Parallels Plesk SiteBuilder Administrator’s Guide
Parallels® Plesk Sitebuilder
Copyright Notice
ISBN: N/A
Parallels
660 SW 39th Street
Suite 205
Renton, Washington 98057
USA
Phone: +1 (425) 282 6400
Fax: +1 (425) 282 6444
© Copyright 1999-2008,
Parallels, Inc.
All rights reserved
Distribution of this work or derivative of this work in any form is prohibited unless prior written
permission is obtained from the copyright holder.
Product and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.
Contents
Preface 5
About this Guide ............................................................................................................................ 5
Who Should Read this Guide ........................................................................................................ 5
Typographical Conventions ........................................................................................................... 5
Feedback ....................................................................................................................................... 6
About Plesk Sitebuilder 7
Plesk Sitebuilder User Roles ......................................................................................................... 8
Overview of Plesk Sitebuilder Business Logic .............................................................................. 9
What's New in this Version .......................................................................................................... 10
Getting Started 11
Creating First Administrator Account ........................................................................................... 12
Logging In to Plesk Sitebuilder .................................................................................................... 15
Recovering Forgotten Password ....................................................................................... 16
Learning Plesk Sitebuilder Administrator Panel Interface ........................................................... 17
Navigating in Plesk Sitebuilder .......................................................................................... 18
Working with Lists ............................................................................................................. 23
Using Context Help ........................................................................................................... 25
Submitting Feedback on Plesk Sitebuilder Functionality ............................................................ 26
Getting Help ................................................................................................................................. 27
Configuring Settings Related to Your Account 28
Changing Your Password and Personal Information .................................................................. 29
Choosing Language, Skin, and Number of List Items Shown per Page ..................................... 30
Setting Up Global Account .......................................................................................................... 31
Creating Global Account ................................................................................................... 32
Connecting Local Accounts to Your Global Account ........................................................ 33
Switching Between Accounts ............................................................................................ 34
Editing Global Account ...................................................................................................... 35
Disconnecting Local Accounts from Global Account ........................................................ 35
Upgrading Your License .............................................................................................................. 36
Viewing System Information .............................................................................................. 37
Setting Up and Maintaining Plesk Sitebuilder 38
Rebranding Your Plesk Sitebuilder ............................................................................................. 38
Setting Up Logo and Title Bar Text ................................................................................... 39
Customizing Help and Support Links ................................................................................ 40
Setting Up SMTP Server for Sending Notifications from Plesk Sitebuilder ................................. 41
Obtaining Additional Skins, Languages, and Site Design Templates ......................................... 42
Viewing and Configuring Plesk Sitebuilder Wizard Presets and Modules .................................. 43
Managing Site Design Templates ..................................................................................... 44
Managing Site Structure Templates (Page Sets) .............................................................. 45
Managing Site Templates (Site Families) ......................................................................... 51
Managing Modules ............................................................................................................ 56
Updating Plesk Sitebuilder .......................................................................................................... 69
Preface 4
Specifying Hosts Used for Publishing Sites ................................................................................ 70
Requirements to Hosts ...................................................................................................... 72
Adding Host ....................................................................................................................... 75
Specifying Hosts Available to Certain Users ..................................................................... 77
Modifying Host Settings .................................................................................................... 77
Removing Host from List of Available Hosts ..................................................................... 77
Setting Up Plesk Sitebuilder for Anonymous Visits ..................................................................... 78
Setting Up Service Plan for Anonymous Users ................................................................ 79
Setting Language and Skin for Anonymous User Sessions ............................................. 80
Setting Up Advertising Banner Shown on Trial Sites ........................................................ 81
Setting Up Message Displayed at Publish Step of Wizard ............................................... 82
Setting Up Notification Sent at Trial Site Publication Attempt ........................................... 83
Inserting Macros, Links, and HTML Code into Notification Messages ............................. 85
