Please don't hesitate to contact me with any changes, additions, or questions. See these resources to help you choose your site style and features.
Small files can be sent as an email attachment to your domain webmaster. Most sites have an upload page at /upload/ where you can upload individual files (including zip files and compressed directories). Please notify me when you do, and tell me what you want done with them. Each has an FTP interface at ftp.YourDomain and I can provide userids. Anonymous FTP costs extra, and is currently available only at static.valleychurch.org. I also use dropbox.com and Google Drive.
You can try using the FTP access method in Windows XP (and presumably later versions) My Network Places. I have had limited success with this.
Once your FTP location has been created, you can find it in My Network Places. Double-clicking it may open your remote location in the same way as Windows opens folders, and you can drag (or copy and paste) files from local folders to the remote folder and back again in the familiar manner. If you do not have the same behaviour, check Internet Explorer settings. The IE settings are tools, internet options, advanced, browsing, put a check besite "Enable folder view for FTP sites".
I provide an unlimited number of email addresses as forwarding only, mailbox only (POP3 or IMAP4), or both. When you ask for an email address, please tell me which you want. Forwarding-only if all you want is for email to be forwarded to some other email address you regularly use. Each mailbox has a simple web interface at webmail.dreamhost.com. Keep track of your email password. You can administer your mailbox at webmail.dreamhost.com, including changing your password. Please don't keep huge volumes of email on the mail servers. That impacts performance for everyone. Mail older than 30 days in Spam, Trash, Junk, and Deleted is automatically deleted. Gmail will not deliver an email it originally sent back to the sender. This means that trying to test the forward by sending an email from a Gmail address to a domain address which forwards to it may not work. Try sending to it from a different email address.
I also provide email discussion lists powered by Mailman. Because DreamHost.com is serious about discouraging spam, they limit the number of emails a user can send in an hour. If you have a large distribution list, it's a good idea to manage that with a discussion list or an announce list. To reduce bogus post and subscription attempts, in Privacy Options, turn Advertise to No and set subscription requirements to Confirm and Approve. Set Munge From so people with Yahoo addresses can post. Set a reasonable filesize limit and use other mechanisms to transfer large files.
As of July 9, 2020, DreamHost will not forward to an AOL, Comcast, or Verizon email address.
Here are some general hints for setting up your
email client to use mailboxes on your domain.
Thunderbird: Edit -- Account Settings
Outlook: Tools -- E-mail Accounts
The userid is your complete email address, such as
JohnDoe@<yourdomain>.
The mail servers are:
I'll tell you your initial password, but you should change it. Use POP3 or IMAP4, your choice. I use SSL/TLS security with password authentication, so that emails are not transmitted in the clear from me to the mail server. To minimize authentication complaints, I suggest using the domain server for sending email from your address, as well as for receiving it.
Yes, there are legitimate uses for this. When I send email from my primary website development address, I want to show From: webmaster@
In Thunderbird, Edit -- Account Settings
then choose the account. The button at the bottom for Manage Identities. Add the new identity.
Then, when I send an email, when I write (compose) an email, I choose the identity from the pull-down list for the From: line.
When in Gmail:
Settings (the gear at the top right)
Settings
Accounts and Import
Send mail as:
Add another email address
When composing an email, same as with Thunderbird.
DreamHost will automatically add DKIM-authentication to your email IF you use the DreamHost SMTP servers (above) for your outgoing mail, AND provide the userid/password of a mailbox in that domain. You can still spoof the From: address if it's within that domain. For example, I can send email from webmaster@joe.com even though that's a forwarding-only address, but for sending, I authenticate with jackspratt@joe.com and my mailbox password for that mailbox. I found (but have not checked out) this DKIM validation tool.
If you send DKIM-authenticated email, it is less likely to be rejected as spam by Gmail and others.
using just your full email address and your password. The login page includes a link to manage your mailbox, including changing your password.
If your domain has junk filtering enabled, then in general, every mailbox (but not forwarding-only addresses) will have a new Junk folder. You will want to check this folder for any valid email miscategorized as junk. The webmail interface is a good way to do that. For more details on this feature, see this DreamHost Wiki entry.
My web hosting service provides detailed statistics. Using the userid and password I provide to you, visit:
I'm not sure how much traffic from search engines and other web crawlers their tools filter out. A site with nothing but a placeholder index.html shows 2-3 page requests per day. The monthly report shows traffic for known robots. That should help you figure out how much of your traffic is real. In general, a request for a page means that a client (usually a browser) requested a page (such as about_us.html). That should mean that a person pointed their browser to that page. If they revisit that same page while their browser has a fresh cached copy, it should not show up in the stats.
For some sites, I have implemented a crude page counter. I prefix with FAN_ accesses by me. If you provide me with your IP address, I can separate yours as well. You can find that here. I think these counters increment only when a browser actually displays the page. Again, revisiting a cached page would not increment the counter. You can view the counters at any time with:
Why do you want traffic? What kind of person do you want to find your site? What are they looking for? What would they be searching for? With these answers, make sure you have content that matches what they're looking for. Make sure it's described with generous, but appropriate, usage of the terms they would be searching for, including alternative terms. It's very helpful to have other appropriate sites link to yours in appropriate ways. If you have a section of resources, you can make appropriate links to these peer sites. Include a brief description of why each is appropriate. Show this to your peers and ask them to reciprocate. Submit yourself to relevant listing services. Pretend you're searching for whatever you offer, and see what comes up. If you find things like Yelp, local business indexes, chambers of commerce and so on, submit yourself to them. When things like Yelp are appropriate, ask your satisfied customers to write reviews of you. Post relevant comments in social media, including the link to your website. When web visitors begin to have significant value to you, build a well-designed ad campaign with Google AdWords or something similar.
