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Acceptable Use Policy   Tutorial Articles

A: Our web server and our POP mail server both require that the site from which you are connecting support inverse DNS. That is, when you try to connect via ftp, our server does a lookup on the IP number and host name which your ftp or email program reports when connecting to us, to verify that they resolve correctly. Each IP address must have the corresponding PTR record and resolve to that hostname.

If you encounter this error, you need to contact your ISP, company, or whoever controls DNS for the computer you're using, and have them add PTR resource records in the in-addr.arpa zone files so that inverse resolution maps host addresses back to the proper host. If you're behind a router which dynamically translates IP numbers, you'll need to change your router configuration so that it translates your internal IP number to an IP which can be resolved.

One temporary solution is to connect through a different provider. Use a different network, or a dialup connection, where reverse DNS has been properly configured. For email, you can also use a web-based email service like Yahoo or FastMail (our recommendation) to check your POP3 mailbox.

Requiring properly-configured inverse DNS support is a common security technique employed on many servers. Most hackers don't use DNS, in order to avoid traceability, so this is just one of the protections we employ to make our servers less attractive to net vandals.

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A: A mailing list manager (MLM) is a server-based program designed to handle the routine tasks associated with managing a mailing list. It handles subscribe and unsubscribe requests, it provides information about the list (subscriber count, etc.), and it distributes the messages to active subscribers automatically.

Some common MLM's are ListServ, ListProc, Smartlist, Lyris, and Majordomo. The term "LISTSERV" is frequently used when only a generic MLM is intended. ListServ is a specific commercial program and we do not currently run ListServ at DataBack Systems; we offer our own DBMailer service.

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A: Yes of course. In fact we request that you send us any initial subscriber lists. We can remove any duplicates and also check the list for invalid syntax in addresses. While we are doing that, you can test the list operation with only yourself and maybe a friend or two as subscribers before the entire initial list is added.

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A: A list owner is the person responsible for maintaining a mailing list. The primary task of the list owner is seeing that all addresses on the list are current. Other responsibilities depend on the list but can include dealing with bounced messages, approving subscription requests, approving messages sent to the distribution address before they are resent, writing a short description of the list, and guiding the tone or the direction of the discussion (or posting the messages, if the list is a newsletter). At DataBack, the listowner is also the person responsible for the invoices.

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A: This "feature" is offered by some list management services, but in reality has serious problems. There is no way to know with certainty prior to a mailing whether each recipient can read HTML messages or not. Even users of web-based email addresses (like hotmail) can choose to download their email rather than reading it through a web interface, and may choose to NOT view HTML messages in their email program. Similarly AOL users may choose to read their email in the AOL web interface rather than in the AOL email program. And older versions of AOL software, still in use, can support only text - so most "automatic detection" systems just send text-only to all aol.com addresses.

The closest to a working solution is one where the new subscriber is sent a confirmation message containing two response actions, only one of which can be read by an HTML-capable email program. If that action is taken, then the subscriber is put on the HTML list, if the other action is taken the recipient is put on the text-only list. This is accurate at the time of subscription, but if the subscriber later changes from text-to-HTML or vice versa, subsequent mailings will still go to them in the original format.

Most services offering this "feature" do not do this. Instead they simply send every subscriber a multipart/alternative HTML message with BOTH HTML and plain-text parts. In addition to making the message twice as large as necessary (both it contains both versions), this just leaves the choice of which version to use up to the recipient's email program. In other words, it assumes the recipient has an email program capable of handling multipart/MIME messages - but if that is the case, the recipient can certainly handle normal HTML messages anyway. Some services also create the text-only portion "automatically", extracting it from your submitted HTML. This leaves your text-only message vulnerable to formatting or extraction bugs in the provider's filters and give you no control over layout of the text-only version.

At DataBack, our recommendation is that the right solution for offering both HTML and text versions of your newsletter is to maintain two lists, one for HTML and the other for text. Your subscribers can move from one to the other as desired at any time. As listowner, you prepare and submit both versions independently, having full control over the layout of each. Contact us if you'd like more information about maintaining two lists or setting up a subscriber maintenance web form to facilitate subscribing, un-subscribing, and/or switching formats.

