Support

Hosting help

Hosting Support

Account Restoration (BACKUPS) : contact SmallPond Support. AUD$50 per restoration.

Common Problems

Banned IP

Your site is visible to everyone else.

http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/

An IP address is banned when there are too many unsuccessful login attempts.
This occurs when someone from your computer tries to log in unsuccessfully too many times - email, control panel, webmail, FTP etc

The Server thinks it is under attack and the Firewall blocks the IP as a security precaution (dictionary attacks on logins)

To find out your IP address: CLICK HERE :  http://whatismyip.com/

Contact SmallPond on the link below with the following information :
1.Your Domain Name
2.Your IP address from the Computer that does not show your website.

Strange connection difficulties please check:

  • Are you connected to the Internet?
  • Is your Domain out of registration?
  • Have you paid your Hosting account? (Account suspended)
  • Have you exceeded you monthly bandwidth allocation? (Account suspended)
  • Switch off your computer, unplug your modem/router at the wall - waited 11 secs, then switched it one to allow it to go through the self test routine prior to switching your computer back on.
    This proceedure also applied to those on NBN
If you cannot see changes to your website :
1. MEMORY CACHE
Your computer browser is calling on old stored web pages.
This memory is called CACHE and is use by all browsers for faster internet viewing
IE, Chrome, Firefox, Safari all use a cache


To retrieve the new page, click Refresh, Reload or
try by forcing a refresh by holding down the Ctrl key and click browser refresh button.
If that does not work clear the memory in the browser settings.

2. INCORRECT UPLOAD 1.) You uploaded your files into the root directory instead of the directory called public_html. The directory public_html is the ONLY directory accessible to the general public.

2.) If you are still seeing the Small Pond logo after uploading, it means that your index file (Home Page) is called index.htm. Delete the file called index.html and your home page - index.htm will be called.
The default page calls are in this order :
index.html
index.htm
default.htm
index.php
e.g. : delete index.html and it will then call on index.htm

"THIS WEBSITE MAY BE HARMFUL TO YOUR COMPUTER"
This is the display overwrite you see when you access a compromised website.

Google has effective trojan recognition and will throw this warning on a website that is potentially dangerous.

 I think my website is infected
Check a page or website : Click Here

 How does my site get infected?

  • Use of old PHP versions with known security flaws in them (always use the latest stable version).
  • 777 permissions on files leave the back door open to write to a file.
  • Uploading a FREE template/Site Add-on which is already contaminated.
  • Using a pirated copy of an HTML editor where a Trojan is embedded in page HTML script and uploaded to the website.
  • Password breach (Using simple passwords)
What do I do?
  • Change password.
  • You are responsible for the content on your hosting space
  • Scan the site on your computer using an effective antivirus program like AVG.
  • Look for file dates in FTP or your File Manager that have been changed.
    The dates will not correspond to dates of other files last worked on.
  • Look for <iframe>xxxxx.xxxx</frame> injections into the code.
  • Look for java script embedded in the code.
  • Look for obvious redirects to malicious websites
  • Manually remove code.
  • Run the Anti Virus program to double check it is free from contamination.
  • Run an online site checker also : http://sitecheck.sucuri.net/
  • Remove the old website and upload the clean version.
  • If you did not construct your website then you may have to seek help from the original developer.

Removing Google warning message on Search Results Display

PHP programs (eg WordPress) on your Hosting Space

WordPress - Joomla Exploits (HACKS)

Common CMS Open Source Programs such as WordPress, Joomla and plugins like Virtuemart are susceptible to hacks if the versions are out of date.

Check your websitehttp://sitecheck.sucuri.net/

How does my site get infected?

