CPanel - Quick Help

The Cpanel control Panel makes setting up and managing your web site easy! The Control Panel is a user-friendly graphical/text interface that permits quick and easy access to all the features available to your hosting plan. The features inside the Control Panel automate processes that users must do manually with other hosting companies.

A full user manual is avaliable online here http://www.cpanel.net/docs/cp/

File Manager
By clicking this option you can view all the directories and files in your account, as well as change permissions for directories and files, create directories, create and edit files, and upload files from your hard drive to your account. With this helpful feature You really don't need any other FTP client software.

Mail Manager/Menu
This option is where you create and edit, change passwords, forward email to other email accounts, and create autoresponders for your Pop3 email accounts. (Quick Note: It is not necessary to create email aliases as your default email account acts as a "Catch All Account. In other words anything@yourdomain.com will be delivered to your default mail account.)

Change Password
Click this option to change the password for your Control Panel and FTP Client.

Site Statistics
This option will assist you in monitoring visitors to and from your site. This area features 3 different views of your traffic:

• Analog, which basically provides you with a quick summary.
• Webalizer, which provides you with more detailed information.
• Last 300 visitors, with detailed information on each.

This area also contains a link to access your error log, which will assist you in troubleshooting your scripts.

Network Tools
This option provides you with DNS lookup capabilities and traceroute.

FTP
This option is available in accounts with multiple ftp accounts and also those with anonymous ftp. From here your can setup how anonymous users are treated, change anonymous policies, view who is online, and boot anyone from a session.

SSH / Telnet
If you are an EXPERIENCED SSH / Telnet user and would like to have SSH / Telnet access enabled on your account you must submit a request to: support@melwestmarket.com and we will enable it for you.

Password Protect Directories
Password protecting your directories has never been easier. This option allows you to select the directory you wish to password protect from a drop down box and then enter usernames and passwords of those you want to allow access to that part of your web site. You can remove them just as easily...all at the click of a button.

Custom Error Pages
This option will assist you in customizing how your error pages look. It includes:400, 401, 403, 404, 500 error pages

MySQL
MySQL is a database engine that you can use with your web site. There are two separate features in the Control Panel. One allows you to create your databases and assign users while the other feature permits you to edit the database.

Mime Types
MIME = Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions - This option allows you to add Mime Types to your account.
FRONTPAGE USERS - You will have to use FrontPage to perform this function.

Crontab
This option will assist you setting up automated processes.

Entropy Chat
This option will allow you to setup a web based chat on your site.

Search Engine Submission
This option will assist you in submitting your URL to many of the popular search engines in one click.

Sub Domains
This option will assist you setting up subdomains inside your hosting plan. Subdomains are anydomain.yourdomain.com.
The subdomains that are setup through your control panel draw their resources from the parent plan and do not come with an independant IP address.

Back up Manager
This feature allows you to compress and backup your directories and files at your convienence.

CGI Scripts
This option provides you with easy use of the following pre-installed/configured scripts:

Random HTML Editor
Guest book
Counter
Clock
Countdown
Formmail
Entropy Search Engine
Chat
Further information pertaining to these scripts can be found in the CGI Center in your Control Panel.
NS Computing DOES NOT provide technical support for ANY third party CGI / Pearl / Java scripts. However we have provided links to various FAQ's, Tutorials and documentation for each type.

FAQ

FTP
Q: I upload my files but still see your page. Why ?
A: If our Welcome page, index.html, has not been replaced by another index page, then anyone going to domainname.com will still see the welcome page instead of some other home page. This is the order in which the web server looks for a page to put up as the "home" page:

default.htm -> index.phtml -> index.php -> index.cgi -> index.shtml -> index.html -> welcome.cgi -> welcome.html -> index.htm

Just delete the index.html file and anything after it in this list will then come up automatically. Notice that "home.html" is NOT on the list and so will not show up as your home page. You would need to rename it.

Q: How can I upload my site ?
A: Unless you have or will be utilizing Frontpage Extensions on your site, You can use the File Manager located in Your Control Panel to view all the directories and files in your account, as well as change permissions for directories and files, create directories, create and edit files, and upload files from your hard drive to your account.

If you would like to use another FTP client for uploading files to your site,we highly recommend using WS_FTP if you are not familiar with FTP clients. When the FTP client asks for a hostname or address, make sure to enter your IP ADDRESS until your domain name is indexed by the registry
(which can take up to one weeks). After that point, you may use ftp.yourdomainname.com .

