VN Business Webhosting FAQ

*Please note that this section is only for VN Business Webhosting Accounts,
and not for personal/commercial (www.voicenet.com/~username) dialup accounts.

Click here to contact Voicenet for any additional help.

How do I use SSL(https) on my website?

You can fill out the SSL form in VAM to obtain a Geotrust certificate containing your private encryption data. If you opt purchase your own private certificate, configuration and availability information will be emailed to you as stated on the SSL certificate order form. You can also contact Voicenet`s sales department at 800.835.5710 to inquire about the current pricing and availability.

How do I setup a DSN or DSN-less database connection?

Database connectivity is very similar using a dsn and a dsn-less connection. Two main differences between these connections are 1.) a system dsn prevents the need to include the database server name and the database username/password in the connection string within your scripts. This can be deemed as an additional security measure in the rare event someone may have gained access to the source code of your ASP files/apps. 2.) a system dsn has been noted on many asp development sites as a 'Fast Code Tip', meaning access time using a system dsn to connect to a database is faster.
Provided below are a few samples using a system dsn and a dsn-less connection. If you need a system dsn setup for your website simply fill out the ODBC form in VAM.

Access ODBC Driver via DSN
conn.Open "PROVIDER=MSDASQL;" & _
  "DSN=OLE_DB_NWind_Jet;UID=admin;PWD=;"

Oracle ODBC Driver via DSN
conn.Open "PROVIDER=MSDASQL;" & _
  "DSN=dseOracle;UID=demo;PWD=demo;"

SQL Server ODBC Driver via DSN
conn.Open "PROVIDER=MSDASQL;" & _
  "DSN=LocalServer;DATABASE=pubs;UID=sa;PWD=;"

Access ODBC Driver via DSN-Less
conn.Open "PROVIDER=MSDASQL;DBQ=D:\web\userdir\NWind.mdb;" & _
  "DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};UID=admin;PWD=;"

Oracle ODBC Driver via DSN-Less
conn.Open "PROVIDER=MSDASQL;SERVER=MyOracleServer;" & _
  "DRIVER={Microsoft ODBC for Oracle};UID=demo;PWD=demo;"

SQL Server ODBC Driver via DSN-Less
conn.Open "PROVIDER=MSDASQL;DRIVER={SQL Server};" & _
  "SERVER=MySQLServer;DATABASE=pubs;UID=sa;PWD=;"

What is the full path for my website directory?

For a Windows NT/2000 hosted website, the homedir follows this syntax:
D:\web\<username>\

Websites hosted on a Linux webserver contain the following syntax:
/home/webusers/<firstletterofdomain>/<firsttwolettersofdomain>/<domainname>/htdocs

Websites hosted on a UNIX webserver contain the following syntax:
/usr/local/etc/httpd/htdocs/<domainname>/

<username> = the username used to ftp to your website
<domainname> = your fully qualified domain name without the www. and .com|net|org etc.

How do I send email using forms on my website?

There a plenty of ways to send email using a web-based form. We'll cover three of the simplest ways; standard formmail script, FrontPage's form template and CDONTS.

1.) You are provided with a standard formmail script when your website is setup. This script, formmail.pl, resides within the /cgi-bin directory of your website. Click here to read the complete documentation on the formmail configuration. To utilize this script, simply add the following form tag in your webpages:

<form method=POST action="/cgi-bin/formmail.pl">
... <options> ...
  </form>

Note: If you experience difficulty receiving emails from the formmail script be sure the temp directory specified in your formmail script is set for a writeable directory. The line of code in the script may look like:
$tempdir = "d:/web/<username>\_private";
change this to look like:
$tempdir = 'd:/web/<username>/_vti_txt';     OR
$tempdir = 'd:/web/<username>/_vti_log';

 Set myCDO = CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
  myCDO.From = "youremail@yourdomain.com"
  myCDO.To = "recipient@somedomain.com"
  myCDO.Subject = "Test using CDONTS"
  myCDO.Body = "This is a test sending email using CDONTS"
  myCDO.Send
  .........
  Set myCDO = CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
  myCDO.Send "youremail@yourdomain.com", "recipient@somedomain.com", _
              "Hello", "I sent this using CDONTS"

 $mail = $Server->CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail");
  $mail->{From} = 'youremail@yourdomain.com';
  $mail->{To} = 'recipient@somedomain.com';
  $mail->{Subject} = 'Test using CDONTS';
  $mail->{Body} = 'This is a test sending email using CDONTS';
  $mail->{Send};

How do I put a counter on my website?

Linux hosted websites use the following syntax:

<img src="http://linux-counter.voicenet.com/cgi-bin/Count.cgi?df=domain-x.dat">

<domain> = your domain name without the www and .com|net|org
<x> = the number of your counter, you may use many separate counters if you wish to

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Windows hosted websites use the following syntax:

<img src="http://count.voicenet.com/cgi-bin/Count.exe?df=domain-x.dat">

<domain> = your domain name without the www and .com|net|org
<x> = the number of your counter, you may use many separate counters if you wish to


Click here for more information on the NT counter
Click here for more info on the Linux counter