A: Yes. DBMailer discussion lists support an additional "authorized" list of addresses. Posts from these authorized addresses are accepted and distributed just as if they came from a subscribed address. Such authorized addresses don't receive the mailings of course since they are not actually on the subscriber list.

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A: Yes but not the server extensions. Complete support for Front Page requires that the web server have Microsoft's "FrontPage Extensions" installed. We do not support the FP server extensions because of security concerns.

Several of our customers use FrontPage and have not found this to be a limitation. Indeed, it means their site is more portable because the site is able to be hosted on virtually any web server, not requiring the installation of MS supporting software. It also means we can assist you with our normal PHP scripts, access statistics, password-protected directories, and other server-specific features.

One of the desirable features of FrontPage is its built-in "publishing" support which simplifies transfer of your files to the web server. When you attempt to publish your site, FP will detect that our server does not have the extensions and automatically invoke ftp mode to transfer your files to our server. Alternatively, you can use a separate ftp program to transfer files to our server. If you need a Windows ftp program, Filezilla is excellent and free.

Avoiding FrontPage Browse-Time Components

Some FrontPage components, especially those that are used with forms, rely on the FrontPage Server Extensions. When developing your site, you should avoid using the following FrontPage components:

* Confirmation Field 
* Discussion Form Handler 
* Registration Form Handler 
* Save Results Form Handler 
* Scheduled Image 
* Scheduled Include Page component 
* Search Form

The good news is that most if not all these functions can be implemented (usually in a better manner) with PHP code, which is supported on our web server.

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1. All your pages should be in the folder named "htdocs".
2. Make sure your "home" page is renamed to "index.html" and not "default.htm".
3. See this MS article for additional information. Use Method 1 or Method 2.
4. Enter the ftp server name, login and password which we sent in your initial setup email. We recommend you copy/paste the password to avoid typing errors.

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A: No, not support. We do have mySQL installed and can create a database for you, but we do not provide support.

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A: Yes, we can set up a password-protected subdirectory for you on request.

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A: Yes.

Suffix your home page URL with "/stats", then select the month for which you wish to see stats. See our own stats as an example.

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A: Each account has a private cgi-bin directory. You will find this directory (named cgi-bin) in the same directory as your htdocs folder. Upload your personal cgi scripts into that directory. Be sure to make them executable by checking "execute" permission on the file, but do NOT check "write" permission for anyone but yourself.

Note that we do not offer our server for development or testing of scripts. We require that you install only proven and tested scripts. We reserve the right to remove any script which is adversely affecting system performance.

To invoke your personal cgi script, you must call it using the following syntax (even though it is in a folder named cgi-bin) -

<FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="/home-cgi-bin/file.cgi">

To invoke a cgi from the system folder, the syntax is -

<FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="/cgi-bin/file.cgi">

Our default is to NOT allow telnet access, for security reasons. If you believe you require telnet access, see the next question.

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A: No.

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A: You will receive full detailed instructions when you place your order, but basically you update the texts of the reply messages instantly by using a personalized web form for your autoresponder.

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A: Yes. The Subject for each reply message is uploaded as part of the update process. The From: header can be modified to show any name and address you prefer, as long as it is a valid address. You cannot modify the From: header directly but we will modify it for you upon request.

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A: Yes. All you need to do is set up a forwarding alias on your mail server.

Since all mail sent to your existing domain is being routed to your current mail server, so we would normally never see it in order to respond to it. If you can create an alias on your current mail server which forwards all mail to us, however, then we can respond to it.

For example, if your domain is flowers.com and you set up an autoresponder with us at the address flowers@mailback.com, you could then create an alias of info@flowers.com which forwards mail to flowers@mailback.com. This turns info@flowers.com into an autoresponder address.

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A: They will receive an immediate reply each time, but they won't receive multiple follow-up messages.

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