All of your files and sub-directories go into your public html directory. Now that we've distinguished where your files go, there are several ways depending on your computer system, that you can transfer files to your account directory. The process by which files are transferred to the web-server is called "FTP" (File Transfer Protocol).

You have unlimited access via FTP 24 hours a day. As such, you can create and maintain your web pages on your own computer and upload files to your web site at your leisure. To upload your files to your account without using the File Manager in Your Control Panel, You need an FTP program.

For the PC users, visit: http://www.wsftp.com to download the newest version of WS_FTP LE for the PC, one of the most popular FTP programs on the web.

For the Macintosh, a program called "Fetch" is used. Visit: http://www.dartmouth.edu/pages/softdev/fetch.html to download the newest version of Fetch.

The FTP client will also ask for a Username or Login Name and Password (make sure that Anonymous is not checked and Host Type selected is UNIX STANDARD), both of which are above.
Once logged in, you will see several directories, cgi-bin, ftp, and public_html.

If you have any scripts such as CGI's that need to be executable, place them in the cgi-bin directory. In your HTML, link to files in this directory by /cgi-bin/filename.cgi. For text and images files, place in the public_html directory

REMEMBER: When uploading files.

ASCII / Binary
Text based files get sent in ascii mode (.txt, .doc, .html, .htm, .shtm, .cgi, etc.)
Non-text based files are binary mode (.jpg, .gif, .exe, .mdb, .zip, pdf, .doc, ect...)

Q: How do I use Cute FTP to upload files?
A: When CuteFTP is loaded the first time, a window will appear. If the window doesn't appear, press the F4 function key. Click on Personal FTP Sites and then click on "Add site. Add the following to the FTP Site Edit window.
-Virtual domain users should enter their domain name in Host Address
-All users must enter their username and password in the appropriate boxes
-Make sure Login type is Normal
-Do not add anything to the Initial Remote Directory Box
To download Cute FTP or for more information please visit: http://www.cuteftp.com
Or You can download a Cute Ftp users guide here: http://cuteftp.com/support/manuals.shtml

Q: How do I use WS_FTP to upload files?
A: When WS_FTP is loaded the first time, a window will appear listing stored FTP locations. If the window doesn't appear, click on Connect. Click on New
Add the following to the Session Profile window
-Virtual domain users should enter their IP Address
-All users must enter their username and password in the appropriate boxes
-Leave blank the Account and Remote Host boxes
-Make sure the Anonymous Login box is not checked!
Click on Save and then OK.

EMAIL

Q: How do I create a new email account?
A:

1. Go to http://yourdomain/cpanel -> Add / Remove accounts
2. Click "Add Account"
3. Type the username and the password.
4. Click "Create"
Account Created

Q: I can't send email via your server. What's wrong?
A: Our SMTP servers are configured as secure relays.
This means that you cannot simply reference "mail.yourdomain.com" as an
Outgoing mailserver unless you successfully log in via one of your pop3 accounts at "mail.yourdomain.com' before you try to send. This is a mandatory setting
to prevent spammers from using our mailservers as havens for unsolicited email.
If you are getting a "relaying prohibited" or "disconnected by administrator" error,
it means that you haven't logged into the pop3 server at your domain before you
tried to send through the smtp server at your domain.
To log in, you need to check for mail first.

Q: How do I create email aliases, and how do I redirect them?
A: Simply use our online control panel to add these. http://yourdomain/cpanel

Q: How do I access webmail with my browser?
A: http://yourdomain.com:2095/ (Replace yourdomain.com with
your actual domain name) Log in with the pop account username
(Username@domain.com) and password that your in control panel(Mail Menu).

CGI

Q: What is the path to the perl interpreter ?
A: The path to the perl interpreter is: /usr/bin/perl.

Q: What is the path to sendmail?
A: The path to sendmail is: /usr/sbin/sendmail.

Q: Where to put CGI scripts?
A: Put your cgi-bin scripts in the public_html subdirectory named "cgi-bin".

