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Web hosting tutorials with every setting on one page

These web hosting tutorials walk you through the two jobs most people do first with a new Primcast hosting account: email setup in a mail app and FTP setup for your website files. The exact ports, the log-in format and the place each value sits in your dashboard are right below, so you can copy them instead of guessing.

Get your settings Open the tutorials
01

FTP and email settings for your hosting account

FileZilla, Outlook, Apple Mail and your phone all ask for the same few values. Here they are. Your own server name replaces the example in each line.

Server name
One name for FTP, mail, webmail and phpMyAdmin. It looks like this, with your own server at the front:ny1.hosting.primcast.com
FTP
FTPS with explicit TLS on port 21. Plain, unencrypted FTP is turned away, so pick the TLS option in your FTP app.FTPS (explicit TLS) · port 21
FTP user name
The name you chose plus your main domain, written in full.name@yourdomain.com
Incoming mail
IMAP keeps mail in sync on every device. POP3 downloads it to one computer.IMAP 993 SSL/TLS · POP3 995 SSL/TLS
Outgoing mail
SMTP with sign-in turned on, using the same user name and password as incoming mail.SMTP 465 SSL/TLS · 587 STARTTLS
Mail user name
Your full email address, never just the part before the @.
Webmail
Read and send mail in the browser, no app needed.https://ny1.hosting.primcast.com/webmail/
Nameservers
Set these where you registered your domain, and we publish your site's address and mail records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and look after its certificate.ns1.hosting.primcast.com · ns2.hosting.primcast.com
02

Step-by-step email setup and FTP setup

Each tutorial follows the app's own menus from the first click to a working connection. Open the one for the job in front of you.

  • 01Email setup

    Outlook POP3 tutorial

    Add your Primcast mailbox to the new Outlook for Windows, classic Outlook or Outlook for Mac. It covers POP3 against IMAP, the ports and security for incoming and outgoing mail, and what to do when Outlook keeps asking for your password.

  • 02FTP setup

    FTP upload tutorial with FileZilla

    Connect FileZilla to your hosting account, find your website folder on the right-hand side and drag files across from your computer. Good for big uploads, or when a developer works on your site.

03

Do it in your dashboard

Everything an app connects to is set up in the Web Hosting tab first. These are its sections. The four with a tick are the ones you need most often.

  • Overview
  • Sites
  • DNS
  • Files
  • Mail
  • Databases
  • FTP
  • PHP
  • Cron
  • Apps
  • Backups
  • Logs
  • Activity

  1. Upload without FTP

    In Files, the file manager uploads many files at once, edits text files in place and unpacks .zip and .tar archives. You need no FTP account for it.

  2. Add an FTP account

    In FTP, choose Add FTP account, give it a name and a password of at least 10 characters, and decide whether it sees your whole home folder or one folder only.

  3. Add a mailbox

    In Mail, add a mailbox and choose its password. You can sign in to webmail straight away, or add the mailbox to a mail app with the settings above.

  4. Point your domain

    Copy the two nameservers from Overview and set them where you registered the domain. Sites shows each domain's DNS status. Keeping DNS with another provider works too: the site lists the records to create.

04

Questions about FTP, email and your hosting files

Still stuck? The chat on this page answers in seconds and can look at your hosting account while you talk. Ask for a person whenever you want one.

01What FTP settings do I use for my hosting account?

Host: your server name, such as ny1.hosting.primcast.com. Protocol: FTPS with explicit TLS. Port: 21. User name: the FTP name you created plus your main domain, for example name@yourdomain.com. Password: the one you set for that FTP account. All of it is under Connection details in the FTP tab of your dashboard.

02Why is my FTP connection refused or timing out?

Go through these in order. First, the encryption: our servers only accept FTP over TLS, so in FileZilla set Encryption to Require explicit FTP over TLS rather than plain FTP. Second, the user name must include @yourdomain.com. Third, keep the transfer mode on passive, which is FileZilla's default. Last, check that a firewall or office network is not blocking port 21. If it still fails, open the chat and we can check the account from our side.

03Where do I find my FTP user name and password?

You create them yourself. In the Web Hosting tab, open FTP, choose Add FTP account, then pick the name, the password and the folder it may use. A password is never shown again once it is saved, so if you lose it, set a new one on the same screen or ask us on chat to do it for you.

04Can I upload files without an FTP client?

Yes. The Files tab in your dashboard is a file manager that runs in the browser. You can upload several files at once, download, rename, edit text files and unpack .zip or .tar archives there, with no FTP account and no extra app.

05Which folder do my website files go in?

Your main domain serves its pages from public_html in your home folder. Each extra website you add in the Sites tab gets a folder of its own. Put your index file at the top of the right folder, not inside a subfolder you uploaded by mistake.

06Which FTP client should I use?

Any client that supports FTPS works. FileZilla is free on Windows, macOS and Linux and is the one our FTP tutorial uses. WinSCP on Windows and Cyberduck on Mac connect with the same settings.

07Should I set up my email as POP3 or IMAP?

Choose IMAP if you read mail on more than one device, because the mail stays on the server and every device shows the same folders. Choose POP3 if one computer is your only inbox and you want mail moved onto it. IMAP uses port 993 and POP3 uses port 995, both with SSL/TLS, and outgoing mail is SMTP on port 465. Our Outlook tutorial walks through both.

08How do I open webmail?

Go to your server name followed by /webmail/, for example https://ny1.hosting.primcast.com/webmail/, and sign in with the full email address and the mailbox password. The Mail tab in your dashboard also has a button that opens it.

Need a home for your website and email?

Every Primcast hosting plan gives you the tools these tutorials use: FTP accounts, mailboxes with webmail and the file manager. On top of that come MySQL databases, one-click WordPress, a free certificate for each site and a nightly backup. Compare the plans to see how much of each you get.

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