Your New Hosting Account at GoDaddy.com
Setting up the hosting account
- Log into the Account Manager on GoDaddy.com.
- Under the Hosting & Email section, select Hosting Account List.
- Next to the hosting account you want to set up, click Setup Account. The Hosting Manager opens in a new window.
- The End User License Agreement displays. Be sure the read it and click Accept.
- On the Account Setup page in the Hosting Manager, type in the domain name you want to use for the account (the default is usually acceptable - so long as it is yours).
- Create a User ID and Password for the account (This will be the FTP username and password you will use with Dreamweaver and can be different from the Account Manager username and password for goDaddy. )
- Click Continue
- Verify your account information. If everything looks OK, click Submit.
- A congratulations message displays letting you know that your hosting account should be ready to use shortly (sometimes it will take only a few minutes, others may take several hours).
- When the account is successfully activate, goDaddy will send you an email that includes all of the basic account-management information. I strongly recommend that you save this email.
Checking the status of the hosting account
- Log in to your Account Manager.
- Under the Hosting & Email section, select Housing Account List.
- Next to the hosting account you want to modify, click Open.
- In the menu on the left, select Account List.
The Account List displays the current status of your hosting accounts. In general, these are the different account status types that you'll see:
| Status | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Initialize Account | You need to set up your hosting account in order to use it. To set up your hosting account, click on the name of the account you want to set up. |
| Pending DNS | Your hosting account needs to match up with your domain name before you can upload files and manage your Web site. Depending on when you set up the name servers for your domain, it can take up to 8 hours for hosting account to match up with .com and .net domains and up to 48 hours for other domain extensions. |
| Pending Account Change | This account status displays whenever you have upgraded or downgraded your hosting account. |
| Pending Setup | This account status displays after you have set up your account. It may take a few minutes for us to configure your hosting account before you can use it. |
| Setup | Your account is set up. You may still have to wait up to 48 hours before you can upload files to your account (FTP), set up databases, or configure your Web site. |
Once your hosting account is set up, you can log in to the Hosting Manager to manage your account, set up databases, and install various Web site features.
Setting up your domain name servers (DNS)
Name servers are the Internet's equivalent to phone books. A name server maintains a directory of domain names that match certain IP addresses (computers). The information from all the name servers across the Internet is gathered in a central registry.
This makes it possible for people across the Internet to access your Web site using a familiar domain name, instead of having to remember a series of numbers.
It usually takes about 4-8 hours for .com and .net domains and about 24-48 hours for all other domain extensions before name servers on other networks are able to access the information after the central registry gets it. This period is referred to as the propagation period.
You can check if your name server change has propagated by navigating to http://www.internic.net/whois.html and performing a Whois search on your domain name.
The process for setting up your name servers depends on the company from which you bought your domain. If your hosting account domain name is registered with us and resides in the same shopper account, its name servers are changed automatically at the time hosting is set up. Otherwise, new servers are required. If you purchased your hosting account before December 15, 2005 or after November 14, 2006 use the following name servers:
ns1.secureserver.net
ns2.secureserver.net
Check with your domain name register for specific instructions on how to change your name servers.
These name servers will point your domain name to your hosting account.
Knowing your Hosting Manager
The Hosting Manager is a control panel for your shared hosting account. It is the interface through which you will manage account settings, content, databases, and Web statistics. The majority of non-administrative processes you perform on your account will take place in the Hosting Manager. Hosting-related products such as email accounts are managed through your Account Manager.
The Hosting Manager is a graphical interface whose purpose is to facilitate the management of your hosting account. All of the procedures outlined in this guide, with the exception of uploading from a third-party FTP client, take place within the Hosting Manager. The Hosting Manager is also a source of current account status information. Error log, Web statistics, and language management interfaces are accessed from the Hosting Manager.