Q: How do I use FormMail?
A: FormMail-clone is clone of Matt Wright's FormMail.cgi under a less restrictive liscense. It should behave almost exactly as FormMail.cgi, but it is completely written from scratch so there
might be a few minor visual diffrences. The FormMail CGI script is already configured on our server for your account.
From your control panel click CGI Center and there you will find the location of FormMail. An example of the correct permission to use for setting up the 'action' of your form is: http://yourdomain.com/cgi-sys/FormMail.cgi (if your domain ends with .net, .org, or .other then substitute the correct extension when setting up your form 'action').
The 'method' to select for your form is POST.
If you would like a handy tutorial on using FormMail go to http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts/readme/formmail.shtml

Note: Please use the latest version V1.9 to prevent spammers using your script at your bandwidth expense. Download it at: http://worldwidemart.com/scripts/formmail.shtml

Q: Why am I getting the "Server: Error 500" message?
A: 500 errors are typically something wrong in the syntax of your script. Most often times you should check to make sure you have the path to PERL correct. Currently we are running Perl5 on our servers.
The correct path to PERL is: #!/usr/bin/perl
Here are the correct paths to the common server resources that CGI scripts often require:
Date: /bin/date
Sendmail: /usr/lib/sendmail
Perl5: #!/usr/bin/perl
Serverpath: /home/username/domain-www/cgi-bin
Root path: /home/username/ (puts you in the root of your account)
Domain directory: /home/username/public_html (puts you in your public_html directory)
Cgi-bin path: /home/username/public_html/cgi-bin/filename (puts you in your cgi-bin)

Q: What file permissions do I need for my CGI script?
A: CGIs must be set with executable file permissions, or requests for the script from the web server will result in an Internal Server error. Scripts that need to be executable should have their permission set with chmod 755. This sets the file's permissions so that the file's owner may read, write, and execute the file; and anyone else can only read and execute it.

Q: How do I run my own CGI programs?
A: Put your CGI programs in the cgi-bin directory. Make sure you upload them in ASCII mode. Change permissions to 755 for the script (chmod 755 script-name) Access them via
http://www.yourname.com/cgi-bin/script-name

FRONTPAGE

Q: How can I activate FrontPage support on my account?
A: Go to http://yourdomacn/cpanel -> Frontpage Extensions

Q: How do I use FrontPage 2000 to publish my website?
A: Before you can publish an html file to your web site with FrontPage, you must either have a page already created, or create a page. To create a page with FrontPage, follow these simple steps:

With FrontPage open, choose File --> New.
Type in "This is a simple test"
From the menu bar, choose File --> Save As.
Name the html file.(If this file is to be your homepage, be sure to name it index.html) Once you have the file saved to your hard drive, you are ready to publish the file.

Publish Your Web Page
From the menu bar, choose File --> Publish Web.
Click on the Options button
In box below Specify the location to publish your site to: enter the full URL for your site.
If this is the first time you are publishing your site, select Publish all pages...
Select Include subwebs. (Obviously, you will have put your real domain name instead of 'mydomain.com')
Click the Publish button.
Enter your username and password.
Click Done.
If you have entered all the details correctly, FrontPage 2000 will then publish your site.

Q: I get an error 500 internal server error when trying to view my site.
A: The most common cause is the use of FTP in uploading FrontPage generated webpages. This can damage the FrontPage extensions. In this case the FrontPage extensions will need to be reinstalled. This can be done in your control panel.
If You are utilizing FrontPage to create Your site You must use the file upload feature in the FrontPage program to deliver these pages to the web server. If FrontPage webpages are transferred by another FTP client, FrontPage extensions will become damaged. And even though the pages may be successfully uploaded, they will not be viewable (translatable by a web browser) due to a corrupted code.

Q: The default page still shows up even after I have uploaded my index page.
A: SOLUTION: You MUST DELETE the default page before your index page will show up.

Q: Getting error - "Root Web Busy"
A: FTP to your site and remove the "service.lck" file in /www/_vti_pvt. This usually happens when an FP session is interrupted before completion.

Q: Server timing out when publishing large sites.
A: This difficulty arises when the uploading link times out in the process of copying the web to our server. The only suggestion Microsoft has offered so far is to break the main web into a group of sub webs on your PC, then upload these individually.

Q: Getting Error - "Front Page Extensions not Installed"
A: We often see this error being reported even when the extensions have been installed. If you get this error, please reinstall the FrontPage extensions from your control panel.are installed and repair them if necessary.
NOTE: The extensions are easily corrupted.
Please use only FP Explorer to update your web site on the server, not FTP.

Q: I published but my web's not there!
A: This will happen when the "Destination Web Name" is filled in when publishing to our server.
This box should be left blank. If you put any other name in this box it will create a subdirectory off of your root web and copy all of your files into it. Your site will exist under a subdirectory instead of at the top level /www where it should be.