  • Use of old PHP versions with known security flaws in them (always use the latest stable version).
    SQL database injections are a common hack
  • 777 permissions on files leave the back door open to write to a file.
  • Uploading a FREE template/Site plugin which is already contaminated.
    (WordPress Twenty Fifteen theme shipped by default.)
  • Using a pirated copy of an HTML editor where a Trojan is embedded in page HTML script and uploaded to the website.
  • Password breach (Using simple passwords)
    Use the password generator in your cPanel or http://strongpasswordgenerator.com/
What do I do?
  • Change password.
    Use a non-typical username (for example, do not use admin as your username).
    Use a long password with special characters.
  • You are responsible for the content on your hosting space
  • Scan the site on your computer using an effective antivirus program like AVG.
  • Look for file dates in FTP or your File Manager that have been changed.
    The dates will not correspond to dates of other files last worked on.
  • Look for <iframe>xxxxx.xxxx</frame> injections into the code.
  • Look for java script embedded in the code.
  • Look for obvious redirects to malicious websites
  • Manually remove code.
  • Run the Anti Virus program to double check it is free from contamination.
  • Remove the old website and upload the clean version.
  • If you did not construct your website then you may have to seek help from the original developer.
Common entry points are also contained within free plugins obtained on the web and uploaded by the owner of the website. examples: /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/ddd.php
/home/xxxxxxx/public_html/wp-content/themes/deep-silent/404.php
/home/xxxxxxx/public_html/wp-content/themes/twentyten/404.php

Up Grading Word Press

How do you know when a new WordPress Version is available?

The WordPress Dashboard is built with an auto-reminder script that posts a notice when an updated WordPress version is available.

Please Update WordPress

Be aware a new WordPress version may be available for MANUAL upgrades before it is available for upgrades through cPanel Softaculous Auto-Installer.

Deactivating Plugins is your FIRST STEP!

The first thing you must do before upgrading your WordPress Blog is to deactivate all plugins. At times, plugins will be incompatable with newer versions of WordPress. When this happens, it can cause all sorts of issues across your WordPress blog. The absolute best way to remedy this is to deactive ALL plugins BEFORE upgrading. Here is how to do it.

Once in your WordPress Dashboard, Go To Plugins (orange link in top right corner).

Go to WordPress Plugins

Within "Plugin Management", click the white square to the left of the word "Plugin" (found in the dark grey horizontal table header right below the blue button that says "Deactivate All Plugins") to auto-check ALL PLUGINS.

Then, click the blue button, "Deactivate All Plugins".

Deactivate All WordPress Plugins

This will deactive ALL your plugins immediately; your WP program is now ready for a clean upgrade.

Upgrade using cPanel Softaculous Auto-Installer

Open a new tab in your browser window and log into your cPanel. Typically found at yourblogname.com/cpanel. Depending on the version and/or skin of your cPanel, it may, or may not, look like mine below. Either way, find the link to Softaculous Auto Installer.

It is called Softaculous Deluxe.

Softaculous Deluxe

Click through the Softaculous Deluxe link and then, click on the radio button to the left of the "WordPress" text link found in the left sidebar.

WordPress in cPanel

Once in the "WordPress" window, your current version is displayed. As you can see, I was running 2.5.1 (old version) and needed to Upgrade to the latest version.

Click on the text link to Upgrade.

Upgrade WordPress to 2.6.1

WordPress lets you know your current installation will be backed up. This means if it all goes debunk, you can restore.

Click the "Upgrade" button to begin the Upgrade.

Click on Upgrade in order to proceed.

When activated, the status will show beneath "Upgrading…". Once the Upgrade is finished, the text will read "Upgrade completed."

Make sure to copy and save the information provided (see yellow highlighted area below). THIS IS AN IMPORTANT "JUST IN CASE" KIND OF STEP necessary to retrieve the WordPress backup generated a couple of steps back in the upgrade.

Upgrade Completed - Save Following Information

I paste mine into a .txt file and name it something ominous like, ‘if-wordpress-upgrade-fails-09-24-08′. There will be no mistaking what this text file holds if I need to search for it later.

Activate WordPress Plugins

One more step

Go back into your WordPress Dashboard, and in the same Plugins Management window as before, click the white square to the left of the word "Plugin" (found in the dark grey horizontal table header right below the blue button that says "Activate") to auto-check ALL PLUGINS.

Then, click the blue "Activate" button.



