Hosting FAQs

• What forms of payment does Digital West accept?
• How long will it take to set up my account?
• What is the difference between a POP box and an email alias?
• What is FTP?
• What are Active Server Pages?
• What version of Microsoft FrontPage do you support?
• What if I don't like FrontPage?
• What is LiveStats?
• How often are my site usage statistics updated?
• I found a third party component I want to use. Can I do this with my Digital West account?
• The application I want to use says it needs an EXE or a DLL file. Can I do this with my Digital West account?
• Can I use PHP or PERL to develop my site?
• Can I use something other than instead of VBScript to develop my ASP site?
• How do I set up Microsoft FrontPage or Adobe/Macromedia Dreamweaver to be able to syncronize files on my website?

DNS FAQs

• How does DNS relate to my domain and website?
• Can you explain DNS?
• What does A-record mean? What is ICANN?

Email FAQs

• How do I send e-mail from my website?
• How do I set up my email client to get email for my domain?
• How do I manage the POP boxes and aliases for my domain?
• Is there a web based interface to email I can use when I travel or am away from home?
• What can I do about SPAM?
• Can I send email out though the Digital West Network SMTP server?
• I'm having some other issue with my email, what should I do?

Ecommerce FAQs

• Do I need to have a SSL Certificate for my domain?
• Why shouldn't I just email the credit card information from the web store?
• What credit card processors / real time shipping components are supported? (Windows)

Support FAQs

• If I want to use a database do I need to use a DSN? (Windows)

Have a question we haven't answered? Send us an e-mail at support@digitalwest.net.

Do I need to have a SSL Certificate for my domain?

If you are planning to do credit card transactions or collect other sensitive information on the web, then you need to employ encryption techniques to protect the data from eavesdropping enroute. Please see our Extras and Add-ons page for pricing information.

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Why shouldn't I just email the credit card information from the web store?

Unless the credit card number or the entire message is encrypted before sending, and you then get your Captain Marvel decoder ring to read the email, you would be sending the information in plain text. The purchaser's credit card number, address and other contact information travels from the web server where your site is hosted to the mail server where your messages are stored. The message waits until you check your mail, and it gets yet another trip through cyberspace to your desktop. We recommend that you use SSL and your web browser or similar technology to retrieve this information from the server. Encrypting credit card data, keeping it on the server for only the minimum time you require to get the information, and storing the information in a folder which is not accessible via normal browsing should be standard practice.

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What credit card processors / real time shipping components are supported? (Windows)

In addition to the StoreFront component which is used to get real time UPS and FedEx rates, we also have installed the USPS component for rate computation. If you wish to use either the USPS component or UPS rates from the StoreFront component (in the context of StoreFront), then you will need to get register with the shipper to get the required username and password. We have installed the LinkPoint, CyberCash and Verisign PayFlow Pro components for credit card processing. We will be happy to work with you to include other payment processors if you come across some other processor that you believe meets your needs. Just let us know and we will investigate the possibility of installing it for your use.

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