Welcome to InMotion Hosting! We’re happy you’ve chosen us for your web hosting needs. We want you to be successful with your website, and we are more than happy to help if you have any questions about creating a new site or moving an existing site to our servers.
This article is broken down into 3 main sections:
Building a new site?
What software should I use?
If you’re building a new website, one of the first things you’ll need to do is decide which software you’ll use to help create the website. We’ve listed a few of the more popular programs below you can use (click each link for a getting started guide). If you’re not sure which software to use, we’ve recommended a few.
Creating a standard website or a blog
Creating an eCommerce website
These are just a few of the software applications you can easily install onto your hosting account using Softaculous in your cPanel (Control Panel). Feel free to explore and test different software to find the right one for your new website! It’s simply impossible to be an expert in all of the 1,000’s of programs that are available, but we’re good at figuring this stuff out – ask us a question if you need some help.
Learn HTML and increase your web design skills
If you’re interested in learning HTML and more in depth information on web design, we have our Web Design Education Channel you can explore.
Transferring a site?
If you already have a website and want to transfer it to InMotion Hosting, the steps you will take depend on whether your current hosting provider uses cPanel or not.
We assist our customers with moving websites all the time, so we’re comfortable with the process. We understand that some websites are simple to move but others can be more complex. If you run into any snags along the way, ask us a question!
Technical Information
I know what I’m doing, I just need the technical details
Now, there may be some people reading this article who already know how they want to build their site and just need some basic information to start with. To find the technical information, simply click on the Account Technical Details icon within your AMP as shown above. Technical information is displayed in a table as below.
Email
All of our hosting accounts include the ability to manage email accounts. If you consider yourself a beginner in setting up email accounts, then start with our Email Getting Started Guide. We also have an extensive library of email-related articles that can be found in the Email Education Channel.
Website Backups
We cannot stress enough the importance of site backups. With the cPanel Backup Wizard, it’s a very easy process. A site backup will be your best friend if something is accidentally changed or deleted in your site and you need to roll back to a working version of your site.
Keep in mind too, it’s not just about potential errors. If companies like YouTube, Nokia, and other large companies can be hacked, the truth is any website could potentially fall victim to an attack. Good backups are your safety net in the event your site is compromised.
Please see our article on Backing Up Your cPanel for more information on the importance of, and how easy it is to create a backup of your account.
PHP and MySQL Databases
Do you use PHP on your website? Most customers will need to update configuration settings and may need to update PHP settings after a website move. We have helpful guides on updating your local PHP settings and working with MySQL databases.
Setting up SSL
If you’re transmitting any confidential information through your website, such as credit card details or social security numbers, you’ll want to secure this data while it passes through the internet by using an SSL certificate. For information on SSL (shared or dedicated), please see our article on obtaining an SSL certificate.
cPanel and Account Management Panel
You will see articles that refer to AMP and/or cPanel. To make sure you understand the difference, please see our article on AMP vs. cPanel.
DNS Records
Some of our more advanced customers may need to update DNS records. Please see our article on making custom DNS records for more information.