Troubleshooting

On the rare occasion that something goes wrong when you click back to view your newly upgraded WordPress blog, it is PROBABLY one of your plugins. Go back and Deactivate your plugins again, activating them one by one and checking the face of your blog. Often times, this process of elimination will reveal the dirty little plugin that will not play nice with the rest of the publishing software.

Check the plugin support page/site for upgrades, and if there isn not one, do NOT click to Activate it again, but instead, contact the plugin programmer to request a fix to match the current version of WordPress.

The most popular plugins work to keep up with the most current WordPress version; when they don not it is typically because the plugin function was integrated into the updated WordPress blogging platform.

The 4 rules for php to work on phpsuexec enabled servers are:
1. htaccess should not contain any php config values.
Such php values should be specified in php.ini.
2. Permissions for all the php files must be 644
3. Permissions for all web directories must be 755
4. Ownership must be of the user and not nobody or any other user.

1. PHP scripts executes under your user/group level.
2. Files or directories no longer need to have 777 permissions.
In fact, having 777 permissions on your scripts or the directories they reside in will not run and will instead cause a 500 internal server error when attempting to execute them to protect you from someone abusing your scripts.
3. Your scripts and directories can have a maximum of 755 permissions.
4. Files and directories also need to be owned by your user/group.
5. Using .htaccess with php_value entries within it will cause a 500 internal server error when attempting to access the scripts.

All php values should be removed from your .htaccess files to avoid the 500 internal server error.

Creating a php.ini file to manipulate the php settings will solve this issue.

Search Engines and Visibily Promotion

Google is the dominant player on the web.
Google is FREE to list and a good ranking on Google goes a long way to obtain general search engine recognition.

The dominant Search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo use Crawler robots to gather information about web sites. The information is collected and taken back to a database. Once this database is updated it starts to show the results of the crawl.

New websites have to be crawled and the data retrieved is displayed on the Google Search results.
The time frame from a new site to be crawled and when it starts to show varies from 4 to 8 days.

New domains with sites with that have no links to them. Your new sites will rely entirely on your own promotional efforts during this period.

Getting Google to catalogue your site quickly

The exact method of how Google reads a webpage is a closely guarded secret. In fact,  Google "shifted the goal posts" (altered the algorithm) a number of times and continues to do so. Your rankings will vary because of this.

For Small Businesses on the web, the level playing field has been altered constantly. Large established websites with lots of internal and incoming external links are favoured. This means portal or reference sites get more weight. New and small websites have to battle for rankings by ensuring their sites are optimized for Google.

 

Here is a summary of what the Google robot prefers.

(Googlebot - the program that continuously gathers web information and stores it on Google's Database - you can check visits by Googlebot by looking at your site statistics)

  • Text is king.
    Googlebot cannot read images or Flash (Some Flash and Java Scripted links cannot be crawled.)
  • The more links from other websites to your site the better.
  • The Title tag should contain key phrases.
  • Meta Tags especially the keyword tag are given little importance.
  • Headers with descriptive paragraphs are recommended.
  • Complimentary key phrases on all Title Tags of internal pages.
  • Pages updated with new content on a regular basis.
  • The use of frames is not beneficial.
  • Plain Text links to the rest of your website.
  • A site map page
Basic Principles from Google

  • Make pages primarily for users, not for search engines. Don't deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as "cloaking."
  • Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. A good rule of thumb is whether you'd feel comfortable explaining what you've done to a website that competes with you. Another useful test is to ask, "Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn't exist?"
  • Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or "bad neighborhoods" on the web, as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.
  • Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages, check rankings, etc. Such programs consume computing resources and violate our Terms of Service. Google does not recommend the use of products such as WebPosition Gold™ that send automatic or programmatic queries to Google.
Specific Guidelines from Google:

  • Avoid hidden text or hidden links.
  • Don't use cloaking or sneaky redirects.
  • Do make your site Mobile friendly
  • Don't load pages with irrelevant keywords.
  • Don't create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.
  • Don't create pages with malicious behavior, such as phishing or installing viruses, trojans, or other badware.
  • Avoid "doorway" pages created just for search engines, or other "cookie cutter" approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content.
  • If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason to visit your site first.
Google Search Engine Optimization - in detail

No cheating, no hidden text, links, redirects, etc, just plain old text information about your product incorporated the key words you wish to rank on.

