Frequently Asked Questions
What is Yakkel.com and why should I join?
Yakkel is a free web host and a community built for web developers of all skill levels. When we say free web hosting most people assume we're just like the rest - we would love to prove you wrong.
No annoying pop-ups, no pop-unders, no ads on your site, you get adequate space, plenty of bandwidth, and all the features of your favorite paid hosting provider - for free. You have the option to try our hosting services with zero risk using a subdomain, and when you're ready to move your domain over we'll be here to help. In fact, you can add as many domains as you like in your Control Panel!
Besides the free hosting, we'd also enjoy your participation sharing your knowledge within the community. We invite you publish your own tutorials, request tutorials on any topic you're having trouble with, and browse the site to learn about new ways to expand your knowledge on a variety of dev topics.
What is included with my hosting account?
Every member gets 500mb of storage space for as many domain names as you own, FTP access, and your own yakkel.com subdomain.
Unlimited features include: FTP accounts, E-mail addresses, subdomains, MySQL databases, and add-on domains!
Other features include: Daily account and database backups, webmail access, PHP & MySQL support, PhpMyAdmin access, our online file manager, website statistics, and more features added constantly!
Login to your FTP account and select the directory related to the domain you want to manage - upload your files, making sure you have an index.html or index.php file.
Yes, forever. Promise.
Your Account
If for some reason you want to cancel your account, you may do so from the `Account` page.
If there is anything we can do to make your visit with us more exciting or helpful, message support and let us know!
How do I limit the notifications I recieve from Yakkel?
You have the option to control all automated notifications sent from Yakkel on your `Account` page.
You can do so by managing your notifications.
Points = how awesome you are!
Really now! As our new point system matures you'll be able to use your points for a few things on the Yakkel site. The point system is still in beta testing.
Uploading your site via FTP
What settings do I use to connect to FTP?
Username/Password: your Yakkel username and password (not your email address, your username)
Hostname: yakkel.com
Port: 21
If you do not have a FTP program, you can use online FTP browsers such as http://www.net2ftp.com at your own risk.
Control Panel features
What domain extensions can I use?
We support .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, and .us domain names
How do I add a domain to my control panel?
You can add as many domains as you like! If you're not currently managing a domain, simply click the `Control Panel` link at the top of the Yakkel site, then click the `Add a new domain` button.
You'll be prompted to enter your domain name and select the proper extension.
Note: You cannot add a domain name until it has been registered by a domain registrar. Also, you cannot add a subdomain, or any other type of unsupported domain.
Can I host my friends' websites?
We'd all like to gain cool points by hosting our friends, but we ask that you just refer your friends to create an account on Yakkel so when questions arise, or they need support releated to your their site, they can make use of our support staff. We cannot disclose information related to your account to anyone but you, so if you're hosting someone it's up to you to support them.
I'm recieving a "Forbidden" error when I access my site, what does this mean?
This is most likely because you do not have a default file in the directory pertaining to your domain.
Please make sure you have a index.html, index.htm, index.php, home.html, home.php, or default.html file in your directory.
About our hosting (the free stuff)
Can I use my own domain name with Yakkel?
Yes! Absolutely, and as many as you like!
Any of the supported domain name extensions can be used with Yakkel (.com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, and .us)
How many domains can I add to my account?
You can add as many domains as you like to your control panel
Can I use FTP to upload my files?
Yes, of course. Login to FTP using your Yakkel username (not your email address) and password, port: 21, hostname: yakkel.com
Your profile
Can I make my profile private?
Currently you cannot make your profile private, please do not post any personal information you wish to keep private.
Your profile privacy
This just means they'll see more updates if you publish tutorials or post comments on the Yakkel site, they don't really know where you are ;)
How do I delete my profile picture?
Everyone has to have a profile picture, if you have a Gravatar associated with your account but don't want it to be displayed, just upload a blank image as your custom profile picture.
Using Markdown syntax
Markdown is a text-to-html markup syntax.
Markdown lets you turn your ordinary comments, posts, tutorial steps, and profile information into creative blocks of information. You can embed images, create custom links, style your text, create list, and much more using the Markdown syntax.
