In an effort to better help all our many users, we make this FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section available here. You will find answers to some of the questions that Orange Web Hosting gets the most often.

If you need further support, contact us today.

Question:
When can I expect being able to view my new website, provided I have all the necessary files ready to upload to your servers?

Answer:
Our tech support department begins setting up your new Orange Web Hosting account upon receipt of a payment confirmation sent to us from your credit card company. This process normally takes only about 2 to 3 minutes. In order for you to be able to see your website, the following five conditions must be met:

1 - Your Internet domain name ( www.yourcompany.com ) either has to be newly registered by Orange Web Hosting, or transfered to our servers if it already exists. If you are getting a new domain name, this will normally take about 24 hours to resolve itself on our servers and to make sure it is correctly registered into the Internet's DNS (Domain Name System). If you are transfering your domain name to our servers from a prior Web hosting company, this process will again take approximately 24 hours to resolve itself.

2 - DNS has to assign an IP address to your domain name. This is the normal process of converting a domain name into a series of numbers that only computers understand.

3 - Web server space in allocated to your account - This is where we assign disk space and setup your domain on Orange Web Hosting's servers.

4 - FTP user names and passwords are setup - This gives you permissions to upload, maintain and perform your necessary updates on your website, without any limits, 24 hours a day.

5 - E-mail accounts - email administrative (admin) access is set up on our email servers. This will allow you to set up your own POP 3 account using any standard email program such as Outlook, Outlook Express or Eudora (or any other standard email client).

On Monday through Friday, between 8.00 AM and 8.00 PM EST, all the above steps take place within an hour of placing your order with us. You can start uploading your web pages, pictures, graphics and files as soon as you receive your "Orange Web Hosting welcome letter" with all the necessary FTP information. Your site will be active as soon as you upload any index.htm or index.html file on our servers.

In fact, as soon as your account is completed and your domain name resolves to our servers, you will automatically see the usual 'Plesk Default Administrator Page' which our servers create dynamically, letting you know that all is OK on our side.

Question:
Does your Linux hosting plans support ASP or .NET pages?

Answer:
No. Running ASP pages or sites developed using Microsoft's .Net on Linux is very limited and we don't recommend it. Therefore, we will only support ASP applications and .NET on our Windows plans only.

Question:
What is the difference between Unix/Linux and a Windows hosting plan?

Answer:
Unix/Linux supports CGI, Perl, PHP and MySQL natively. Windows will allow you to publish in ASP and .NET pages, and has support for MS SQL and MS Access databases. Both our Unix/Linux hosting plans, as well as our Windows hosting plans run on Plesk™ and is the industry leader in server remote control software.

Question:
Where can I get more information on the various topics of Web hosting?

Answer:
We are happy to introduce you to the Web Hosting Tech Support Forum.

The Web Hosting Tech Support Forum is the answer to the growing number of the many technical questions we constantly get from our customers, our affiliates, our partners and an increasingly large number of site owners, webmasters and small business managers that face daily challenges with their web sites or that need a quick answer to a specific Web hosting-related question.

The Web Hosting Tech Support Forum covers all topics of Web hosting currently in use today:

1) Linux-related questions or topics
2) Windows-related questions or topics
3) Unix-related questions or topics
4) BSD-related questions or topics
5) Internet security-related questions or topics
6) PHP and MySQL-related questions or topics
7) PostGre database-related questions
8) Any general questions related to Web hosting

Plus a whole lot more. Additionally, the Web Hosting Tech Support Forum features a full chart of the most-frequently-used Linux and Unix SSH commands in use today.

Use of the Web Hosting Tech Support Forum is absolutely free to anyone, and can be used by anybody, whether they are a client of Orange Web Hosting or not.

Question:
What are MIME types?

Answer:
MIME Types allows you to set certain programs to be used for specific extensions. In easier-to-understand terms, MIME Types help your web server to identify what type of file is being requested by your browsers. For instance, when the web server gets a request from a browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape, for a file that ends in .html, the web server knows that it is an html document because that extension is stored in the MIME Types.

If the web server gets a request from a browser for a file that ends in .gif, the web server knows that it is an image because that too is stored in the MIME Types. This applies to every file, image, application, etc. that may be requested by a web browser. If the extension is not stored within the MIME Types, the web server will not recognize it and will not be able to assist the browser and that particular file type will not be viewable by the user.

MIME types are identified by the server by the following format:

subtype/type extension

For example, adding the following two MIME Types will allow users to view ipx images on your web pages:

application/x-ipscript .ips
application/x-ipix .ipx

Where "application" identifies the subtype, "x-ipscript" identifies the application, and .ips identifies the extension used for that application.

Question:
Can I use the MIME types feature if I'm using FrontPage?

Answer:
No. This feature is not available for FrontPage users. If any MIME types are needed, FrontPage users will have to add them using FrontPage or else your web files may not be accessible online.

Question:
We are in a real hurry and we want to get our site setup as soon as possible. How long does it take to have our site 'up and running'?

Answer:
A new Orange Web Hosting account generally takes only a few minutes to setup. All orders placed between 7.30 AM to 6.30 PM EST on weekdays are processed the same day. Note however that it normally takes about 24 hours for a domain name to resolve to our servers, once it has been instructed to do so (the DNS transfer). Once your account is activated, you will automatically get a confirmation email from us, with your detailed account information and all necessary technical information for your new Web hosting plan.

Note: Orange Web Hosting cannot activate your account until payment is received by credit card. All payments from our users are normally done through credit cards and represent the fastest and safest way to settle your account with us. Still, if you prefer paying for your hosting with a company (or personal) check, please contact us by email and our accounting department will indicate to you the right way to proceed.

Question:
When people are surfing the Web, how will people and prospective clients find our new website? What can we do to get some visibility?

Answer:
That is a very good question. You can submit your website to several search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, AltaVista, etc. and also directories like the Open Directory Project (DMOZ), to help new and existing customers find your site. You can also help prospective customers find your site if you have your site optimized by a professional SEO (Search Engine Optimization) firm. One good SEO firm we can recommend and that we use regularly is Canadian-based Rank for $ales.

Depending on the exact model of SEO program that you choose, (in a perfect world), ideally it will place your website at the top of the search engine results pages, over and above your competitors. Marketing your online business through these and other tools will help you reach new prospects & customers and hopefully increase your business.

Question:
Exactly what kind of technical support does Orange Web Hosting offer it's clients?

Answer:
Our email technical support is recognized to be the very best in the industry. Orange Web Hosting has full-time dedicated tech support representatives on duty 24 hours a day. Once a trouble ticket (or trouble email) is received, we start working on it immediately in 95 percent of the time. Additionally, from all of the continental United States and from any Canadian province, you can easily reach our help desk by our toll free 1-800 number. Orange Web Hosting technical support is always open for email or phone support from 7.30 AM to 10.30 PM EST, 7 days a week.

As a rule, we always encourage all our customers in need of assistance to send us an email with questions or concerns about their websites or our various hosting plans, as email is still today the fastest way to answer any of your technical inquiries, and it also provides us and yourself with valid records of all communications, which a phone call can never do. At all times, email tech support is around-the-clock. Technical emergencies will be addressed first, and support issues are handled in the order they are received. Additionally, all our users are given an emergency tech support hotline number which isn't published on this website.