Ramblers-Webs

Ramblers-webs provide hosting of group and area web sites. We provide the hosting using a company called Cloud Next. We have a single account that is used by Administrators and each web site has its own hosting account and hence Hosting Control Panel (HCP).

Most sites use a Content Management System(CMS) called Joomla, in which case those web masters have little need of the HCP

Hosting

To host a web site you need the following

• a Domain name, such as derbyramblers.org.uk which is the name of your web site
• a hosting package that contains the web site files etc, all the technical stuff, this also provides email facilities.

You also have to decide how you are going to write the web site

Domain Name

You can either transfer an existing domain name to us or we can register one for you.

Hosting

For our hosting we use a company called Cloud Next, we can set up a hosting account for you that will host your web site. Each account is specific to one domain name so you only have access to your our web site.

Hosting Control Panel

Each account has its own Hosting Control Panel which allows you access to the files on your account, email accounts and email forwards and all the other stuff that may be needed

Deciding how your Web Site will be created

There are many ways to create a web site including.

• You can write individual web site pages in HTML
• You can use a software package such as WordPress, Joomla or others

We recommend Joomla and can install it for you.

Joomla

Using our extended version of Joomla  has many advantages

• saves you the bother of learning how to do it
• we have extended the basic Joomla package so you get a head start, it will come with
  • support for Ramblers branding/colour schemes
  • ability to display your walks defined in the Central Office GWEM system
  • added security and backup system
  • added extensions for editing content, display walking routes and many others
• we can provide better support if all sites have a similar set up.

How many accounts / user names will I have?

Unfortunately the answer to this is too many.. People often get confused by how many accounts they have once they have set up a web site. You will have some or all of the following:

• ramblers-webs.org.uk - you will have registered on this site to say you are a web master for a group or area web site. This site gives you access to help information, such as this page, and also the support forum.It is recommended that you subscribe to the appropriate categories of the Forum.on this site
• groups/io - you should have signed up to our Newsletter group https://groups.io/g/RamblersWebsNews 

For each domain/web site you look after you will have

• Hosting Control Panel(HCP) - the ramblers-webs administrators will have sent you a personal account against your email address which gives you access the HCP for each domain you manage.. This gives you access to the server account that hosts your web site.
  NOTE: If you use Joomla you may not use the HCP access very often, if at all
• Login details for FTP if you update your site using this method
• Mailbox login details if you use a mailbox associated with your domain
• Joomla - if you are using Joomla for your web site then you will have an account on your web site to allow you to edit articles, menus etc.

You may also have a Ramblers account for ramblers.org.uk either as a member or perhaps also to allow you to edit walks and events.

The above account may also give to access to Insight and Assemble.

• https://insight.ramblers.org.uk/
• https://volunteer.ramblers.org.uk/portal/home

ALL these accounts are separate and may have different user names and passwords.

Password Managers

We would recommend that you use a password manager to keep all your account details secure. There are many to choose from. Here are some that people have recommended

Your PC Security

Please keep all passwords and userids secure, if they are compromised then please contact the administrators as quickly as possible.

We recommend you use a password manager.

We strongly recommend that you also install anti virus software on your PC and also a Firewall.

Software to consider, all of which have free versions are:

• AVG and Avast anti virus software

• Windows 8/10 Firewall, Comodo and Zonealarm firewalls.

Getting help and support

• Look in the How to section of http://www.ramblers-webs.org.uk/ for articles about web hosting, Joomla etc. This section contains general guidance on how to do things.
  Note that you need to log in to the site to see all the How to articles

• If your subject is not covered in the How to section then you can search the Forum, on ramblers-webs.org.uk, for information or post your question to the Forum
  This will go to the other web masters and hopefully someone will know the answer to your problem.

• If the issue is specific to your site or urgent then raise a Support Ticket.
  If you get a good answer to your question then consider asking the Administrators to add it to the How to section.

Contact an Administrator

• If you cannot get an answer via the above approaches OR your problem is specific to your web site then you will need to contact the Administrators
  To do this please log in to ramblers-webs.org.uk and use our Raise Support Issue under Support menu item or you can email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  Your question will then go to all the administrators who will try and help you. Please note that like you they are also volunteers.

• PLEASE DO NOT email a particular administrator as they may be on holiday or unavailable.

• PLEASE TRY NOT to email administrators if it is likely that other web masters would know the answer.

Change of webmaster details

If you move or change your email address then please update your details on any accounts that have been set up, including

• Ramblers-Webs

  • On www.ramblers-webs.org.uk – logon to the site and look for Webmasters and Your Profile. Here you will be able to update your email address and postal / telephone details

  • Newsletter group https://groups.io/g/RamblersWebsNews 

• Hosting Control Panel

  • please log on to your domains HCP and update your email address as required. Accounts have an email forward called admin@yourdomainname which forwards to the webmaster for the domain. Please update this.

  • Please raise a support ticket so we can create a new HCP account against your new email address,and to delete the old account

• Joomla

  • these CMS systems often hold your email address and you should check if yours needs changing

• Ramblers

  • Don't forget to update your account on ramblers.org.uk

Change of Web Master

If you pass your role as web master on to another person then you MUST

• Let the Ramblers-webs administrators know about the change by completing the form
  

• Make sure that the new web master registers on ramblers-webs.org.uk

• Once they have registered on ramblers-webs.org.uk then please pass on any passwords or other information that they need.

If you are passing on a web site to a new volunteer then there are a few things you need to do.

After the new person has taken over you can ask for your account on Ramblers-webs.org.uk to be deleted if you no longer need it.

You may remain as a registered member of ramblers-webs.org.uk or you can ask the administrators to remove your account. They will not remove your account until someone else has registered as the web master for your web site(s).

If you have problems with any of the above then please raise a support ticket.

Further articles