Abuses

What counts as abuse and/or how do I report abuse?

Our hosted services are founded on the principles of respect and professionalism. You must adhere to our 'Terms of Service'

Please review our Terms of Service at http://www.guardpostonline.com/tos.html for more information.

Adult Content

Do you host or allow adult content?

No we do not.

Please review our Terms of Service at http://www.guardpostonline.com/tos.html for more information.

Affiliate Program

How does your affiliate program work?

As an affiliate, you would participate in a link exchange. You may also provide products or services, to our customers, but do not directly participate in projects we are working on for a customer, an option reserved for our partners. Unlike partners, affiliates will not be able to have a profile page, but they do benefit from increased traffic and possible conversions from our site, as we would hope to gain from yours.

How do I become an affiliate?

Simply contact us via email and let us know that you are willing to participate in the program.

Backup

How can I backup my site?

Backing up your site is very easy. There are several methods or options to choose from:

Backup wizard - generally the easiest and most preferred way to backup your site:

Login to the CPanel
Under the 'Files' section, select 'Backup Wizard'
Follow the steps for either partial or full backup
Your backup will be compressed and downloaded to the machine you are logging into your CPanel from.
Please note that a full backup can take some time, so if you run this backup, it will be available for download some time later.

Backup - a method by which you can backup your site both in part or full, but not following the wizard. You can choose daily or weekly backups or simply backup just your databases

Login to the CPanel
Under the 'Files' section, select 'Backup'
Select the option you wish to use that reside anywhere, other than next to the ones labeled 'Restore,' as those are used for restoring your files from a backup.
Your backup will be compressed and downloaded to the machine you are logging into your CPanel from.
Please note that a full backup can take some time, so if you run this backup, it will be available for download some time later.

Manual Backup - typically the most time consuming and the backup is not in compressed into a nice clean file.

Login to the CPanel
Under the 'Files' section, use either the 'legacy file manager' or 'file manager' and download the files.
We recommend using the file manager instead of the legacy file manager, as it is easier to select multiple files for download. To download files in the file manager, check each file you wish to download or select all and then choose the download button towards the top of the screen. In the legacy file manager, the download link will appear to the right after right-clicking on a file.

Will you backup my site for me?

No.

However, if we have developed or designed a site for you, we retain a copy of the final work as a courtesy service to you.

If you need assistance, however, you may contact our support department

Databases

What kind of database do I get with my account?

MySQL is our current offering. It has a huge user-base world-wide, as well as support options that go far beyond our site. Many sites prefer MySQL to other options. It has been used to power huge datasets and data can be drawn from it very quickly.

How many databases can I have?

Please review our hosting page for our current offering.

What programming languages do you support for parsing a database?

Just about any language can be used. If one is not listed on our hosting page and/or you want to find out more, please contact our support department and let us see if we can get those capabilities added.

Email

Is there a way to check email through a web browser?

In the CPanel there are 3 web mail clients they can use. One is Horde, another is SquirrelMail and the other is Round Cube.

Here are the steps for reading your webmail:

Login to the CPanel
Under the ‘Mail’ section, select ‘Webmail’
Select ‘Go to Webmail Login’
Choose a webmail client of choice

In order to use a mail client on the local machine, using MS Outlook, Eudora, or other mail client software, you have two options. You will find details to setup mail accounts manually or you can login to the CPanel and click on one of the auto-configure options. This information is found by following these steps:

Login to the CPanel
Under the ‘Mail’ section, select ‘Account Settings’
If an email address has not yet been created, create one
Otherwise, to the right of the created account of choice, under 'Functions' choose 'Configure Email Client'

How do I change the password to get into my email account?

Login to the CPanel
Under the ‘Mail’ section, select ‘Webmail’
Select ‘Go to Webmail Login’
Choose a webmail client of choice

How do I setup email forwarding?

Login to the CPanel
Under the ‘Mail’ section, select ‘Forwarders’
Choose either ‘Add Forwarder’ to add a forwarder for individual mail accounts or choose ‘Add Domain Forwarder’ to forward all mail from your domain to another domain

I'm using HORDE webmail with my acccount. I deleted a message, which now has a line through it, but it still appears in my inbox.
Is there a way to permanently remove it?

