Step 1 - Domain Name Setup

If you already own your domain name, you have to change it's DNS (Domain Name Server) settings to the ones we give you in your welcome email. For example:

Primary nameserver:         dns1.vfhost.com     IP:  70.84.201.122
Secondary nameserver:   dns2.vfhost.com     IP: 70.84.201.123
 

Please consult your welcome email to know what server your account is on, and what your nameservers should be set to.

If you registered your domain name through us, then we will have taken care of this for you... otherwise, you will have to do it yourself through the domain registrar where you registered your domain name.

Once you make these changes, it will take 24-36 hours for them to take effect (for your domain name to propagate), at which time your domain name will start pointing to our servers and your new hosting account.
If you register your domain name with us, we will take care of all this for you when we setup your hosting account.

Step 2 - Login to Control Panel

You'll want to login to your control panel to do such things as view web stats, setup email addresses, MySQL databases, etc. To access your control panel, enter http://yourcompany.com/cpanel, followed by your username and password (which are given to you in your welcome email). This will not work until your domain name has fully propagated to our servers.... prior to this, you can login using the Primary nameserver IP number (also given to you in your welcome email), like this: http://70.84.201.122/cpanel (this assumes your Primary nameserver is dns1.vfhost.com; be sure to check your welcome email to see what server your account is located on).

Step 3 - Setup Email Address(s)

Once you are logged in to your control panel, you'll want to setup at least one email address. If you want to simply "forward" all email to an outside email address (like your ISP email address), then simply set your "Default Address" (located in "Mail Manager") to your ISP email address.... where you want the emails to automatically be forwarded to. That way, any email sent to 'anything'@yourdomain.com will be automatically (and immediately) sent to you.
If you want to create a new email address with it's own account (or email box; this is called a POP3 email account), then click on "Mail Manager" in your control panel, then "Add/Remove Accounts". From there you can add POP3 email accounts, assigning each one it's own unique password. You will then want to go to your own email program (like Outlook, Outlook Express, etc.) and configure it to receive the emails sent to the new account you created.

For example:  let's say your new hosting account is "yourcompany.com" and you created an email address in your control panel called "you@yourcompany.com" and assigned it a password called "yourpass". The details you'll need to setup your email account(s) are as follows:
          Account name:  you@yourcompany.com
          Password:  yourpass
          Incoming POP3:  mail.yourcompany.com
          Outgoing SMTP:  mail.yourcompany.com

For more details on how to do this, we've created a support tutorial entitled "Creating an email account in Outlook Express". All our support tutorials are located on our Technical Support page.

Step 4 - Upload your Website/Files

Once your domain name has propagated, you can upload your website and files to your account using a FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program like WS_FTP. If you do not have a FTP program, you can download a free version of WS_FTP... it is one of the most popular FTP programs in use today. Click here to download the free version of WS_FTP .
If you are using FrontPage to build your website, then you do not need a FTP program. Instead, use FrontPage's "Publish" feature to publish your website to your hosting account, using the username and password for your account (provided in your welcome email).

Congratulations!
After completing the above steps, you will have setup your domain name, created email accounts, and uploaded your website to your web hosting account. You're now in business!  

If you have any further questions, or if anything is unclear, please consult our Technical Support page. There you can view our support tutorials, send support issues to our support staff, and learn more about your control panel.