Prohibiting Anonymous Users from Accessing Plesk Sitebuilder Wizard ......................... 87
Viewing Plesk Sitebuilder Logs ................................................................................................... 88
Serving Your Customers 92
Setting Up Service Plans ............................................................................................................. 93
Adding Plan ....................................................................................................................... 95
Assigning Plan to User ...................................................................................................... 99
Modifying Plan ................................................................................................................... 99
Changing Plan Status ..................................................................................................... 100
Removing Plan ................................................................................................................ 100
Signing Up Customers .............................................................................................................. 101
Creating User Account .................................................................................................... 103
Viewing List of Sites Belonging to User .......................................................................... 104
Suspending and Unsuspending User Accounts.............................................................. 104
Upgrading and Downgrading User Accounts .................................................................. 105
Changing User Account Password and Contact Information .......................................... 105
Logging In On Behalf of Your Customers ....................................................................... 105
Removing User Account ................................................................................................. 106
Managing Sites .......................................................................................................................... 107
Registering Site in System .............................................................................................. 109
Assigning Trial Site to Your Account ............................................................................... 112
Renaming Site ................................................................................................................. 113
Changing Site Owner ...................................................................................................... 113
Editing Site Publishing Settings ...................................................................................... 113
Publishing Site................................................................................................................. 114
Creating Your Own Site in Plesk Sitebuilder Wizard ...................................................... 114
Previewing and Editing Site ............................................................................................ 115
Promoting Site and Tracking Site Popularity .................................................................. 115
Removing Site ................................................................................................................. 118
Backing Up and Restoring Your Data 119
Backing Up from Your Administrator Panel ............................................................................... 119
Backing Up from Command Line .............................................................................................. 120
Restoring Plesk Sitebuilder Data ............................................................................................... 121
Preface 5
In this section:
About this Guide ................................................................................................ 5
Who Should Read this Guide ............................................................................ 5
Typographical Conventions ............................................................................... 5
Feedback .......................................................................................................... 6
Formatting Convention
Type of Information
Example
Special Bold
Items you must select,
such as menu options,
command buttons, or items
in a list.
Go to the Hosts tab.
Titles of chapters, sections,
and subsections.
Read the Getting Started chapter.
Preface
About this Guide
This guide instructs you how to set up Plesk Sitebuilder system preferences and manage
and maintain web sites created in Plesk Sitebuilder.
Who Should Read this Guide
This guide is intended for users who manage Plesk Sitebuilder and all its components using
administrator account.
Typographical Conventions
Before you start using this guide, it is important to understand the documentation
conventions used in it.
The following kinds of formatting in the text identify special information.
6 Preface
Italics
Used to emphasize the
importance of a point, to
introduce a term or to
designate a command line
placeholder, which is to be
replaced with a real name
or value.
These types of users are called
Plesk Sitebuilder user roles.
Monospace
URLs, names of
commands, files, and
directories.
For example:
http://[Sitebuilder_host]/Ad
min
CAPITALS
Names of keys on the
keyboard.
SHIFT, CTRL, ALT
KEY+KEY
Key combinations for
which the user must press
and hold down one key
and then press another.
CTRL+P, ALT+F4
Feedback
If you have found a mistake in this guide, or if you have suggestions or ideas on how to
improve this guide, please send your feedback using the online form at
http://www.parallels.com/en/support/usersdoc/. Please include in your report the guide's title,
chapter and section titles, and the fragment of text in which you have found an error.
Plesk Sitebuilder consists of two parts: the Wizard and the Administrator Panel.
In this chapter:
Plesk Sitebuilder User Roles ............................................................................. 8
Overview of Plesk Sitebuilder Business Logic ................................................... 9
What's New in this Version ................................................................................ 10
C H A P T E R 1
About Plesk Sitebuilder
The Wizard is a web application enabling its users to create web sites and publish
them on the Internet.
The Administrator Panel is a tool for managing Plesk Sitebuilder system-wide
preferences and maintaining web sites created in the Wizard.
8 About Plesk Sitebuilder
Plesk Sitebuilder User Roles
In Plesk Sitebuilder, different types of users have different levels of administration
privileges. These types of users are called user roles.