Q: My counter, bbs, guestbook, etc isn't working.
A: These problems are generally due to incorrect permissions on either the directory, file(s) or cgi script(s) that are associated with them. Please don't change the permissions of your files or directories unless you have a specific reason for doing so and you know what effect it will have on your site.

Q: My forms won't work through the Secure Server.
A: The call to a cgi script using the Secure Server must not be within a webbot. Use a normal cgi call in your html script for Secure Server calls.

Q: My search bot doesn't return any results.
A: The /www directory must be world readable AND you need to recalculate links BEFORE publishing (or after editing directly on the server). If it still doesn't work: FTP to the server and go to the /www/_vti_txt/default.wti directory. Delete any files that begin with "ALL.". Don't delete any other files. Then using Windows Explorer, do the same thing on your PC. Recalculate links, test locally with your browser and publish

Q: FP starts the Web Publishing Wizard when I try to publish.
A: Cancel the operation and reinstall the FP extensions. They have been damaged.

Q: Why is my page renamed on the server when I publish?
A: The "Default Document" of your web is automatically renamed by the server to what is required by the configuration of the server. For example, if you've named the main page "index.html", it may be renamed "default.html". Just check the links to your main page to make sure they refer to it the same way.

Q: Microsoft FrontPage Support
A: Because of Microsoft policies, we are not able to provide technical support for the FrontPage client. We can only verify that the FrontPage server extensions are working correctly. However, we have provided You the following information as a courtesy. Should you need further assistance with FrontPage please visit: http://support.microsoft.com/support/office/inprodhlp/
contents/frontpage/tocfptochhc.asp
An automated help file is also available for download at:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/ office2000pro/help/1.0/WIN98/EN-US/auto2000.exe

STREAMING MEDIA

Q: How can I use real audio / video?
A: WE DO NOT have Real Audio server software running on our servers. However, you can stream Real Media files by following these instructions: You will need to create a .ram file that calls your real audio/video file. The .ram file is a text file with an absolute URL.

This URL will need to be :http://yourdomain.com/filename.rm

Typically you'll create a realaudio file subdirectory under domain-www, and put all your audiofiles there. Then your .ram file, a.k.a., metafile, will contain an address with this format:
http://yourdomain.com/subdirectory/filename.rm
The "subdirectory" is a subdirectory of your domain-www directory.So for example:
http://yourdomain.com/musicfiles/music.rm
Notice: The above address goes in the .ram/metafile, not in your HTML code. Your HTML code calls the .ram/metafile. Then the .ram/metafile is used to call up the .rm/realmedia file.
So for example, your HTML code would look something like this: "Click here to listen to music".
For further support and information, please visit: http://www.real.com

FILE MANAGER

Q: How can I use File Manager?
A: The File Manager Option within your Control Panel can prove to be a very powerful feature.
It will handle many of the functions that an FTP or Telnet client will handle, all from within your browser. Functions such as setting permissions, uploading files from your hard drive, creating and editing html files, and creating subdirectories.
When you click on the File Manager feature inside your Control Panel, you will find that the screen is divided into three frames.
The left frame will show you your directories and files.
The upper right hand frame is your action frame.
The lower right hand frame is your trash folder.
Within each directory, you will see links to create a new file, create new folder, or upload files.
These actions pertain specifically to the directory that you are currently in.
You will also see a column of numbers to the right of each folder and file.
The far right column are the current permission settings for that specific folder or file.
The column to the left of the permissions is the actual size of that file or folder.
When you click on the graphic next to the text link for a folder in Your Control Panel, it will open that folder and display the files and folders within that directory.

EXAMPLE:
Click on a Folder to navigate. Click on a Name to view its properties.

(Current Folder)
Create New Folder
Upload file(s)
.autorespond 755
.entropybanner 755
.htmltemplates 755
.htpasswds 755
.neomail 700
.trash 700
catalogs 755
cpanel3-skel 755
mail 750
public_ftp 755
public_html 755
tmp 700
www 755
Create New File
.lastlogin 0 k 644

When you click on the actual text link for a folder or file, actions for that directory or file are displayed in the upper right hand corner of your screen.
If You were to locate your public_html folder and click on the text link for it. You will see the actions for the folder appear in the upper right hand corner of your screen.
The actions are pretty self-explanatory, so we'll forgo explaining what each do. However, if you located a file rather than a folder within your directory listing and click on the text link of a file, you will see that the action screen will change to the specific actions pertaining to actual files and you will notice that the actions that you can perform for files are quite different from those of a folder.