Where can I learn more about Markdown?
Read the Markdown documentation
Publishing your own dev tutorials
How do I publish my own tutorial?
Anyone can publish a tutorial on any subject related to programming on more than 20 programming languages. You create step by step tutorials, 15 steps max, by visting the tutorial publisher.
Why can't I delete a tutorial I created?
After a tutorial reaches 5000 views, you can no longer edit it, or delete it. If you insist on having your content removed, contact support and we will manually remove it.
How can I block tutorials that seem to easy for me?
Throughout the site you have the option to modify your skill level. When tutorials are created, the publisher is asked to select a relative skill level to the average user, sometimes this is skewed. We regularly update the category and skill level of newly published tutorials if we feel it has been mis-categorized.
Setting up your databases
How many databases can I create on Yakkel?
As many as you like! Database storage is calculated with your 500mb quota limit.
Easy - simply click the "Databases" option while managing a domain on your control console, and click the "Create a new database".
You must also create a MySQL user that you want to have privileges to this newly created database.
You create a MySQL user the same way you create a database - but use the "MySQL Users" option while managing a domian.
Make sure you're logging into PMA with the username/password combination of any MySQL user you have created. You cannot login to PhpMyAdmin with your Yakkel username and password.
Profile comments
How do I delete a comment on my profile?
While viewing your profile, click the red × next to the comment you intend to delete. You will be prompted for confirmation before your comment is deleted.
A user is spamming me via comments, can I block them?
We take spam VERY serious, if you are receiving spam comments on your profile, please contact support immediately, they will be supsended.
Can I post a comment on my own profile?
Sure! Some users find this as an interesting way to write themselves notes!
Editing my tutorials
How do I edit a tutorial I published?
You can edit any tutorial that you have published while the tutorial has <5000 views.
I've accidentally deleted a step to my tutorial, can I get it back?
No, once you delete a step to a tutorial it is gone forever. You are prompted for confirmation to delete any step on any tutorial you publish.
Can I rearrange steps in a tutorial I'm working on?
Currently you cannot move steps around, this feature will be available shortly.
Yakkel Webmail
Visit our hosted Roundcube Webmail at http://www.yakkel.com/webmail
Login using your full email address (user@yourdomain.com) and password that you have created for your domain name within your control console.
Is Roundcube my only webmail option?
Yes, we're currently only supporting Roundcube webmail. We're working to add some other familiar webmail platforms in the future.
Can I use POP3/IMAP programs to access my email such as Outlook, Thunderbird, etc?
Currently, no - you can only use our webmail platform to send/receive mail from your domains hosted with Yakkel
Deleting your tutorials
Can I delete a tutorial that I publshed?
As long as your tuturial has <5000 views, you can delete your tutorial from within the tutorial publisher.
Account backups
I've messed up my site, can I get my files restored to a previous state?
Absolutely, although this is a service we charge for. File backups are preformed only on days when you modify your files. File backups are stored for a period of 15 days max. All the databases within your account are backed up daily, and stored for a maximum of 7 days.
Want to order a backup? Start by messaging support.
Private messaging
Can anyone see my private messages?
All messages sent using the messaging system are private and are only viewable by the original author and recipient.
I delete a message, but it comes back?
Messages are grouped by "threads". If you delete a thread (group of messages), and the other party replies to this thread, the conversation will automatically be restored.
Other
It says I need to update my nameservers, how do I do this?
You'll need to login to the control panel associated with the company that actually registered your domain name to do this. Usually there is an option worded along the lines of "DNS settings", "Domain host", "Nameserver options", etc.
Make sure to update your nameservers to: ns1.yakkel.com & ns2.yakkel.com
Where should I register my domain name?
We highly recommend Omnis Networks. Doesn't get much better than $8.
For the quickest response, please message support. Using the messaging system allows us to diagnose your problem quicker and in a secure manner since we can access your account information.
How can I request a new tutorial category
Simply send a request to Support with your proposed category and most likely we'll create it for you!
Help topics
Support via messenger
yakkel
yakkel
yakkel@live.com
yakkelsupport@gmail.com