There are three user roles in Plesk Sitebuilder:
1 Administrator manages all Plesk Sitebuilder elements.
Plesk Sitebuilder administrators can perform the following main operations:
Add and manage hosts, that is servers used for sites publication
Create and manage plans, that is tariffs regulating the distribution of Plesk
Sitebuilder resources
Create and manage administrators, resellers, and site owners accounts
Add and manage sites
Manage components and settings of Plesk Sitebuilder
View system and security logs
2 Reseller is a distributor of the Plesk Sitebuilder services.
Plesk Sitebuilder resellers may perform the following main operations:
Add and manage hosts
Create and manage plans
Create and manage resellers and site owners accounts
Add and manage sites
Configure system settings
3 Site owner is a user who has purchased the hosting service bundled with Plesk
Sitebuilder. Site owners are registered in Plesk Sitebuilder after they purchase
hosting service and receive their Plesk Sitebuilder credentials (login and password)
upon this purchase. Their main tool is Plesk Sitebuilder Wizard, which is described
in the Parallels Plesk Sitebuilder for Windows Wizard User's Guide
(http://www.parallels.com/en/products/sitebuilder/docs/). Site owners can manage
their own sites only.
Besides, you, as administrator, can make the Plesk Sitebuilder Wizard available for
anonymous visitors, who are, in fact, potential site owners. They can create trial sites in
Plesk Sitebuilder but cannot publish them on the Internet. After anonymous users
create trial sites, they are offered to purchase hosting service to publish their sites on
the Internet. Anonymous user can use the Plesk Sitebuilder Wizard only.
About Plesk Sitebuilder 9
Overview of Plesk Sitebuilder Business
Logic
Below you will find the recommended scenario of getting started with Plesk Sitebuilder.
Read this information to understand the logic of Plesk Sitebuilder application, learn
about its main functionalities and work out the most reasonable and time-saving order
of operations.
Tasks you can perform in Plesk Sitebuilder can be logically divided into the following
categories:
Configuring the Settings of your Administrator Panel and account
At this stage you customize the basic settings of your Plesk Sitebuilder:
Upgrade your Plesk Sitebuilder license
Configure your account information
Choose the language and skin for your interface
Preparing Plesk Sitebuilder for serving your customers
This stage implies several preparatory steps:
Rebranding Plesk Sitebuilder:
Uploading the logo and specifying your custom title bar text for the Plesk
Sitebuilder window
Specifying your custom links for Help and Support buttons
Configuring Plesk Sitebuilder Wizard presets:
Site design templates (obtaining additional templates)
Functional modules (configuring the Area Map module, integrating custom
payment system in the eShop module)
Site structure templates, or page sets (creating your custom page sets)
Site templates, or site families (creating your custom site families)
Preparing publishing host(s) for working with Plesk Sitebuilder and specifying them
in Plesk Sitebuilder system settings.
Configuring Plesk Sitebuilder settings for anonymous user sessions:
Creating a special trial service plan for anonymous users
Setting up the message displayed on the Publish step of the Plesk Sitebuilder
Wizard, the advertising banner to be shown on trial sites, and configuring the
automatic e-mail notification sent to users after the creation of a trial site
Serving your customers
At this stage, you integrate Plesk Sitebuilder into your business process and start
working in it.
10 About Plesk Sitebuilder
Creating service plans to configure Plesk Sitebuilder limits and permissions for
certain users. In service plans, you also specify the hosts, modules, site families,
page sets, and site design templates available to users.
Creating user accounts in the system and assigning service plans to them.
If necessary, registering sites for users.
If necessary, providing basic site promotion services and monitoring site
performance:
Register users' sites on Google and MSN search engines.
Enable and view site attendance statistics.
Backing up and restoring Plesk Sitebuilder
At this stage, you ensure the safety and integrity of your and your customers' data. We
recommend creating Plesk Sitebuilder backups on a regular basis.
The current Administrator's Guide is structured according to this logical order of
operations.
What's New in this Version
Plesk Sitebuilder 4.5 offers the following new features:
Order New Key button that opens a page on the Parallels Web site where you can
purchase the desired Plesk Sitebuilder license and support option.
Major Features for End-Users
Site Map module. Allows site owners to display a clickable hierarchical model of their
site structure to visitors
Removing design template from pages. Site owners can now remove design template's
layout and graphics from the desired pages.
External Page module. Allows site owners to link site menu items to external web
sites.
