Server and web hosting
What do I do if my web site is down?
What is SSL and Secure Certificates?
Will I have to learn how to maintain a server account to host my site with you?
I have an existing web site elsewhere. How do I move it to your server?
Payment Options
What payment option do you offer?
How do I pay for design, installation and programming?
Do I have to pay extra for a domain name?
General Questions
Portfolio
Will you keep my web site up to date?
Do you do web site maintenance of existing web sites?
Answers
The most basic functionality of a domain name is to provide a symbolic representation. It is a phrase that replaces the numeric addresses that a URL would be without them, which also would be a lot more difficult to remember.
A domain name is just as important in branding these days as anything else. We associate web sites with their domain names, and it is important to remember that the domain name is a part of what your customers will remember your business by if you are setting up a new e-commerce or any other kind of commercial site. If you get it wrong, your customers may very well end up on another web site instead of yours.
When a domain name is registered, we need to connect it to our DNS servers. DNS ( or Domain Name System) is a hierarchical naming system for computers, services, or any resource participating in the Internet. It associates various information with domain names assigned to such participants. Most importantly, it translates humanly meaningful domain names to the numerical (binary) identifiers associated with networking equipment for the purpose of locating and addressing these devices world-wide. An often used analogy to explain the Domain Name System is that it serves as the “phone book” for the Internet by translating human-friendly computer hostnames into IP addresses. For example, www.example.com translates to 208.77.188.166.
When we connect your domain name to our DNS server (or name server), it will take a while for it to spread the word around the world that your web space is connected to that specific domain name.
Sometimes it’s done in a couple of hours, but it can take up to 72.
If you have problems selecting a domain name we are happy to help you out. Back to Top
To provide you with the fastest access time, reliability, and disaster recovery, we use some of the most advanced data-centers in the USA situated in 2 different locations in Texas.
These are equipped with UPS backup and emergency power generators, tape libraries, 24/7 monitoring, security alarms, hand scanners and much more.
Our fast and reliable technical support team is based in Silicon Valley, California. Back to Top
Our servers have a guaranteed uptime of 99.998%. As with any system, problems can and do occasionally happen; if this is the case, it is likely that we will know about them before you and your customers, and endeavor to fix them as quickly as possible.
Usually, limited access to a web site is due to a problem with routing rather then a fault on the server itself. Issues such as these tend to clear after a short while, but a more persistent problem could take several hours to resolve. We will notify you if this is the case. Back to Top
When you contact us we will discuss the domain name. If you already know what you want, let us know the domain name and we will register it on your behalf when we set up your account. You can check if the domain name you want is available by using the form in the index page.
If you register your own domain name, or if you already have a domain name, we can transfer it for you to our servers. This service replaces the free domain offer. Back to Top
SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, is a cryptographic protocol that provides a higher security for communications on the Internet for such things as web browsing, e-mail, Internet faxing, instant messaging and other data transfers. If you see a URL that begins with http’s:// it means that it is protected with this protocol.
It was developed by Netscape to send private messages via Internet, and to do so it uses two keys to encrypt data – one public key that is visible for everyone, and one private key only known to the recipient of the message.
In short, an SSL Certificate means that if you buy something from an e-commerce, the information that the web site is sending to the server with your credit card information is encrypted and sent via a secure connection not visible to the rest of the Internet.
Different levels of security can be obtained with this kind of Certificate, and today the highest level is recognizable by the green field it creates in the address bar in your web browser. That kind of high level of encryption is used by PayPal among many others.
Pricing for SSL Certificates varies depending on what kind of Certificate you need and where you buy it.
But you will need one if you plan on setting up an e-commerce and choose not to use PayPal to receive credit card payments. Most customers these days are well aware of that when a URL begins with https://, it is secure and safe. Back to Top
cPanel is short for Control Panel. It is where you can change settings, access the files on your server space, add programs and much more. cPanel is pre-installed on the server and will be ready for you to use as soon as your account is active.
It is easy to use and comes with a complete Help section.
If you don’t want to use it and prefer that we take care of the server side bit, that is fine too. Just let us know!
You can see a demo of the cPanel here. Back to Top
Not necessarily. There’s no need to have any knowledge about web servers if you prefer a more hands-off approach. Just let us know and we will take care of the rest. If you choose to buy our web hosting separately you can easily maintain it if you wish using the included cPanel. Back to Top
If you want to move your web site from another host to our server we will need some information from you.
Your old hosting account most likely have an FTP account (File Transfer Protocol), which is used to transfer files on and off the server.
We will need the login information for that account in order to move your site.
If you don’t want to move your existing site, but only keep the content and get a new design from us we will still need to get the content from of your old hosting account.
The only time this does not apply is if you have the content offline and can provide us with all the necessary information to rebuild your web site. In that case we will not need any login information to your old host.
If you want to move your domain name you will need to find out if your old web host is the owner or if the domain name is registered in your name. In many cases the web host will register domain names in their name. You should discuss this with your old web host and check if it is possible that they can transfer the domain name to your ownership. Back to Top
All our hosting accounts are set up with a cPanel and FTP access.
Login information will be supplied in our Welcome email to you. Back to Top
Payment
Because of it’s flexibility and high security we are using PayPal’s payment system to accept all major credit cards and other sources of funding. If you are local and want to pay by cheque, cash or in some other way, please contact us. Back to Top
If you sign up for web hosting with us we require 100% of the payment before your account is set up. All other work requires a 50% deposit before commencement. Back to Top
We require a 50% deposit before work commences. When the work is complete you pay the remaining 50% and your site will go live.
During the time you will be able to review what has been done and make any changes necessary.
Any web hosting packages must paid in full before we register your domain name and set it up in your name.
You can use our online payment options to pay deposits for basic installations and templates. Back to Top
No. We will register a domain name for you as a part of the hosting package you buy. The domain name will be registered for 2 years.
We can also move a domain name if you already have one. This service is also included in our hosting packages. If this is the case, we will need information about the registrar which you registered your domain name with. Back to Top
General Questions
Use the contact form under the link Contact in the menu. If you want us to contact you, include your phone number and we will call you back. You can also find us on Twitter. Information about that can also be found under the Contact link in the menu.
If you prefer to get in touch by post, our address is:
Paperbag Designs
Sutton Hall Gardens
Sutton Scarsdale
Chesterfield
Derbyshire
S44 5SU
Yes, we do certain jobs on site as well as remotely. At times, this may be a necessity, for example if you require on-site training.
If you want our services for any longer period of time, contact us and we can discuss any special requirements. Back to Top
We do maintenance of our clients web sites if it is requested and agreed upon.
If you want a maintenance agreement with us, please let us know before we set up your site and we will take this into account as a part of our pricing quotation. Back to Top
If you already have a web site that you are satisfied with and just need maintenance, we can provide this on a basis both parts will agree about.
We can handle most kinds of web sites and different kind of code used to build a web site, and to make sure that we can maintain your web site we might require to see parts of your site that normally is not available to the public. This is to decide if we can help you or not.
Sometimes programmers use their own special way when building a web site, which means that we might need to get in touch with the developer who built your site during the initial set up. If this is not possible, we can still do any maintenance that you might need.
We will set up a contract with you and decide how frequently you need us to do updates or other changes. After that we agree about a price that is payable on a monthly basis to ensure we are free to take care of your updates.
Changes of that agreement can be made at any time if your needs change.
Any other questions about maintenance, please contact us. Back to Top