Yes. Once you have selected an email and marked it for deletion, it does indeed put a strike-through on the message.

To permanently delete the message(s), marked for deletion, simply go to your inbox and you should see text link on the right side above your emails that says 'Purge Deleted Emails.' Selecting this will permanently delete and remove emails from your inbox.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

What is FTP and why would is it important?

FTP stands for File Transfer protocol, but simply put, it is a way to upload or download content to and from your website.

How many FTP accounts can I have?

There is no limit to the number of FTP accounts you can have with a Guardpost Online account.

Do I need software to FTP files back and forth from my website?

Yes and no.

Yes, because if you want to FTP files back and forth you will have to use an FTP client, special software designed for that purpose. Here are some of the popular ones:

CuteFTP (Our Windows FTP client of choice)
SmartFTP (Windows FTP client)
FileZilla (Our Apple FTP client of choice)
CoreFTP
Cyberduck

...and also no, you don't have to FTP files to place them on your site or download them.

The CPanel has a built-in File Manager. It also provides access to a Web Disk. Descriptions of how to access either of these and what they can be useful for will be listed elsewhere in this FAQ list. However, you can always request assistance for anything from our support options.

How do I setup an FTP account?

Login to the CPanel
Under the ‘Files’ section, select 'FTP Accounts’
Towrads the top is an ‘Add FTP Account’ section
Create a login or password (either create the password yourself, using the 'Generate Password' feature
Only a password strength of 60 or more will be accepted, but whatever password you use, PLEASE RECORD YOUR PASSWORD!
The default directory you will log into will be listed by the 'Directory' field, but you may alter this if you wish
Choose Create FTP Account

Partner Program

How does your partner program work?

As a partner of Guardpost Online, you will be listed as such on our Partners & Affiliates page. You will also be given opportunities to collaborate with us on projects we may be working where the amount of work we have requires assistance or where a customer may wish to utilitze your specific services.

This is particularly beneficial, as you become a member of a design chain, where link exchanges are encouraged, referrals may increase, services rendered are expanded, and both clients and businesses benefit.

Partners differ from affiliates, in that they can have collaborative opportunities with Guardpost Online, whereas affiliates provide link exchanges or products and services that are not related to projects that Guardpost Online is working for a client. Meanwhile, partners will eventually have their own profile pages, which help them stand out among the crowd.

How do I become a partner?

If you own a business, or provide professional services, such as web design or development, you are eligible to become a partner. If, perhaps, you have a product or service that you think customers of Guardpost Online might be interested in, you are eligible to become an affiliate.

Simply contact us via email and let us know that you are willing to participate in the program.

Site Services

Describe your site optimization service.

Visitors of a website are more likely to leave it if it takes too long to load.

An optimized site is one that loads as fast as possible. This is acheived through smaller file sizes for images or other media, reducing the amount of content that needs to be displayed, separating content from layout, and making the code behind the page more efficient.

This can be done without loss in fidelity of the images, audio, video, operability of a webpage, or meaning of the content displayed to the visitor.

Our site optimization service can help make your existing pages load faster, thereby retaining and/or attracting new visitors and helping to encourage them to browse your site longer.

What Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services do you offer?

SEO is a complex set of methods and commitments that help you get yoru site indexed (known) by search engines and can help your site rank higher than other pages when I visitor is doing a search on a particular topic that you address.

We offer only a basic SEO service. This includes site submission to all the popular search engines, meta descriptions, meta keywords, and appropriate titling and verbiage. We also assist with compliant site mapping and robots.txt formatting.

We understand that Google doesn't index and rate sites the way others do, so we take that into account also. If you don't understand SEO or perhaps only enough to get by, then we can help.

If you are looking for more robust services, perhaps one of our partners or affiliates can be of assistance.

What are your prices like for services rendered?

We are more than happy to show our price list to an interested customer. Yet, because we address each situation individually, some prices are subject to change. We want to make sure that we are profitable enough to keep appropriate support levels and business for all of our customers, but we also want to be accessible to everyone.

