Hi me and my colleagues just registered for a basic hosting service earlier today. This is in relation to the email correspondence I had with Calvin (Marketing Staff) about pricing and stuff. We like Winhost because there is already Umbraco 7 in the applications that can be installed. Our domain is "belleieshua.com". I am the main dev for the site and is currently working on a local (my computer) instance of the site. What I plan to do when I'm done is not to upload my local instance of the site but instead invoke the built-in app install in the Site Manager in Control Panel for Umbraco 7, and then just re-create the umbraco related stuff like document types, templates, macros etc. since the site is really small and simeple at this time but more content to come. My questions are : 1. Does the app install automatically create the corresponding database for Umbraco 7? or do I have to create it myself in MS SQL section of Control Panel? 2. If in the future I need to add tables/sprocs/etc. to Umbraco 7 database, is it possible to connect to it using SQL Management Studio? if not is there another way for me to do this? 3. Does the Secondary Url/FTP work the way I think it is? I mean can I use them as "site preview" or like a test environment before I deploy stuff to my real/main site instance? Me and my colleagues are really excited to see if this will work 'coz we really like Umbraco and I have been working with it since version 4. But this is the first time that I'll be using it outside and I have two more incoming sites that I plan to host here if everything goes well Thanks in advance!
1. You need to create the database first and then fill out the connection information. The installer will automatically create the tables for you. 2. Yes, it's possible. It's just a SQL Server database. 3. Yes, but you need to be careful when testing. I'm not 100% proficient with Umbraco, but with something like WordPress, it might not display correctly because you put in the primary domain name when you fill out some of the Content Management Settings. Each Content Management System is different, so you'll need to read their documentation on how to set things up. The only other advice I can give is that you need to install Umbraco in the root of your website per their instructions. I've noticed that it doesn't "play nice" with other Content Management Systems due to some permission settings.
1. Ok, yes this is how it is usually done. Create the database first and then run the fresh umbraco site in the browser and then the umbraco wizard fires up. 2. Ok, so this means i will be using an IP address in my SQL Management Studio correct? and this is the Site IP Address? 3. Wait, does the secondary url/ftp point to the same location as the primary url/ftp does in the file system? Because if that is the case then there is no test instance of the site correct? 4. Also, I am currently logged in and trying to access SmarterMail, but doesn't appear to automatically log me in as the postmaster, it is prompting me for an email and a password (small dialog window).
2. You can use an IP address, but it's easier to use the domain name. The information will be found in the Control Panel after you have created a database (e.g. s01.Winhost.com). 3. Yes, both point to the root. All I was saying is that sometimes these Content Management Systems ask you to fill out a site name, so they won't render correctly because it's looking for the site name instead of the Secondary URL. I was just using WordPress as an example. MojoPortal is another example. Other Content Management Systems like DotNetNuke work fine. 4. Open up a support ticket so that we can reset that for you.
