January Edition Of The WeDoHosting.com Newsletter

Welcome to the January edition of the WeDoHosting.com newsletter. WeDoHosting.com provides periodic newsletters to our clients in order to help them make the most of their hosting and online experience.

This month we will cover:

Hosting Posting WeDoHosting.com's Solutions Manager, Joanne Spinney, comments on common hosting issues and how to make the most of your hosting package. This edition: Password Protecting Web Directories

Tech Deck WeDoHosting.com's Support Technician, Tim Vickers, posts one of the most commonly asked questions to support and the answer. This edition: Question of the Month: Spam Management

Sales Tales WeDoHosting.com's Marketing Manager, Dave Davies, helps you make the most of your online presence. This edition: Press Releases

Hosting Posting
by Joanne Spinney

Password protecting some of the sections of your website is not as difficult as it may seem. You may want to protect sections of your site so that only staff has authorized access, or maybe you're looking to implement a "members only" area - regardless of the purpose, the solution is the same.

All of our clients hosted on our Linux systems have access to a simple tool we've made available for password protecting directories. Using your web browser, simply go to this address:
http://yourdomain.com/common-cgi/access-control/access.cgi (replace YOURDOMAIN.COM with your own domain name). Enter your FTP username and password and select the directory from a drop-down list that you want to password protect.

Once you have selected the folder, click on the "Select Directory" button a little further down under "User Management" and choose the username and password you would like applied to the directory. And that's all there is to it.

If you are hosted on our Windows systems, you can read about password protection directly on the Microsoft support site. If you have developed your site in FrontPage, look for Q301942. If you have developed in ASP, look for Q301464.

If you have any questions about this or any other hosting issue, please don't hesitate to contact Joanne at solutions@wedohosting.com.

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Tech Deck
by Tim Vickers

QUESTION OF THE MONTH: How do I reduce the amount of spam coming to me?

WeDoHosting.com provides two tools for clients to reduce the amount of spam they receive. The first is Spam Assassin and the other is TMDA (Tagged Message Delivery Agent).

1) Spam Assassin is an automated email scanner that we have installed on our systems. It has its own list of known keywords that spammers use in their emails and each keyword is assigned a point value. When emails arrive on our system, our software quickly scans each message for these trigger words. The more keywords or phrases that are picked up by the software, the more likely it is to be identified as spam. If this is the case, the message will be delivered to you with **SPAM** added to the subject line.

Since software cannot always be 100% correct, we will not automatically delete these messages. Instead, you are able to set-up a rule in your mail program (such as Outlook or Eudora) to filter any of these **SPAM** messages so that they are automatically sent to a junk folder on arrival. This will allow you to review everything that gets filtered to be sure that something legitimate didn't make its way to the junk folder.

The threshold that Spam Assassin uses can be set by our users for individual email addresses by going to http://mail.wedohosting.com/.

Log-on with the email address you wish to configure. If your address was johndoe@yourdomain.com, you would logon as:

username: johndoe
domain: somedomain.com
password: <your password>

Next, click on the icon at the top labeled 'Mailboxes' and you will be taken to a page where the Spam Control button is displayed. Click on 'Go', and read through the 'Notes' on the bottom of this page to get an idea on how to configure Spam Assassin. More information can also be found at:
http://support.wedohosting.com/email-topics/spam/index.htm

2) Challenge/Response Email Anti-Spam Solution (TMDA):
That's "tagged message delivery agent".
Our setup link is at http://mail.wedohosting.com/cgi-bin/tmda.cgi
More info at http://tmda.net

This is a tool you can enable on your email address so that you will only receive messages from people who are added to your 'friendly list'. Basically, when someone sends you an email for the first time after you activate this tool, their message is 'held' until they do a quick confirmation that proves they aren't a spammer. Once they confirm they really are a person, their original message is sent to you and they will never have to confirm again. You have a lot of handy options though this tool; it's a very effective way to prevent spam from reaching the Inbox on your computer.

Tips For Reducing the Amount Of Spam You Receive

In addition to the above tools, if you follow 'good habits' when using email it's possible to reduce the amount of spam that comes to your mailbox in the first place. The following are some tips to use:

- Never make a purchase from an unsolicited email

If spamming weren't economically viable, it would be obsolete. Not only can an email user fall prey to a potentially fraudulent sales scheme, but his or her email address can also be added to the numerous email lists that are sold within the spamming community, further compounding the number of junk emails received.

- Never respond to any spam messages or click on any links in the message

Replying to any spam message, even to "unsubscribe" or be "removed" from the email list only confirms to the spammer that you are a valid recipient and a perfect target for future spamming.

- Don't use your regular email address when registering at websites

Create a ‘junk’ email address to use instead of your regular email when registering with any websites you feel may be less than legit. Free webmail services that you could use to do this include Yahoo! or Hotmail. Also use this address when posting messages to online newsgroups, mailing lists and forums.

- If you must use your regular address, disguise it

Disguise your address to fool automated programs. Add an extra space or word to your valid address (customer@mydomainnospam.com), or spell it out: for example, customer (at) mydomain (dot) com — people should be able to work out your correct address.

- Be aware of options selected by default

When you sign up for some online accounts or services, there may be a section that provides you with the option to receive email about other products and services. Sometimes there are options selected by default, so if you do not deselect them, you could begin to receive email from lists those lists as well.

And finally, in the 'Do Unto Others' spirit of the holiday season:

- Don't spam other people

Be a responsible and considerate user. Some people consider email forwards a type of spam, so be selective with the messages you redistribute. Don't forward every message to everyone in your address book, and if someone asks that you not forward messages to them, respect their request.

If you have any questions on the above or about any other technical matter at WeDoHosting, please email us at support@wedohosting.com.

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Sales Tales
by Dave Davies

A Good Point
Last month I wrote about newsletters and the value they can provide for the website owner. Shortly after it went out, I received an email with a very valid point that I failed to mention. A point in that message read:

One MUST get a confirmation from the email address being subscribed before one can send anything other than the signup confirmation request.

This point is entirely valid and follows nicely after Tim's points above in regards to reducing spam. The software I mentioned eNewsletter Manager by e-undertown has the capacity to automate this very function and is a necessary step. Thanks to Marcus for reminding me to bring up this very valid point.

Press Releases
There are many ways to promote your website and your products and/or services online. From word of mouth and traditional advertising to opt-in email marketing and search engine positioning, the methods are countless. Press releases are an often overlooked and very valuable tool for a number of reasons.

If your company is launching a new product, opening a new office, or has any noteworthy news, a press release can be a great way to get exposure. The main benefits of press releases for your website are:

1. Direct clicks from readers interested in your product/service or at least more information
2. Increased links to your website from publishers. This will help your search engine rankings
3. If you have interesting news or are often publishing new advancements a publisher may take an interest in your company and spotlight it giving you further advertising

How To Write A Press Release:
If you're wondering how to write up a press release you can get some great tips and templates from http://www.prweb.com/pressreleasetips.php.

I've Done Up A Press Release ... Now What?
If you've written a great press release, all that's left is to distribute it. If your release is of a local nature (i.e. affects only your local area) then you'll do well to simply submit it to local media. this can include traditional media but should definitely include online media whenever possible. Many people look online for information and this is also where you will see the benefit of additional links to your website.

If your release is of a more general nature and would be of interest to publishers in various regions or countries, you can either do your best to hunt down all their contact information (this would be very time consuming) or you can enlist the services of a company such as PRWeb who will distribute your release for you from about $30US. They also have a free option, though the additional $30 is well worth the price for what you get. You can get more information on their services on their website at http://www.prweb.com/.

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