service and we have dealt with them for many years now.

If you need a web design firm to take care of the programming as well as the website hosting, then we recommend www.Maknet.com. Please call us at 1-866-625-6383 (1-866-MAKNET-3) to discuss your specific needs.

If you don’t know, you are probably on a shared hosting server. If you pay less than $ 50.00 / month, you are probably on a shared server.

Alternatively, you can always ask the server host whether there are other websites on the same server as yours. It simply isn’t cost-effective to put just one website on a server and pay $ 5.00 / month. In fact, if this was the case, you should probably move anyways since it is questionable how the server host stays in business!

Some website companies have a different business model, whether it is a "loss-leader" campaign or a bid to get market share, there are many reasons why hosts can offer things so cheaply.

In the previous examples, many of the larger companies offer cheap hosting to lure you in for their other services, and this is very legitimate. You should be careful of the other companies (usually when they solicit through spam) for very cheap website hosting. They are either illegitimate companies, or they just have a limited number of servers, trying to pack as many websites into them as possible.

These types of web hosts should be avoided because it is similar to a local gym that has already paid for their facility and simply just selling more memberships, without regard to the customer experience or what their needs are.

You can imagine website hosting like a telephone system. If you get a 1-800 phone #, you still have to connect it to your phone systems. You are renting out a phone system, some telephones and a connection to the communications network so that you can forward the 1-800 phone # to your company.

In order to have a website, you need a domain name and website hosting. The domain name, such as www.Maknet.com, you get from a registrar. This is similar to the 1-800 phone # you can get from your telephone company.

The website hosting is similar to the actual connection from the telephone company to your company. You need website hosting so that your computer will be on the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Without website hosting, no one will be able to see your website.

As long as you have control over the domain name, you just need to point the DNS entry from one server to another. It is trickier when you do not have control of your own domain name, but most registrars have a mechanism where you can fax in a letter of authorization on letterhead and they will change it over for you without any problems.

The most difficult part of website migration is having the know-how or expertise to transfer with minimal downtime. This includes services such as e-mail, hosting and dynamic databases. If you have a competent web host, they should be able to provide everything you need.

If you have a very tight budget and have the technical experience or time to read manuals, un-managed website hosting may be for you. The cost is less than $ 10.00 / month and you can get services at www.MaknetDomains.com.

Often, the people in this category are student associations or non-profits that have a "nephew" or "cousin" that can handle the configuration and setup of the domain.

If you are interested in having long-term sustainability with minimal headache, we highly recommend having a managed website hosting solution. It will cost about $ 25.00 to $ 30.00 / month and you can contact us at 1-866-625-6383 (1-866-MAKNET-3) or click here for our advanced quotation form.

Unfortunately Spam is a growing problem. Email addresses are harvested and are added to other lists. Because e-mailing someone costs next to nothing, spammers email millions of spam every day!

DNS means Domain Naming System. It is the system that allows a domain name such as www.Maknet.com to be converted into an IP address such as 209.235.255.138. Remembering the name is much easier than remembering the IP address where the website is located.

DNS is a network of name servers around the World that keep track of the IP address of each domain name.

A server can not hold ALL of the IP information for all of the domain names in the World. Instead, a single server saves some of the information, also called caching. When a request is made for the IP address of a domain name, the server will retrieve the "authoritative" information. It does this by asking a nearby server if it is the authoratative source. It conintues to ask (propagating from server to server) until it gets the authoratiative answer. The next time someone asks for the same information, the server already knows the address (it has been cached) so it sends the saved information to save time. The server will usually update the authoritative information once a day.

Whenever there is a new change to the DNS information, you must wait for the information to "propagate" to the other servers on the Internet.

Typically, DNS propagation will take from 24 to 48 hours. It can be quicker with some advanced planning and programming, but isn’t guaranteed.

Almost every server on the internet potentially needs to know the new information. However, by default, the servers will only check once a day. It takes a while before the new message of the new DNS information gets passed down through the servers.

With planning, it may potentially be faster. There is a setting in each DNS entry called TTL which stands for Time-To-Live. By default, if it is set to 1 day, it will take one day before the server needs to renew the information. However, if it is set lower, to something like 1 hour, then propagation will speed up considerably.

Unfortunately, the TTL setting is part of the standard but DNS servers are not forced to adhere to the standard. This means that some local ISPs that want to reduce the load on their servers might ignore the setting and only refresh every day or every 3 days!

A website design firm can provide several advantages:

1. Website firms have experience
   They can help you navigate the common mistakes that you might make since they have already made them. You are paying for their past experience so that they can recommend the best course of action.
   
