Example Websites

What Our Users Say

“Forgot how neat Webfaction’s hosting panel was. The concept of app plus domain equals site is nice.”

— wheelermichael

In this section of the user guide, you can see how Website records bring Applications and Domains together to create something accessible from a browser in just a few clicks.

Creating a WebFaction Site in 4 Minutes

Follow these steps to create a new subdomain, a WordPress blog application, and a new website record in just a few minutes.

1. Log in to the WebFaction control panel at https://my.webfaction.com/.
2. Create a new subdomain.
   1. Click Domains / websites ‣ Domains. The list of domains associated with your account appears.
   2. Click Add new domains. The Add domains panel appears.
   3. In the Domain names to add field, enter mynewsite.username.webfactional.com, where username is your WebFaction username.
   4. Click the Add domains button. The new domain is added to the list and a confirmation message appears.
3. Create a new application.
   1. Click Domains / websites ‣ Applications. The list of applications associated with your account appears.
   2. Click the Add new () button. The Add page appears.
   3. In the Name field, enter myfirstapp.
   4. In the App category menu, click to select the WordPress
   5. Click the Create button. The View page appears with a confirmation message.
4. Create a new website record.
   1. Click Domains / websites ‣ Websites. The list of websites associated with your account appears.
   2. Click the Add new () button. The Add page appears.
   3. In the Name field, enter myfirstsite.
   4. In the Subdomains menu, click to select mynewsite.username.webfactional.com.
   5. In the Site apps table, click the Add new () button. A new row appears in the table.
   6. In the App menu, click to select myfirstapp.
   7. In the URL path field, enter /.
   8. Click the Create button. The View page appears with a confirmation message.
5. Wait two minutes while your changes go into effect. Now might be a good time to check your email or refill that cup of coffee.
6. Admire your accomplishment. Open http://mynewsite.username.webfactional.com in a web browser.

Creating a Simple Website

While applications and website records allow for complex arrangements of domains and applications, the most common use-case is a collection of files—HTML, PHP, and images—connected to a single domain. To create a simple website:

1. Create a Static/CGI/PHP application.

   See also

   See Create an Application with the Control Panel for detailed instructions on this step.

2. Upload files and images to the Static/CGI/PHP application’s directory, ~/webapps/application where application is the name of the Static/CGI/PHP application.

   See also

   See Connecting with FTP for detailed directions on using FTP with your account.

3. Create a website record which links the Static/CGI/PHP application to your domain.

   For example, suppose there is a Static/CGI/PHP application, mysite and a domain, example.com. To create a website record for this site:

   1. Log in to the WebFaction control panel.
   2. Click Domains / websites ‣ Websites. The Sites list appears.
   3. Click the Add new () button. The Add page appears.
   4. In the Name field, enter a name for the website record.
   5. In the Subdomains menu, click to select example.com and www.example.com.
   6. Beneath the Site apps table, click the Add new () button. A new row appears in the table.
   7. In the App menu, click to select mysite.
   8. In the URL path field, enter / (a single forward slash). This will put the application at the root of the domain. Thus, http://www.example.com will access the mysite application.
   9. Click the Create button. The View page appears with a confirmation message.

In about two minutes, after the changes have taken effect, the pages and images in the Static/CGI/PHP application can be reached at the domain selected.

A Sophisticated Website Configuration

While a WordPress blog or static site may be all you need, it’s also possible to use domains, applications, and website entries to reuse content across domains and segment content for different audiences. Consider this example for the hypothetical Widget Company.

Widget company can use a collection of domains and applications to target business and individual customers separately, without unnecessarily duplicating resources.

Widget Company has three domains:

• widgetco.com
• widgetsforbiz.com
• widgetsforfun.com

and four applications:

• static_corp, a Static/PHP/CGI application
• django_biz, a Django application
• django_consumer, a Django application
• wordpress_blog, a WordPress blog.

With just three website entries in the control panel, Widget Company can easily reuse applications under each of the three domains:

widgetco.com
    /           ->  static_corp
    /biz        ->  django_biz
    /blog       ->  wordpress_blog
    /consumer   ->  django_consumer
widgetsforbiz.com
    /           ->  django_biz
    /blog       ->  wordpress_blog
widgetsforfun.com
    /           ->  django_consumer
    /blog       ->  wordpress_blog