Frequently Asked Questions?

* How long does it take to set up an account?
* Orders can be set up in less than 60 minutes during normal business hours.

* Do you offer 24/7 technical support?
* Yes. We take your support questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We also offer a help section within your control panel to provide you with answers to support queries immediately. You can also send your question to us via our live chat help.

* What does it mean to "manage" my domain?
* If you've ever dealt with the management of your domain, you know that with other registrars, it can be a difficult and lengthy process. The smallest change, from changing your email address in your contact information, or altering the nameserver of your host, can require multiple, confusing emails. Now, however, Birbals.COM gives you the ability to make all of those changes online! You can change your contact information or nameserver in just a few seconds, using our secure system. Access your domain from any web browser 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, using your username and password.

* How do I change the information in my domain?
* Log on to our Domain Management System by clicking on the "Member Login" link on the menu bar on the left-hand side. Input your username and password to log on to our secure server. You can see the domains you have in your account, listed 10 at a time. (You can, if necessary, search for a specific domain you own.) Click the "Change Info" button next to the domain you wish to alter. Each domain has a number of items you can change. You may change the administrative, technical and billing contact information, as well as the nameserver (DNS) info. For more on changing DNS info, please see "How do I change the DNS information for my Domain Name?", below. You may not change the registrant info. The registrant is the owner of a domain, and as such, requires more security. In order to change a registrant, you need to go through the Registrant Transfer procedure.

* What is a DNS?
* DNS (Domain Name System) is a system that translates a domain name from letters (www.birbals.com) into a numerical IP address (ns1.birbals.com). Each time you register a domain name you must specify your DNS information. If you register a domain name through Birbals.com, you can use DNS information free of charge! This is known in the industry as "parking" a domain- parking is free using hbirbal's servers. You can also change the DNS information at any time, also free of charge, but be aware, your new DNS host may charge you a parking fee.

* Why would I need to change my DNS information?
* If you are changing DNS information on a domain name you registered with Birbals.com, begin by clicking the "Member Login" link in Domain services. You will be asked for the username and password you designated at the time you set up your domain account. If you have forgotten your username and password, you can have it emailed to the email address you have on account. Choose the domain you wish to alter from your list of domains. Then, click the "Change Info" button next to the DNS Info section. Input the primary and secondary (and, if necessary, the tertiary) hostnames. Our system will automatically resolve the IP addresses of a valid nameserver.

* How do I change the DNS information for my Domain Name?
* Typically, the DNS changes will be completed within 24 to 72 hours. This is standard Internet propagation time. The central registry databases update automatically, upon your submission of new information.

* How long does it take for DNS changes to take effect?
* Only domains that have been registered with, or transferred to, Birbals will appear in your Domain Management System. If you have registered a domain with another registrar, you will need to transfer it to Birbals before you can manage it using our system.

* What happens if I go over my bandwidth limit?
* You will be billed $5/GB over your allotment. You may prepay blocks of 25 GB or more on a monthly basis for a discounted rate.

* Can I host international domains with Birbals?
* Yes, we currently have clients that use .ca, .il, .tc, .nu, .ve, and many other international domain names.

* Do you offer NT or UNIX plans?
* We offer UNIX web hosting accounts (Red Hat Linux). We do not handle Windows on any machines due to its overall instability and obsessive cost for licensing.

* How do I access my Cpanel control panel?
* You can login to your Cpanel control panel at http://yoursite.com/cpanel where "yoursite" is your own domain name.

* Where are my statistics?
* Click the report button after logging into Cpanel and hit the Webalizer option. This will open a new window to Webalizer with all your statistics for that domain.

* What is the full path to my cgi-bin?
* /home/username/public_html/cgi-bin

* Which folder do I load my web pages to?
* You should place all of your web documents in the public_html directory.

* I keep getting errors when trying to publish with Frontpage?
* The most common problem is not using the full url when uploading your site. Make sure you use the entire http://www.domain.com in the address you are attempting to publish to.

* Can I have CGI outside of the bin?
* Yes, CGI will function in the public_html folder.

* What version of Perl comes installed on your servers?
* Perl 5.6.1.

* What version of PHP comes installed on your servers?
* PHP 4.1.2.

* What version of MySQL comes installed on your servers?
* MySQL 3.22.46

* What is the correct path to Perl?
* /usr/bin/perl

* What is the correct path to sendmail?
* /usr/sbin/sendmail

* I've uploaded my site and still see "placeholder for ..."?
* You are still seeing the default index.html page set up when you ordered your hosting plan through us. Make sure to delete that old index.html page, then your site should resolve correctly.

* How long does it take for my DNS changes to update world wide?
* Normally you can expect to see your web site DNS to change within 24 hours once you have made the modifications at your registrar. However, we have seen it take up to 7 days in some cases where registrars and ISPs are a little slower.

* Why isn't my SSI working?
* In order for SSI to be executed, you must rename all of your web pages to .shtml rather than .htm or .html. This solves the majority of SSI errors.

* What is the correct way to setup my e-mail client to retreive e-mail from my accounts?
* The address of both your POP server and your SMTP server is: mail.yourdomain.com
Your username will be: username@yourdomain.com

Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express:
Display Name: Your Name
Email Address: something@yourdomain.com
Incoming Mail Server Type: POP3
Incoming Mail Server: mail.yourdomain.com
Outgoing Mail Server: mail.yourisp.com (preferred)
Or you can use: mail.yourdomain.com
Account Name: emailuser@yourdomain.com
Password: E-mail account's password

Also make sure after you create your email account hit the properties for that email account and click on server tab and enable or check "My server requires authentication". Other wise you will not be able to send emails properly.

* How do I access my webmail?
* Simply go to:
http://www.yourdomain.com/webmail
Remember when logging in, that you username must be in the form of username@domain.com and not just username.

* Where can I setup new e-mail accounts?
* New e-mail accounts can be setup in your control panel by clicking on "Mail Menu" --> "Add/Remove accounts."

* What is the correct way to setup my e-mail client to retreive e-mail from my accounts?
Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express:

Display Name: Your Name
Email Address: something@yourdomain.com
Incoming Mail Server Type: POP3
Incoming Mail Server: mail.yourdomain.com
Outgoing Mail Server: mail.yourisp.com (preferred) / mail.yourdomain.com
Account Name: something@yourdomain.com
Password: E-mail account's password

Netscape Email:

Your Name: Your Name
Email Address: something@yourdomain.com
Reply to address: something@yourdomain.com (you can leave this blank)
Organization: Your Company / Organization Name
Server Name: mail.yourdomain.com
Server Type: POP3
Username: something@yourdomain.com
Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server:mail.yourisp.com (preferred) / mail.yourdomain.com
Outgoing mail server username: Your ISP Username / Your Control Panel Username

* How do I access my control panel?
* Simply go to:
http://www.yourdomain.com/cpanel
where yourdomain is your website domain

* How do I upload my webpage?
* You will need to either use the file-manager built into your control panel, or use FTP client. The recommended FTP's are Coffee Cup Direct FTP or WS_FTP
Your login information should be as follows:

ftp.yourdomain.com
Username: username@yourdomain.com
Password: yourpassword

Note that this information is CASE-SENSITIVE!

* Where can I find a breakdown of all the things CPanel offers?
* This is a basic explanation of the major control panel functions, but there are many not listed.

All accounts come with a control panel. You can access your control panel at: you may use, http://www.domain.com:2082

(This will not be active until your domain has been transferred to our nameserver.)

You will be asked to enter your user / pass to gain access to your configuration.