Creating a Domain

A domain is a virtual address on the Internet for any organization or entity. Technically, a domain is defined as a group of networked computers (servers) that represent an organization and provide network services; however, several domains could reside on one server, in dedicated space provided by a Web hosting service. To the Internet user, a domain appears as space on one server, regardless of its implementation.

Domains are identified by their familiar Internet URL (uniform resource locator) addresses. Syntactically, a domain name is a string of names or words separated by periods. For example, www.sw-soft.com is the name of the domain where SWsoft's information resides on its servers. A domain must belong to one client. For example, John Doe may be a programmer whose domain is aceprogrammer.com; the ABCDE, Inc. company may own a domain by the name of abcde.com. All domains are assigned to clients.

NOTE

You must officially register a domain and Internet address before you create it in Plesk. You can do this using the Register option available within Plesk or through any of the Internet registration services.

To create a new domain, follow these steps:

Select the Domains shortcut in the navigation pane. The list of domains will open:

Each domain name is accompanied by the following icons:

Table 5.1.

Icon	Meaning
The state icon indicates the system state of the domain:
	means that the domain is operating within defined disk space and traffic parameters
	means that the client has exceeded allocated disk space or traffic limitations at this particular domain. The Plesk system evaluates disk space and traffic every 24 hours
The status icon indicates if the client or system administrator has activated/deactivated this domain:
	means that the domain is activated
	means that this domain is presently deactivated and inaccessible
The hosting type icon indicates the type of hosting set-up for the domain:
	indicates Physical Hosting
	indicates Standard Forwarding
	indicates Frame Forwarding
	indicates that no hosting was configured for the domain
Additional:
	used for accessing the domain URL in browser

Click Add New Domain. The client selection page will open:
Using a radio button, select the client, you wish to create the domain for, and click OK. The domain creation page will open:

NOTE
You can also access the domain creation page directly from the Home page of a certain client.
In the Domain name field - enter a valid domain name (e.g. mycompany.com) that is unique to the system. If you enter a domain name that already exists, Plesk will ask you to change it. The Domain Name field also has a prompt for the WWW tag. The WWW checkbox, when checked, indicates that the WWW prefix can be used when addressing the domain as well as the domain name by itself. If the box is unchecked, then the domain can only be referenced by its name without the WWW prefix.
Select a template to be applied from the drop-down list, if you wish this domain to be created by a template.
Select the IP address to be used for hosting from the drop-down list.
Check (or leave checked) the Proceed to hosting setup checkbox if you wish to set up hosting for the domain after it is created.
NOTE
If you are creating a domain by a template that allows physical hosting creation, you will proceed to the Physical Hosting Setup page for this domain. Otherwise, you will be taken to the Hosting Type Selection page.
When you are satisfied that the information is complete and correct, click OK.

IMPORTANT

If you have chosen to set up hosting for the domain after it is created (leaving the Proceed to hosting setup checkbox selected), you will be taken to the hosting setup wizard. Please, refer to the following section of this manual to learn how to set up hosting for the domain.
If you decided to set up hosting later and deselected the Proceed to hosting setup checkbox, you will be taken to the Domain Administration page, which provides you with domain management functions.