   This means either better results, or cheaper and faster development!


2. They have the right people to help you
   Depending on the size of firm you hire, they should have the right people to do the right job.
   
   For example, a large website would need:
   • a graphic designer to design the website and graphics
   • a software architect to design the back-end
   • a database programmer to design the database structure
   • a web programmer to program the HTML
   • a web master to update and maintain the website
   • a system administrator to setup and monitor website hosting
   • an SEO specialist to optimize keywords and get rankings in the search engines
   
   In reality, some of these functions can definitely be combined. However, if only one person is performing all of these roles, you may not get enough specialization in certain areas.


3. Your website is your image
   Do you have time to fool around and experiment to see which method is best for your business? Website firms have the experience to guide you away from things that don’t work.

You don’t have a second chance to make a first impression!

Ideally, everyone would use a website design firm. However, in reality, they do cost money and the firm you use may be based on your budget.

Similarly, if you knew what you needed to do, you could do it yourself. No different than changing a tire on your car or landscaping.

You have two options if you don’t want to hire a website firm - you can hire a freelancer or do-it-yourself.

There are many free-lance webmasters out there that can help you make a website. Usually they range from the free to the professional level freelancer.

Free ones are usually nephews or a charity board member that knows how to use Front-Page.

Freelancers are professionals or aspiring professionals (like students). The cost may range from as low as $ 10 / hour to about $ 60 / hour. Typically, they are graphic designers who can program HTML or programmers that can design graphics.

Freelancers can help you to build and maintain your website. Just remember that you get what you pay for.

You can always do it yourself. Learning isn’t that difficult but will take some time.

1. Register a domain name (find a registrar, perform a domain name search and register, if already taken, you could use WHOIS to see if you can purchase it, then you’d need a 3rd party escrow service such as afternic.com)
2. Setup website hosting (point your DNS, FTP and setup your web server and a reliable connection
3. Program the content (graphic design and then code in raw HTML or use an editor such as Frontpage)
4. Market your website (submit to engines, make it meta-tag and keyword friendly)

For more information, please see our section.

A dedicated email server means that the server is on an independent computer that functions almost exclusively for mail.

This will have the newest versions of software and updated hardware, so it will add new features and generally be more reliable.

If you use web mail, you may notice a small change in how it looks. Most or all of the functionality that you've been using should still be available. If you can't find something that you've been using, please Contact Us.

If using a program like Outlook Express, Outlook, etc., then you don't have to do a thing if you don't experience any problems sending or receiving email! There is, however, a small percentage of people who might need to reconfigure their email client to send out email. Receiving incoming email should remain unaffected. Please note: If you are not using our mail servers for outgoing email, you do not need to make any changes.

See the following questions for step-by-step instructions for several of the popular email clients.

1.	Please note: In the following diagrams, do NOT change / click anything else. ONLY change the areas indicated in RED. In particular, do not change your servers to "mail.maknet.com"; that is only provided as an example! After you launch Outlook Express, click on the Tools menu located at the top of the email program and select Accounts.
2.	At the Internet Accounts window, select your email account and click Properties. Your email account will typically contain your website or domain name.
3.	At the Properties window, click the Servers tab and make sure that "My server requires authentication" is checked.
4.	Click the Settings button.
5.	At the Outgoing Mail Server window, ensure that the "Use same settings as my incoming mail server" option is selected.
6.	Click OK to close the Outgoing Mail Server window. Click Apply then OK to close the email Properties window. Click Close to close the Internet Accounts window.
	Your configuration should now be updated. If you have any questions or need any further assistance, please don't hesitate to Contact Us.

1.	Please note: In the following diagrams, do NOT change / click anything else asides from the areas indicated in RED. In particular, do not change your servers to "mail.maknet.com"; that is only provided as an example! After you launch Microsoft Outlook, click on the Tools menu located at the top of the email program and select E-mail Accounts.
2.	At the E-mail Accounts Wizard window, select the "View or change existing e-mail accounts" option and click Next.
3.	At the E-mail Accounts Settings window, select your email account and click Change. Your email account will typically contain your website or domain name.
4.	At the Internet E-mail Settings window, click the More Settings button.
5.	At the More Settings window, click the Outgoing Server tab and ensure the "My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication" box is checked and the "Use same settings as my incoming mail server" option is selected.
6.	Click OK to close the More Settings window. Click Next then Finish to close the E-mail Accounts Wizard.
	Your configuration should now be updated. If you have any questions or need any further assistance, please don't hesitate to Contact Us.

