Setting Up Email Accounts

Setting up email accounts within the email account management module is usually pretty simple, but may vary depending upon the control panel you are using. Generally you would simply choose a site from a dropdown list of domains that are loaded into your web hosting account, and then you would choose a prefix for the email account, which is the part the comes before the @ symbol. For example, you may want your email address to be – myemailaddress@mydomain.com. You would then set up a password and log into the email account to setup your favorite email client such as SquirrelMail or RoundCube.

Setting Up AutoResponders

An autoresponder is an integrated serverside software that automatically responds to email inquires based on a set selection of criteria. Many control panels include autoresponder functionality by default, however there are also more capable autoresponder solutions such as Aweber that can be installed via installation utilities such as Fantastico and SimpleScripts. Autoresponders are often used in the world of eCommerce sites to respond to customers that are in need of assistance, and that ask questions that have already been answered on numerous occasions, almost like an interactive FAQ. Autoresponders are also used to respond to general inquiries with pricing lists and other information that can be automatically sent.

Setting Up Filters

Filters can be used to send certain emails to certain folders, or even other email inboxes. For example, you may want to send all emails that contain the words “pricing”,“prices”, or “pricelist” to a folder named “Pricing.” Or you may want to send all emails form a particular client to their own folder. All of this and more can be done within the filtering options of your email client which can be found within your web hosting control panel. You can also set up filters that send emails with certain titles to certain folders. In general, a filter can be applied to virtually any criteria that can be identified within an email.

Setting Up Employee Emails

Another way you can use the email account management module to control the input and output of your workforce is to set up employee emails, in which employee of your website has their own email address. This is particularly useful when operating a multifaceted site with multiple service departments and supervisors. You can set up permissions for each email address, even restricting some to read-only status if necessary.

Related posts:

• December 7, 2009 – Top Three Control Panels to Consider When Choosing a Web Host
• June 15, 2009 – Move Over cPanel: Make Room for Kloxo
• March 30, 2009 – Fantastico: cPanel’s Best Kept Secret
• February 13, 2009 – cPanel Then and Now
• January 26, 2009 – Why You Need a Good Control Panel
• January 6, 2012 – Control Panel: Advantages & Disadvantages
• December 21, 2011 – Top 5 Email Clients for Windows
• November 1, 2011 – Email Encryption: Protecting Yourself and Your Information
• September 29, 2011 – The Ins and Outs of DirectAdmin
• September 25, 2011 – What To Remember When Moving To A New Control Panel

Email Tools

Email is the preferred method of communication for millions of individuals and businesses across the world.  Realizing this, web hosting companies provide all the email features needed to keep base with contacts.  Aside from multiple accounts, you generally get complimentary features such as webmail, autoresponders and forwarders to communicate effectively no matter where you might be.  Because unsolicited mail and virus infected attachments are a tremendous problem, hosting providers help you stay protected with spam filtering applications to dramatically cut down on those potentially dangerous messages.  Often overshadowed by more luxurious offerings, but email remains to be one of the most useful features in any hosting plan.

Shopping Cart Software

E-commerce is a driving force on the web and shopping carts are a big part of what enables this thriving industry.  If you have aspirations of selling your own products or services online, this is the type of software you need to make it happen. Shopping carts often come included in business or e-commerce hosting packages, usually at no additional costs.  In many cases, these programs can be easily installed through your control panel interface.

Programming Languages

Scripting or programming languages, have become common on the web hosting market but these features are geared towards more advanced users.  Some examples are open-source languages such as PHP, Perl and Ruby on Rails and proprietary technologies such as ASP and ASP.NET.  These programming tools serve benefit to developers and webmasters who are proficient at coding and building content from scratch.  A hosting provider that has these software packages installed on their server allow you to diversify your website with dynamic content that stand outs from static HTML pages.

Site Builders

Almost all web hosting plans come equipped with utilities that provide you the ability to create your site.  With most tools, you can choose from a nice selection of pre-designed templates and basically create your website in easy drag-and-drop fashion.  These utilities typically do not call for you to have any knowledge in client-side programming languages such as HTML or even server-side variations like Python or PHP.  In addition to integrated building tools, many host also offer support for standalone web design applications such as Dreamweaver and Microsoft FrontPage. These programs allow you to create your site offline and upload it to the server without the use of an FTP client.

Conclusion

The list of web hosting features is huge and seems to expand every year.  Others you might find interesting include support for multimedia applications, web stat applications and databases among others.  To each its own in this regard because everyone has that dynamic tool set they just can’t do without.

Related posts:

• July 9, 2009 – Introducing the nopCommerce Shopping Cart
• June 24, 2011 – Preventing e-Commerce Shopping Cart Abandonment
• January 16, 2011 – Web Hosting for Small Companies
• January 13, 2011 – Web Hosting Features
• March 25, 2010 – Setting Up an eCommerce Website With Ease
• January 14, 2010 – Three Steps to Choose an Ecommerce Hosting Plan
• December 22, 2009 – How to Choose Your E-commerce Software
• December 11, 2009 – Are You Paying Too Much for Web Hosting?
• November 18, 2009 – How Complete is Your E-commerce Solution?
• October 21, 2009 – Four Hot E-commerce Tips that Payoff