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brick

Hi Don, I get the "fail: bit (and set up my account accordingly). But I don't understand what you mean after that about creating a "real" account and setting up forwards [what forwards?] to replace alias [what alias?] and forward (?) to "real" address? Also, while I was setting up the default address per your instructions, I finally figured discovered how to get the server to delete rather than deliver emails that are tagged as spam by SpamAssassin: cpanel > Mail > SpamAssassin. Having done that now it will presumably stop the glutting of my email quota. Did you hear about the Spam King getting busted? He lived right here in my hometown of Seattle: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/317795_soloway31.html http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/318094_soloway01.html "One expert estimated that the man...sent millions, perhaps even tens of millions, of e-mails a day." "With three other servers connected to him, investigators believe he sent 120 million e-mails to nearly 80,000 addresses. He used a controversial software called Dark Mailer, which investigators say lets users tap into a network of zombie proxy computers to send bulk e-mails with near-total anonymity." YIKES! He was especially noisome because "he used Web domains and e-mail addresses of other people to hide his identity. In those cases, unsuspecting victims often ended up on blacklists of accused spammers." Nice (albeit naive) to think this guy's removal might actually make a dent in the proliferation of spam. Thanks as always for the help and advice in all things Total Choice. John

Boy (Obvious, yes, but hey -- I'm just following the rules of the game.)

road (or is that rowed? <g>) Note to Bob Crabb: All of your associations are pretty straight forward ("vinegar" to "acid" / "drive" to "wrap" / "harmony" to "tranquility" / "weather" to "balloon") but you gotta tell me how you got from "child" to "element" -- I just can't make the leap and this is from somebody whose favorite joke is: Question: How many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Answer: A fish!

endless

Say (the word and you'll be free) [PS: This is absurdly, inexplicably FUN!]

bluegrass

Yes, I do know that, but that's sort of the point -- none of those paths are very intuitive. I can spend hours muddling about and still not find basic information that I need. (When I first signed on with TCH, for example, I didn't have any idea what cpanel was or how to navigate it. All the info that I could find on it assumed a basic understanding of what cpanel was -- I had to learn a lot of the INs and OUTs through trial and error. I'm sure there is some ready help for this example, but the point is, it's not easy to find!) I often feel like a Freshman who has accidentally found himself in a Doctorate-level classroom.

light

So many help searches come back with information that is qualified with "This assumes that you already know how to do x, y, and/or z." And of course there's no linking info about how to do x, y, and/or z. This is also the case with the mods -- there is a high level of expectation in their responses that clients are way more experienced than they should be or necessarily are. There are no step-by-step instructions for newbies for setting up their accounts, setting up their web sites, and how to use the Hosting Forums to best advantage (sign up for special announcements, and such). Yes, all the information is scattered about SOMEWHERE in the labyrinth of forums and how-to manuals, but TCH needs to take a bit more of a pro-active stance with making sure clients know how to get to the information they're looking for and most importantly making sure clients get the information they need (the sudden disappearance without any direct notice to clients of the Comcast forwarders last summer is a prime example). I'm perfectly happy with TCH as a server, but if you're looking for a customer support system for novices, you're better off going with a more client-centered operation. If you're research savvy and have an intermediate level of expertise with dealing with servers and web site building then this is a great place to be. Very friendly and supportive staff in that case.

I was doing some research trying to figure out why the heck one of my two forwarders kept being dropped. It would be fine for a few days and then disappear. The other forwarder has been consistently fine for the three year life of my account. Wasn't finding answers as I made my way through the labyrinthine search options for "forwarder" help. Finally, after reading in this topic that others were having trouble and that they resolved them through the help desk (which always wants you to search for help first anyway) I began submitting a help ticket and only then did I get a link to specifically relevant information regarding my situation. I'm reprinting it here for your edification, but I also want to know why the heck this information (some kind of alert) doesn't automatically appear on the cpanel email forwarder page so that others don't have to spin their wheels trying to figure out why their forwarders aren't working. (And a direct email to comcast customers would have been nice too, but that's probably asking too much.) Comcast Forwards Policy Solution Due to the increase in complaints, effective August 26, 2006, we will no longer allow forwards from TotalChoice accounts to Comcast accounts. Forwards to Comcast accounts have resulted in several blacklisted servers over the past two months. Often times a server is blacklisted by Comcast because their system doesn�t make any distinction between forwarded mail and mail sent directly to a Comcast address. We have worked with Comcast's Customer Security Assurance department to resolve this issue. They have requested that Comcast subscribers keep their TotalChoice email separate from their Comcast email by not forwarding from TotalChoice to Comcast. Fighting SPAM and keeping our servers off of any blacklists is a never ending battle. We understand that some of our customers wont be very happy with this choice but we feel it is in the best interest of TCH and our servers, and will help us to continue to provide the best service we possibly can. Thank you for your continued support

Okay, I got that figured out. Now, how do I create separate pages? Or rather, what do I name the separate pages? And where do I put them? In the public_html folder where I put the index file? I really appreciate all this help. I feel like I'm beginning to dog paddle now.

Okay, I think I'm getting somewhere! Yeah! So....I've got coreftp up and running and renamed my sample front page file "index.html" but the photos that are associated with it are not showing up on my web site. Do I have to name the photos something specific so they'll follow along? Thanks for all the help. I'm starting to tread water, at least. John

These are great links, Don, but what I really need help with is the procedure for publishing what I've designed. I'm happy to use cpanel, but I don't even know how to make heads or tails of it. I guess that's what I'd really like here at TCH, a step-by-step procedural for how to publish various web pages using cpanel. I can get into the cpanel main page, but then I have no idea what I'm looking at with all those icons or which icon to click on to start the process for publishing even my home page. I know there are all sorts of rules about what the files are supposed to be called and such, but I don't know what they are. I feel like I've been thrown in the deep end when I was just barely familiar with what a pool even is! I appreciate the help. Isn't there somewhere on the TCH site that I can get this basic information? John

Okay, I am a Total Newbie to TCH and to web site development and I need HELP! Do you have somewhere you can point me to that has a step-by-step procedural guide all the way from building a web page and launching it? All I can find are general and rather vague directions with insider lingo that presupposes a certain amount of knowledge and familiarity with web design and launching. I have my domain and it's "propagated" (if that's the right word), but I don't know the first thing about web design (what program to use or how to get whatever I have designed so it shows up on my web site). Aren't there any total idiot's guides that give simple directions for each step in the process? (A lot of your directions don't even have links to the information that they refer to.) Thanks for the help. John