There are two things that control Spam Settings:

1. You can completely deactivate Spam Controls by logging into your webmail at http://webmail.yourdomain.com/email with your username and password. At the bottom is a Spam Detection check box. Clear it and no detection will be done for that particular account.

2. If you prefer to keep Spam Filtering but find it too strict, you can configure how sensitive it is:

• Log into your webmail (http://webmail.yourdomain.com).
• On the left menu is a Spam Settings option, Click it and there will be a few options.
• The life-preserver icon to the right of each option will tell you what it does.
• The first two are typically the two that you will change.

You may also use the Whitelist / Blacklist to never mark as spam / always mark mail as spam for a particular email address. Enter one address per line.

1.	Please note: In the following diagrams, do NOT change / click anything else asides from the areas indicated in RED. In particular, do not change your servers to "mail.maknet.com"; that is only provided as an example! After you launch Outlook Express, click on the Tools menu located at the top of the email program and select Accounts.
2.	At the Internet Accounts window, select your email account and click Properties. Your email account will typically contain your website or domain name.
3.	Click the Settings button.
4.	Change the number following "Outgoing mail (SMTP)" to 25, 26 or 2006 as directed.
5.	Click OK to close the Outgoing Mail Server window. Click Apply then OK to close the email Properties window. Click Close to close the Internet Accounts window.
	Your configuration should now be updated. If you have any questions or need any further assistance, please don't hesitate to Contact Us.

1.	Please note: In the following diagrams, do NOT change / click anything else asides from the areas indicated in RED. In particular, do not change your servers to "mail.maknet.com"; that is only provided as an example! After you launch Microsoft Outlook, click on the Tools menu located at the top of the email program and select E-mail Accounts.
2.	At the E-mail Accounts Wizard window, select the "View or change existing e-mail accounts" option and click Next.
3.	At the E-mail Accounts Settings window, select your email account and click Change. Your email account will typically contain your website or domain name.
4.	At the Internet E-mail Settings window, click the More Settings button.
5.	At the More Settings window, click the Advanced tab.
6.	Change the "Outgoing server (SMTP)" to 25, 26 or 2006 as directed.
7.	Click OK to close the More Settings window. Click Next then Finish to close the E-mail Accounts Wizard.
	Your configuration should now be updated. If you have any questions or need any further assistance, please don't hesitate to Contact Us.

There are many ways that spammers get your e-mail address.

• They can get it from your publicly posted email address on the internet
• When you try to unsubscribe from their list, they know it is a legitimate e-mail
• A virus, Trojan or spyware on your computer gave them the email

Do not even try! This will alert them that it is a legitimate email address guaranteeing that you will receive much more spam!

A few pointers:

• Be careful about who you give your e-mail address to.
• Make sure your email address posted publicly anywhere! Use the popular search engines to find your email address. You might be surprised at where it might be listed.
• Do not attempt to “unsubscribe” yourself from their mailing lists
• Scan your computer regularly for virus, Trojans and spyware.
• Auto-forwarding your e-mail account or putting vacation messages may increase the chances of you getting spam or blacklisted by other ISPs because you are forwarding spam.
• You can remove the “catch-all” since spammers often guess sales@domain.com or johnsmith@domain.com and you may get more spam than normal.

You can change your spam settings in webmail. Click this link.

We have many 3rd party solutions which are good. In addition, we can add an SPF record to your DNS settings which is a newer standard that may help prevent spam going forward.

Go to http://webmail.mydomain.com and login using your username and password.

Click on Spam Settings on the left-pane.

Tag Level means the score an e-mail needs before it gets tagged with [SPAM]. Reject level means the score an e-mail needs before it gets automatically deleted. The lower the score, the more aggressive filtering will be. Subject Tag is what the e-mail subject will say if it is tagged – default is [SPAM].

Click on SAVE.

If spam-filtering doesn’t work, Maknet Support may need to enable it for your account.

Click on top-right dropdown and select the SPAM folder. This will list all of the emails that the system think are spam.

If you can see legitimate email, click the check-box to the left of the message and press WHITELIST. This will put that e-mail address in your whitelist address book.

Afterwards, click on the check-box and select the “Message to” drop-down. Select the Inbox and click on MOVE. This will move the message back to your inbox.

Whitelisting is the opposite of black-listing. Emails from people in the WHITELIST will not be filtered for spam.

In theory, it makes a list of the email addresses you don’t want. In practice, spammers “spoof” email addresses and pretend they are someone else anyways, so this won’t help cut down on the amount of spam you get.