By clicking on Show File, a new window will open and show you what the file actually looks like in your browser. By clicking on Edit File, you will be taken to a window where you can actually edit the html code within the file itself and save the changes. You can also change the permissions for the file, copy, move, delete, or rename.
Remember, DO NOT DELETE OR RENAME any files that the system creates. Also remember, any files that you want available on the World Wide Web must be placed within your public_html folder.

PASSWORD

Q: How can I change a password?
A: Go to Your Control Panel at http://www.yourdomain.com/cpanel/ and click on Change Password and follow the instructions. If you are unable to access your Control Panel because you've lost your password, You will need to submit a Technical Support Request Form: we can either provide You with a new password or reset Yyour old one (you must provide us with the old one to reset it).
Passwords are one way encrypted, therefore, we can't even pull up your password.

Changing Passwords for Email Accounts
Go to Your Control Panel at http://www.yourdomain.com/cpanel/ "Add / Remove accounts" and click on Change Password and follow the instructions.

STATISTICS

Q: How can I see a statistics for my site?
A: This feature inside your Control Panel provides You with valuable information regarding visitors to your site.We've also included the Error log here, simply because we didn't know where else to put it : ) Analog
Analog produces a simple summary of all the people who have visited your site. It is fast and provides great light weight statistics.

Webalizer
Webalizer is a more complex stats program, which produces a nice variety of charts and graphs about who has visited your site. This is probably the most popular stats engine available today.
You can also view this information in the logs from your Ftp Site (if you have one).

Last Visitors
This will show you the last 300 visitors who came to your site, and some interesting information about them.

Error Log
This will show errors in your site, images not loading, missing files, etc. This is very useful for debugging a cgi script.

ERROR PAGES

Q: How can I create own "error pages"?
A: You can create customized error pages, so when a user types in the wrong url, or enters the incorrect information, You can have nice looking error pages that may redirect them to another part of Your website instead having a visitor leave Your site discouraged.
Bad request
Authorization Required
Forbidden
Wrong page
Internal Server Error

The process is step-by-step and self-explanatory. Simply click on whichever error page You want to customize, enter your html code and save.

MYSQL

Q: How can I manage my data base via WEB?
A: We have installed a powerful web interface that makes it very easy to administer your database. This interface, called phpMyAdmin, is based on the PHP scripting language and let's you create, drop, edit, and manage tables and data in your database.
You can read more on phpMyAdmin by going to http://www.phpwizards.net

Q: How do I use PHP to connect to MySQL?
A: To merely display the information in your database without the use of a form to call a php script you simply create your HTML document as you would any other web page but instead of the extension of .htm or .html you need to name the file with the extension .php. Then within the document itself the section that you'd like to be the PHP code, you begin it with .

Q: How do I use phpMyAdmin?
A: Go to http://yourdomain/cpanel -> SQL Database -> phpMyAdmin.
Note:
phpMyAdmin does not stop the user from entering incorrect syntax, therefore it will accept a line like the one below even though it is incorrect:

Bad:
ALTER TABLE bmt_userinfo ADD first_name TEXT (25) not null , ADD last_name TEXT (25) not null , ADD address1 TEXT (100) not null , ADD address2 TEXT (100) not null , ADD city TEXT (30) not null; However the same line minus the text length does work:

Good:
ALTER TABLE bmt_userinfo ADD first_name TEXT not null , ADD last_name TEXT not null , ADD address1 TEXT not null , ADD address2 TEXT not null , ADD city TEXT not null; This is because "TEXT" is a set length.
[The thing to remember is that any syntax that will not work on the command line will not work in phpMyAdmin either.] A good place to find out correct syntax for a command that you want to perform is:
http://www.mysql.com/doc.html

Q: How can I create a mysql database?
A: Go to http://yourdomain/cpanel -> SQL Database, add a new database and don't forgot add a user into the database.