WARNING : There are hundreds of scams in the name of Search Engine Optimizing (SEO) targeted at businesses desperate to increase their rankings and sales. Good results on an obscure search phrase that nobody is likely to type is pointless. It is better to start correctly, using the criteria above, to achieve a reasonable result.

Given time, you CAN get ranked with Google - Generic Results
Check these Small Pond Web Sites - no addwords here!
Sites have been constructed exactly as the advice above !
Search Phrase Rank Site Test
child head protection 1 headbumpa.com.au test
Rescue Medical Technician 2 firstresponseaustralia.com.au test
Len Zell 1 lenzell.com test
Underwater Film and Television 1 numa.com.au test
Cheap hosting Brisbane 1 smallpond.com.au test
Cairns Marriage Celebrant 3 cairnsweddings.com.au test
Publications Port Douglas 1 odysseybound.com.au test
Used Caravans WA 5 abbacravans.com.au test
Australian sapphires 1 australiansapphires.com test

 

New information is placed on the web all the time so keep your pages updated.  "Setting and forgetting" a web site will allow your site to slip in visibility

Lastly a cautionary note. An improvement can be made on your ranks if the above is applied to your page. If Google arbitrarily decides to alter criteria again, we have to start again. It is an ongoing process.
Check links to your sites
by entering "link:http://yoursite.com" in Google's search box.

Google Maps

Create your listing today at www.google.com/localbusinesscenter  by following the walkthrough below.
If you own a business, you probably know the basics. You can add extras like photos and descriptions if you have them handy, or come back to add them later.

At the end of the sign-up, we'll ask you to verify your info via phone or postcard. We do this to make sure that only the right people are able to change any public data about your business.

Your business probably already shows up on Google Maps and Google.com, but you should still claim your listing and make sure its details are accurate and thorough. Your improvements will start appearing as soon as you verify them through the Local Business Centre.

Your Google listing is an easy way to maintain an online presence even if you don't have a website. You can visit the Local Business Centre anytime to edit your information or see how many people have seen and clicked on your listing.

Make your listing really shine with photos and videos; custom categories like your service area, brands you sell and how to find parking; and coupons to encourage customers to make a first-time or repeat purchase.
 

How to make your web site more effective

Having listed with Google here are some other FREE ideas to help your website rankings within Australia:

http://www.localsearch.com.au/listing-request
http://www.truelocal.com.au/submit-business/signup.do
http://www.startlocal.com.au/get-listed.html
http://www.hotfrog.com.au/AddYourBusiness.aspx
http://www.localbusinessguide.com.au/addmybusiness/freelisting1.php
http://www.yalwa.com.au/post/
http://www.aussieweb.com.au/add-listing.aspx

In order to get the most out of your website you must integrate your Internet strategy into your overall business marketing and promotional activity.

Start by:

  • Putting your web address on all your business stationary
  • Listing your web address on your shop windows or work vehicles
  • Directing customers to your website with voice mail, answering machine or on hold message recordings
  • Including your web address in all your business advertising
  • Include your web address in your email signature
Once you have maximised exposure for your web address, turn your attention to your website by:

  • Updating your website regularly to encourage users to visit again.
  • Responding to emailed enquiries promptly, don't let hot leads go cold.
  • Obtaining links to your website from existing established web sites.

Search Engine Recognition

There is a misconception by new users that their website will be immediately found by the search engines when they go live on the Internet. Worse still - they will rank well on search key phrases.

How most search engines (including Google) work is by cataloging web sites by using crawler robots. These robots can only read text and jump from site to site using links.

If a new website does not have any links TO it, then recognition at a slower pace. The crawler robots cannot find the site.

After a search engine robot reads a site, the information gathered by the algorithm is placed on the databases. The database then updates the search engine servers and the new information is displayed.