Not everyone can afford the common prices for website development and design. Prices on the internet can range anywhere from $39 for a custom one-page site, to $300. A common five-page site can cost anywhere between $300 and $10,000. We offer prices below and often FAR BELOW these ranges for every customer. It is one of our signature benefits for doing business with Guardpost Online.

Do you charge by the hour or are your service prices at a flat rate?

Flat rate. Charging by the hour can introduce indeterminate costs for both the customer and us. We prefer, as we are sure you would, to know what costs are presented outright, to the best extent possible.

The only exceptions are any recurring services, such as hosting or continuous site maintenance you require. We will try to work out a good price for our customers for recurring services that do not have a posted explicit pricing model. Each customer is handled on a case-by-case basis, taking into account their ability to pay and to what amount.

Our goal is to make this easy, fun, and a great value.

So, do you have a price sheet?

Yes. We will be happy to show it to you and discuss it with you, via email, phone, or even visit you in person, if you live in North Caronlina. Our price sheet is arranged in two ways:

We offer services a-la-carte, so choose what you want from our many services offered or...
...perhaps simply go a cheaper route and take a package deal, which typically saves you around 30%!
You may even decide to start with a package deal and then add more later.

What packages do you offer?

Simply put, we have three package deals:

All-in-One Package (Low-Speed) - This package includes a single page (simple design & layout), a single image (outsourced from a stock photographics site), and a single in-house custom graphic.
All-in-One Package (Mid-Speed) - This package includes our standard site package (five pages, with a more interesting design & layout), two images (outsourced from a stock photographics site), and two in-house custom graphics.
All-in-One Package (High-Speed) - This package includes our standard site package (five pages, with a very professional and sleek design & layout), three images (outsourced from a stock photographics site), two in-house pre-developed graphics and two in-house custom graphics.

Your prices for hosting and site creation are very low. What's the catch?

It may be hard to believe, but there's no catch. Our philosophy is that you should be satisfied, if not ecstatic about paying a fair price for great service. We established our business when economic times were hard for everyone. Our founder felt it was time to do something about it, while doing something he loved.

We also know that to compete against more established players, we needed something special. Our low prices, online training videos that are free to our members, quality service and support, and many more offerings are part of our way of giving back to the community. We want to earn your business and keep it! Let us be a part of your successes.

I have my own graphics and/or text I would like to put on my site, but I want you to create the site. Can you do this?

Yes. Having your own images and text can often speed the development of the site. Where images can sometimes be difficult to work with (say the image has an awkward background), then we may make suggestions on how to use the image in a different way.

However, you are the customer and we will do whatever you wish. Please keep in mind that we may be designers, but you are paying for a service. Part of that service is for us to act as advisors to you, but we will not make the decision for you.

There is absolutely no charge for us to use your content or images. This can also drive down the cost of site creation, as we won't have to supply the images, etc. However, our site package deals come with images that are very professional and free for you to use.

I post on Craiglist, but I see that you offer Craigslist services. Please describe them.

Certainly. For only $15, we can provide a custom template for your Craigslist posting that can stand out above the rest. Most postings are simple text, with little to no formatting.

Yours can have color, graphics, formatted text and layouts that make your products, services, personal page, or business much more noticable.

Plus, you get to keep the coding template that you can simply copy and paste any time you wish to post. You may even alter it if you feel the need. It's all yours for only $15!

I have a need for a custom application or function on my site. Do you do custom coding and how much is it?

Yes. We do offer custom coding, but the pricing depends on the complexity of the application or function. If there is anything we cannot handle for whatever reason, we will direct you to a partner or affiliate who can. If this isn't an option, then we will be more than happy to help you find someone who can, at no cost to you. It's our way of making sure that you are at least a happy visitor of our site and that we are able to help someone out.

Do you do offer copy writing or content creation for a site?

Absolutely! We provide editing services, such as checking grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure and wording.

We can also create content for your site. We often work with our customers to ensure that what they want to say is said well and that their message is clear.

In our experience, the average site visitor spends 30 seconds or less on a site, so content needs to be concise and catching, yet detailed enough to say what the site owner(s) want(s) to say.

Terms of Service

What are your terms of service?

You may review our Terms of Service at http://www.guardpostonline.com/tos.html for more information.