Q: Do you have any additional help files for beginners for mysql database management?
A: Additional information that will help You manage MySQL is located here:
MySQL Technical Help Forum http://www.tek-tips.com/gthreadminder.cfm/lev2/4/lev3/27/pid/436/

MIME TYPES

Q: What are mime types?
A: This feature is not available for FrontPage users. If any Mime types are needed, FP users will have to be added using FrontPage.
The MIME Types option in your Control Panel allows you to set certain programs to be used for specific extensions.
In easier-to-understand terms, MIME Types help your web server to identify what type of file is being requested by your browsers.
For instance, when the web server gets a request from a browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape, for a file that ends in .html, the web server knows that it is an html document because that extension is stored in the Mime Type.
If the web server gets a request from a browser for a file that ends in .gif, the web server knows that it is an image because that too is stored in the Mime Types. This applies to every file, image, application, etc. that may be requested by a web browser.
If the extension is not stored within the Mime Type, the web server will not recognize it and will not be able to assist the browser and that particular file type will not be viewable by the user.

Mime types are identified by the server by the following format:

subtype/type extension

For example, adding the following two Mime Types will allow users to view ipx images on your web pages:

application/x-ipscript .ips

application/x-ipix .ipx

application identifies the subtype, x-ipscript identifies the application, and .ips identifies the extension used for that application.

For more information on Mime Types you can visit: http://www.qnx.com/~chrish/Be/info/mime-types.html

CRON TABS

Q: Why won't my cron job run?
A: Check your command expression, use the full path to command.

Q: How do I set up a cron job?
A: Go to http://yourdomain/cpanel -> Cron Jobs

BACKUPS

Q: How can I create a backup?
A: This option in Your control panel allows you to compress your directories and/or files located in Your account. This is an excellent way to backup Your own files. It will serve as double protection should anything ever go wrong with our backups.
We cannot guarantee the quality of our backups as these are geared more toward restoring an entire server. We HIGHLY recommend that You make it common practice to backup Your own web pages. In the event that we are unable to recover Your pages, You will be able to restore Your own pages. In control panel go to "Access Menu" then "backup" save the backup file to Your hard drive for safe keeping.

If You ever need to restore the "Backups" from your harddisk file, just return to this part of Your Control Panel and select "Restore Backups".

DOMAINS

Q: How do I transfer my domain to your servers?
A: In order to transfer your domain to our servers you need to have the primary and secondary name servers point to ours. Your account activation email will contain the Nameserver information for the servers your account is on.

Primary Name Server: ns1.melwestmarket.com

Secondary Name Server: ns2.melwestmarket.com

Once submitted, it will take 24-48 hours for the DNS record to update in the registry database. This is the standard time. We cannot make the change as we arent listed as a Tech or Admin contact for the Domain record.

MAILING LISTS

Q: How do I set up a new mailing list?
(1) Go to your Control Panel
(2) Click on the Mailing Lists
(3) Create a list in Mailing List Maintenance by clicking on "Add List".
(4) Add the name and the password of the list .
(5) Click Create.

Your list is now created.

Q: How do I administer the list?
A: The Mailing List Manager (Xcommand), available from the Mail Manager (domainname.com/menu), allows the administrator of the list to:

Show List of Subscribers
Show List Log
Wipe List Log
Search list of subscribers for a near match
Directly subscribe/unsubscribe a user

You can get to the Mailing List Manager by selecting the list from under 'Edit List' in the Mail Manager, then selecting 'Mailing List Manager'. You will need to know the Maintainer email and password to administer the list. The results of the commands will be sent to the list maintainer's email address.

SSH

Q: Why is SSH better?
A: As the internet grows it is more frequently the subject of security breaches. The easiest way to hack a web site is to setup a sniff program, usually at an ISP and grab the username and password where a user is logging into. This is very easily done when a client uses telnet because telnet passes all information to the server in clear text.

.HTACCESS

Q: What is .htaccess?
A: Important Note: Do not edit the .htaccess file if you are using MS Frontpage! Frontpage uses the .htaccess file, and editing it may cause errors in your configuration.
The .htaccess file can be placed in one or more of your /home/$user/$domain-www subdirectories. Among other things, this file can be used to restrict access to other files and web pages.
When a request for a web page is made, the web server first checks for an .htaccess file. The server begins this check by looking for .htaccess in the root of the current web directory, and on down the directory tree until it reaches the directory where the requested file resides. Since the placement of the .htaccess file determines when it is executed, this fact can be used to restrict access only in certain subdirectories.

Q: .htaccess and FrontPage
A: If you're running FrontPage, you cannot custom-edit the .htaccess file. You'll either create a security hole or break FrontPage. There are no other options. This includes ANY .htaccess file in your domain, including one in the cgi-bin. [Having said this, please note that a .htaccess file may be used in any directory within the webspace that is not owned by the user; for example, a directory owned by root]