This process can take up to 2 weeks (faster if verified with Google and a sitemap file added).
Do not expect your site to display in the generic first page results initially.
A Google Adwords Program which will allow prompt listing

Ranking

Large established websites with lots of internal and incoming external links are favoured.
This means portal or reference sites get more weight.
New and small websites have to battle for rankings by ensuring their sites are optimized for Google.

The more unique the product or service, the easier it is to be found.
If you have a product/service that is of a common type (e.g. accommodation), the competition is fierce and you have less chance of competing.

Your Control Panel Functions

Log into your cPanel using the User Name and Password allocated
Select Addon Domains, enter your domain name and password.
Video Tutorial

An addon domain allows you to reach a sub-domain when entering the name of the addon domain into a browser.
This means that you can host additional domains from your account, if allowed by your hosting provider.
Addon Domains Subdomains are relative to your account's home directory.

Note: Your add on domain must be active to your hosting space before you can add it.
(ie the DNS should point to your SmallPond Hosting space.)

UPLOADING A NEW WEBSITE

You can FTP or use the cPanel File Manager to upload content to your Addon Domain website.
Use the FTP login for your main account - details in you account activation email.
Open the Addon Domain folder and upload your website files.
Note that the home page should be called either  index.htm, index.html. or index.php


Google indexing of the add-on domain is not as effective as having a website working off one domain.

VIDEO TUTORIAL - Addon Domain

Log into your cPanel : www.(yourdomain).com/cpanel.
Enter your username and password issued in your Account Activation Email.
Click on File Manager. Look for your website files in the public_html directory. Select the file to edit. Click on HTML Editor

CPanel File Manager

Highlight the file you wish to edit and click on the HTML Editor - wait for the editor to load in.

CPanel HTML Editor

Website Help

Uploading your files (FTP - File Transfer Protocol) to your SmallPond web space

Your Files can be found within the public_html directory (folder)

For FTP (file transfer protocol) access please use :
Host Address: Server IP 
and your username and password

Standard FTP Port 21

The public access is the directory (Folder) called public_htm
The default page calls are in this order :
index.htm
index.html
default.htm
index.php
 e.g. : delete index.htm and it will then call on index.html

1. A simple free FTP Program COREFTPLite can be download here
It is similar to the original WS-FTP
(below) but it is a more modern program.

2. For Mac - Cyberduck - download here

3. WS-FTP LE -  download here
(690k) - educational freeware - A file transfer application that allows remote file edits, chmods on UNIX boxes and file moves.
When installing WS_FTP, call yourself a student.

A couple of FTP traps

Filezilla

Filezilla - latest version defaults to encryption.
Please select plain text for FTP to SmallPond Servers

Mac Users - iWeb program.

If the iWeb program is not putting files where you want them to go then you will have problems. Publish to your computer first and then upload using and ordinary FTP program.

iWeb is a program designed for Mac Servers.
Roughly 80% of the worlds servers run on Linux - The SmallPond Servers run on Linux.

For Mac - Cyberduck - download here

Statistics

Go to www.(yourdomain).com/cpanel

Login :
UserName: yourusername
PassWord: youruserpassword

Go to Logs
Select : Awstats
Click on the magnifying glass and check out your unique visitors


 

Hits, Unique Visitors and Page Views - Studying Web Traffic.

A hit is the result of a file being requested and served from your web site. This can be a html document, an image file, an audio track etc. etc. Web pages that contain a large number of elements will return high hit scores. Hits are of very little consequence when analysing your visitor demographics.

A page view means just that. Once again, it is not a true indication of how many different people are visiting your web site, but it is a good way to judge how "sticky" (the ability to retain the interest of visitors) your web site is and is an important consideration regarding the possibility of attracting high paying advertising.

A unique visitor is where stats really count. It is someone with a unique IP address (when you log onto the Internet, you are assigned a unique IP address, or if you are a cable modem user your IP address is usually "static", it never changes) who is entering a Web site for the first time that day (or some other specified period). Your IP address is an identifier, while you are using it, no else on the Internet can utilise that particular set of numbers. Your number is counted once, usually for a 2-24 hour period, dependent up the tracking software. So no matter how many times a visitor refreshes or navigates through your web site, they will only be counted once for the specified time period. This is by far the more accurate way of analysing web site performance.

