Welcome to TinkerHost!
We are glad to have you. In this article, we list a few things that you can do to set up your account, and get started with your first web hosting account! Each step is optional, and you can skip around however you want.
1 - Before we get started
First, let’s learn a little bit about how TinkerHost works, don’t worry, this won’t take long!
Your client area account (The account that you probably just signed up for) is called your “main account” or “client area account”. This account is what you will use to login to TinkerHost, and use our various services.
Your hosting accounts (We will talk more about these in a bit) are called your “hosting accounts”. TinkerHost allows you to create up to three hosting accounts per person, and you can host as many websites and domains as you want on each one!
2 - Creating a hosting account
You probably signed up because you want to host a website, right? First, let’s create a hosting account. Login to your TinkerHost dashboard (app.tinkerhost.net) and locate “Accounts” in the sidebar. Use the button in the top right to create your first account!
On the create an account screen, you will be given the option to name your account. Feel free to name it whatever you want, you can always change the name later! After you submit the form, your new account will enter the “processing” state. It only takes a few minutes for our system to set up your new account, so go ahead our site and explore while you wait!
3 - Building your website
It’s time to build the website of your dreams! Even though TinkerHost is totally free, we provide you with multiple options for building your website. Below, we list a few ways, and how you can get started using them.
WordPress. One of the more popular options is to use WordPress. To install WordPress, open your accounts page in the client panel, and select “Control Panel”. Once the control panel loads (You may have to accept email notifications), scroll down to the “Softaculous” option and select it. When Softaculous opens, use the search bar to search for WordPress, then install it with just a few clicks! When using WordPress, please stay away from the following plugins. While you can use them, they are resource-intensive and may lead to a temporary suspension if you have a lot of visitors:
Jetpack - Many of the options in this plugin can be found in other, more efficient plugins
Elementor - Elementor is awesome, but it requires a lot of resources. Try using the default editor instead
Free sitebuilder. If you want a website that is quick to make, and fast to load, use our free sitebuilder! To get started, open the client area and look for the “Sitebuilder” option in the sidebar. Use the button at the top of the screen to create a new sitebuilder account and connect your domain. Once connected, click the “Open” button to start building!
Custom Code. Many of our users want to show off their skill, or use TinkerHost for their school’s classes. In such cases, you will make use of FTP in order to transfer your files to our server. You can access your FTP information in the client area after selecting your account from the “Accounts” screen. When uploading your files, make sure to upload your files to the /htdocs or the /<domainname.com>/htdocs folder.
Why do I just see a welcome page on my website?
You will see the welcome page if one or more of the following are true:
- You have not uploaded any files yet
- You have not uploaded an index.html or index.php file. The webpage that you wish to show you visitors when they open your website must be named “index.html” or “index.php”
- You did not upload your files to the htdocs folder
If you did upload an index file to the htdocs folder, see the next section.
I uploaded new files, but my website did not update!
When you visit a website, your browser will save (cache) a version of it in order to make it faster to load in the future. If you updated your website but the updates don’t show, you are probably seeing the cached version of the site. On Windows computers, you can use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+F5 to fetch a fresh version of the site. Otherwise, clear the cache of your browser following the linked guide below:
https://tinkertechlab.com/webhosting/security/how-to-clear-your-browsers-cache
Helpful Video Tutorials