Save button. A handy way for site owners to save changes they make while working
on their site.
Counter settings are moved to the Wizard. Site owners can now enable a counter on
their sites at the Pages step of the Wizard, which previously required them to go to
the Administrator Panel.
Site visitor management is moved to the Wizard. Site owners can now manage their
registered visitors through the Registration module editor at the Edit step of the
Wizard, which previously required them to go to the Administrator Panel.
This chapter guides you through the initial steps that should be taken to start using
In this chapter:
Creating First Administrator Account ................................................................. 12
Logging In to Plesk Sitebuilder .......................................................................... 15
Learning Plesk Sitebuilder Administrator Panel Interface .................................. 17
Submitting Feedback on Plesk Sitebuilder Functionality .................................... 26
Getting Help ...................................................................................................... 27
C H A P T E R 2
Getting Started
Plesk Sitebuilder.
12 Getting Started
Creating First Administrator Account
After Plesk Sitebuilder setup, the next step is to create first administrator account that
will allow its owner to log in to the Administrator Panel and start working with it. User
with access to the first administrator account can later create more administrator
accounts to be able to delegate Plesk Sitebuilder management to them, if necessary.
Unlike these later created administrator accounts, the first administrator account cannot
be removed from the system or downgraded to a lower level of user hierarchy.
To create first administrator account:
1 Click the shortcut to the Plesk Sitebuilder Administration Panel
located on your desktop.
Getting Started 13
Figure 1: Creating Your Administrator Account
2 From the Interface language list, select the language that will be used as
default when you log in to the Administrator Panel.
3 In the Account information section, specify your contact and login
information.
4 In the SMTP server settings section, set up the SMTP server through
which system notification messages will be sent to your e-mail.
14 Getting Started
5 Click Next.
You will be taken to the Desktop page of the Administrator Panel.
Getting Started 15
Logging In to Plesk Sitebuilder
To log in to Plesk Sitebuilder:
1 In your browser's address bar, enter the URL to your Plesk Sitebuilder
Administrator Panel.
For example, http://sitebuilder:2006/Admin
where 'sitebuilder' is the domain name of the server where your Plesk Sitebuilder is
installed, and '2006' is the port number for connecting to the Plesk Sitebuilder
server.
2 Press ENTER.
Figure 2: Logging In to Plesk Sitebuilder
3 In the User name field, enter your user name.
4 In the Password field, enter your password.
5 From the Interface language list, select the desired language of the Plesk
Sitebuilder interface.
6 Click Log in.
You can change your password at any time (read Changing Your Password and Personal
Information (on page 29)).
16 Getting Started
In this section:
Recovering Forgotten Password ....................................................................... 16
Recovering Forgotten Password
To recover your forgotten password:
1 In your browser's address bar, enter the URL to your Plesk Sitebuilder
Administrator Panel.
For example, http://sitebuilder:2006/Admin
where 'sitebuilder' is the domain name of the server where your Plesk Sitebuilder is
installed, and '2006' is the port number for connecting to the Plesk Sitebuilder
server.
2 Press ENTER.
3 Click Forgot Your Password.
Figure 3: Recovering Forgotten Password
4 Enter your user name and e-mail address registered in the system.
5 Click Send.
You will receive the e-mail message with instructions how to set up a new
password. Follow the provided URL and type your new password and its
confirmation and click Change. You will be logged in to Plesk Sitebuilder with this
new password.
Getting Started 17
Learning Plesk Sitebuilder Administrator
In this section:
Navigating in Plesk Sitebuilder .......................................................................... 18
Working with Lists ............................................................................................. 23
Using Context Help ........................................................................................... 25
Panel Interface
Read the following section to learn the basic principles of working with Plesk
Sitebuilder interface.
18 Getting Started
Navigating in Plesk Sitebuilder
The Plesk Sitebuilder Administrator Panel interface enables you to use two ways of
navigation through the application: desktop view and standard view.
The standard view is a customary view of the control panel divided into two main areas:
the navigation pane on the left and the work area, where operations are performed, on
the right.
Figure 4: Plesk Sitebuilder Standard View
The desktop view displays system statistics and shortcuts to the main functionalities of
the Administrator Panel.