When you divide the number of visitors by the number of page views, this can give an excellent indication of whether traffic is transient or is staying on your site. If the average is one page or under, you can be pretty sure that there is something on your pages that is scaring people off. Perhaps the load time is too slow or your opening statement is inappropriate. Remember that due to bandwidth considerations, those first few elements that display as your page is loading may be the deciding factor as to whether a visitor waits around for the entire page to load.

Studying your web site traffic can take up a fair amount of time, but it is definitely worth it. Of course in amongst all this you need to be able to make the time to carry out promotion, maintain linkages, develop new content etc etc etc. Running a large, content rich site is definitely not a part-time job!
 

Marketing Pointers

Get to know the Internet. 
Do plenty of exploring.

font face="Verdana" color="#000000"> Be a resource.
Internet users expect information.
So make sure your message is more than just hype. Add value.
Be an information provider.
If you have a Web site, provide useful background information about your industry, your specialties, your areas of expertise. You will become known as an expert on the Internet, and others -- including potential customers -- will be drawn to you.

Include a clear call to action in your message.
What do you want the user to do after he or she has followed your presentation?
Purchase a product?
Request a proposal and price quotation?
Join a mailing list?
Ask for more information?

Let them know what you want them to do, and ask them to do it in clear, direct terms. Make it easy for them to respond.

Set up a response mechanism -- a direct e-mail link, a form to fill out, a button to click. The more direct and immediate the better. A phone number, a fax number, or a postal mail address is a second choice but better than nothing.

Use online discussion groups for "soft-selling."

Twitter, Facebook and blogs are great for soft selling
Newsgroups and forums can also be fertile fields for marketing.

But watch out. Most groups don't tolerate commercial postings. Instead of barging in to hype your product, be a real participant. Lurk and listen. Answer questions and offer help.

Include a "signature" block at the end of your postings to let people know how to get in touch with you. You'll be surprised how often this will bring in leads from potential clients or customers. can be fertile fields for marketing. But watch out. Most groups don't tolerate commercial postings.

Check your e-mail regularly.
People on the Internet expect fast response. I recommend checking your e-mail messages twice a day. Respond as quickly as possible. This shows that you're serious about your Internet presence and that you care.

Beware of "creativity."
Because the Web allows graphical presentations, it's easy to get caught up in designing something you like -- but that does nothing to sell your product.
Make sure your site communicates and offers value to the user. Make sure it's readable and that it's easy to navigate.

Your Web site doesn't have to be boring. You can be clever and you can be visual. But just remember this favorite advertising maxim: "If it doesn't sell, it isn't creative."

Keep your Web site changing, so people will come back.
Repeat visitors are more likely to become clients or buyers, and they're more likely to recommend your site to others. To draw users back to your site, you need to keep it changing. Update your material. Take advantage of new technology as it appears. Add new features, new resources, new information.

Use correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
Project a professional image by correct writing. Even if it's a lowly email message, set the spell check on, double-check it for typos or vague language.

Promote your Internet presence through offline channels
Let your regular customers and the public know about your Internet presence. Put your email address and URL on your business cards, stationary, ads, brochures, packaging, signage anything you can think of. Send out press releases.
Get the word out. 

Marketing over the Internet and the Web can bring results in the form of leads, direct sales, publicity, and image boosting. Get to know the medium. Work up a sound strategy. Seek out appropriate online marketing methods that will get your selling message across while respecting other Internet users.

Don't send out unsolicited email marketing messages.
This won't help your business and will just get recipients angry. There are much better ways to market your product or service.
Electronic mail is different from postal mail. For one thing, sending out a conventional direct mail package costs you, the sender. But often your electronic mail message will cost the recipient money!
If you become a regular user of email, you'll see how annoying it would be if your mailbox got filled up every day with email advertising. There's nothing to be gained by this.

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