The Parallels Panel, aka Plesk, is the heart of your server. It manages your web, email, dns, ftp, and database server configurations.
To log into the panel, double click the shortcut on the server’s desktop which opens a browser with the address https://localhost:8443. You can also log into Plesk via your PC’s browser by substituting localhost with your server’s IP address. Type in admin and the password listed in your welcome email to login.
To create a new website, first ask yourself if you will want to place restrictions on this website. If so, you may want to create a new or modify an existing service plan. In the left navigation window click on Service Plans. To modify an existing plan, click on it. Make the necessary changes. Click on the Hosting Parameters tab and choose the scripting languages needed by sites that will use this plan. Then click Update & Sync.
Next, ask yourself who will manage this domain? If you design websites for customers, and will have them manage their own sites, start by creating a customer or reseller.
Click on Customers to view the accounts on the server, and then click on Add New Customer.
Fill in the required information then click on OK.
Once the customer account has been created, select it. Click on Subscriptions to create a domain. If you don’t need customer accounts, start by choosing Subscriptions in the left navigation window.
Click on Add New Subscription.
Type the website’s name. Supply a Primary FTP account login name and password. Choose the desired service plan. Then click OK.
The panel creates the website and application pool in IIS, creates the file structure for the website, and adds the FTP and other necessary users to the server. It gives those users the correct permissions, creates the site’s DNS records, and updates the email server with the new domain’s information.
To verify or change the scripting languages, click on the subscription. Then choose Websites & Domains. Expand Show Advanced Operations. Click on Website Scripting and Security.
It is vital to remember that if a task can be performed in Plesk, it must be performed in it. For example, you could create email accounts using SmarterMail’s interface. However, when the Panel performs it’s nightly checks the email accounts wouldn’t agree with its knowledge of the system so it would remove them. Because email accounts can be created in the Panel, they should be created in it. Up next, manage your domain using the Panel.