Getting Started 19
In this section:
Using Navigation Pane ...................................................................................... 20
Using Desktop Interface .................................................................................... 21
Using Path Bar ................................ ................................................................ .. 22
Figure 5: Plesk Sitebuilder Desktop
20 Getting Started
Using Navigation Pane
The navigation pane is located on the left part of the Plesk Sitebuilder screen.
Figure 6: Navigating in Plesk Sitebuilder Using Navigation Pane
The navigation pane gives you access to the following administrative functions:
Users. Enables you to manage your dependent users and all data related to their
accounts.
Sites. Enables you to add and manage sites.
My Profile. Enables you to configure your account parameters.
Server. Enables you to view and manage various system parameters.
Logs. Enables you to view and manage logs of operations performed in Plesk
Sitebuilder.
Log out. Finishes the current session with the Plesk Sitebuilder Administrator
Panel.
Feedback. Enables you to submit your opinion or suggestions on Plesk
Sitebuilder usability and functionality to Parallels team.
Support. Enables you to submit a request to Parallels technical support team.
Help. Provides the context-sensitive online help.
Getting Started 21
Using Desktop Interface
Plesk Sitebuilder Desktop looks as follows:
Figure 7: Navigating in Plesk Sitebuilder Using Desktop Interface
The Desktop screen is logically divided into the following parts:
1 If you have not signed up your Plesk Sitebuilder server to the Google Maps API
service yet, a warning message is displayed at the top of the Desktop screen. You
do not have to sign up for the service immediately - you can do it at any time later
on. For details, read Setting Up Area Map Module (on page 58).
2 Short tips describing basic management options of the Plesk Sitebuilder
Administrator Panel, and shortcuts to these options.
22 Getting Started
3 Shortcut to the Plesk Sitebuilder Wizard. If you have not registered any sites yet,
clicking this link will automatically register a site and will open it in the Wizard. If you
have already registered a site or a number of sites, following this link will open the
Wizard on the Overview page, where you can select which site you want to edit.
Information about working with the Plesk Sitebuilder Wizard is provided in the
Parallels Plesk Sitebuilder for Windows Wizard User's Guide
(http://www.parallels.com/en/products/sitebuilder/docs/).
If you do not want these options to be displayed ever again, click Close at the
bottom right part of the section.
4 Statistics section, which displays the following statistical data:
Users. The number of created user accounts and the maximum number of user
accounts allowed by your license.
Sites. The number of sites in the system and the maximum number of sites
allowed by your license.
Hosts. The number of registered publishing servers and the maximum number of
publishing servers allowed by your license.
5 Tasks section, which contains shortcuts to the main functionalities of the
Administrator Panel.
Using Path Bar
To work with the second-level and deeper-level screens of the application, use a path
bar: a chain of links that appears in the upper-left part of the main application screen.
Use a corresponding path bar link to return to the main screen, or to one of the
intermediate screens.
Figure 8: Navigating in Plesk Sitebuilder Using Path Bar and "Up Level" Button
You can also use the Up Level shortcut in the upper-right corner of the screen to
return to the previous screen.
Getting Started 23
Working with Lists
On the management pages of various system objects (sites, users, etc.), information is
presented in the form of object lists.
In such a list, each object record is a table row displaying the object name, status, and
relevant parameters of the object (for example, for each site, the owner and creation
date is shown). Above and below each list, the total number of items contained in the
list is displayed. Below the list, you can adjust the number of items to be displayed per
page (10, 25 or 100). In multi-page lists, you can navigate between the pages by clicking
the page number shortcuts above and below the list. To go to the first/last page of the
list, click First or Last, accordingly.
To configure the number of items to be displayed per page in all Plesk Sitebuilder lists,
see section Choosing Language, Skin and Number of Items to be Displayed per Page (on page
30).
In lengthy lists, you can find items using the search function, or sort items by one of
available parameters. To find an item, type a search criterion into the input box above
the list, and click Search. The list will show the items matching the search criterion. To
return back to viewing all items, click Show All.
Figure 9: Searching Objects
To sort list items by a certain parameter in ascending or descending order, click the
parameter's title in the column heading. The order of sorting will be indicated by a small
triangle displayed next to the parameter's title.
Figure 10: Sorting Objects
In some lists, you can filter items by a number of additional parameters by selecting
one of such parameters from the View box (for example, on the Sites screen, you can
choose to view My sites, All sites, All trial sites, or My trial sites).
24 Getting Started
Figure 11: Filtering Objects
To choose an object for further operation, select the check box on the left of the
object's name.
Figure 12: Selecting Particular Objects in a List
To choose all objects in the list, select the check box at the head of the column.
Figure 13: Selecting All List Objects at Once
To perform operations with objects in a list, choose the required items and click an
operation shortcut above the list (for example, Delete, Activate, Add to plan, etc.).
Figure 14: Performing Operations on List Objects
To proceed to editing a list item, click its name in the list. For non-editable items (for
example, built-in Plesk Sitebuilder page sets), the item names are not clickable.
In some lists, the status of an object is indicated by an icon in the Status (S) column (
or ). For sites, their status (published or not published), is indicated by or
icons.
For some objects individual operation shortcuts are displayed. For example, for each
site on the Sites screen, there is a Preview icon, a Publish icon, and an Edit
icon.
Getting Started 25
Using Context Help
Below the Help icon, there is a context help area. It provides a brief description of the
current screen and the operations available from it. When you place the mouse pointer
over a system element or status icon, additional information about this element is
displayed.
Figure 15: Using Context Help
26 Getting Started
Submitting Feedback on Plesk Sitebuilder
Functionality
If you would like to share your opinion or suggestions regarding Plesk Sitebuilder
functionality with Parallels team, you can easily submit your feedback through the
Administrator Panel.
To submit your feedback:
1 On the navigation pane, click Feedback.
Figure 16: Submitting Feedback on Plesk Sitebuilder Functionality
2 From the Type list, specify what kind of feedback you would like to
provide: positive, neutral, or negative.
3 In the Your e-mail field, enter your e-mail address.
4 In the Your message field, type the feedback text.
5 Click Send.
Getting Started 27
Getting Help
If you encounter a problem while using Plesk Sitebuilder, there are several resources
available to help you troubleshoot the problem:
Use on-screen context-sensitive help.
At the bottom of the navigation pane, you can find short instructions on the
operations that are available on the current page.
Refer to our knowledge base (http://kb.parallels.com/en/products/sitebuilderwindows).
The knowledge base provides solutions to the most common problems with Plesk
Sitebuilder.
Go to our forum (http://forum.swsoft.com/forumdisplay.php?f=118).
Here all users can post questions, exchange ideas, and troubleshoot issues not
described in the knowledge base. Note that Parallels does not provide official
support through this forum.
Contact technical support.
If you have any problems or questions that are not covered in the user
documentation or knowledge base, you can click Support located on the
navigation pane and submit your problem to our Technical Support team.
This chapter describes how to configure your Plesk Sitebuilder account and manage
In this chapter:
Changing Your Password and Personal Information ......................................... 29
Choosing Language, Skin, and Number of List Items Shown per Page ............. 30
Setting Up Global Account ................................................................................ 31
Upgrading Your License .................................................................................... 36
C H A P T E R 3
Configuring Settings Related to Your
Account
your Plesk Sitebuilder license.
Configuring Settings Related to Your Account 29
Changing Your Password and Personal
Information
To change your password and personal information:
1 On the navigation pane, click My Profile.
Figure 17: Changing Your Password and Personal Information
2 To change your password:
On the Personal Info tab, click Change Password.
Type your old and new passwords.
Click OK.
3 To update your first and last names and e-mail address, configure the
corresponding fields and click OK.
30 Configuring Settings Related to Your Account
Choosing Language, Skin, and Number of
List Items Shown per Page
To customize your Administrator Panel interface:
1 On the navigation pane, click My Profile.
2 Go to the Interface tab.
Figure 18: Choosing Language, Skin, and Number of List Items Shown per Page
3 From the Language list, select the desired language.
4 From the Skin list, select the desired skin.
5 In the Items per page field, specify the number of items (sites, users, and
so on) to be displayed per one page.
Loading...