Can I create bogus pimaray domain?

[Prezadent]

Can I create a bogus primary domain and have all my domains as addons?

I hate having addon domain folders in the primary domain structure.

[slapshotw]

You could, but it doesn't seem like the greatest idea. Why not just spend the $7/year to register some domain like "prezadentdomains.com" and use that?

[Prezadent]

I mean if I register as primary domain name html.com then added all my real domains as addons, They would all be like...

html.com\domain1
html.com\domain2
html.com\domain3
html.com\domain4

instead of

domain1\
domain1\domain2
domain1\domain3
domain1\domain4

which really stinks IMHO

[slapshotw]

So you want it the second way? Why not make domain1 your primary then?

[Prezadent]

No, I don't want my domains mixed in with a bunch of files in my primary domain. That is what I am trying to avoid. Isn't that obvious???

[quietFinn]

Originally Posted by Prezadent

I mean if I register as primary domain name html.com then added all my real domains as addons, They would all be like...

html.com\domain1
html.com\domain2
html.com\domain3
html.com\domain4

instead of

domain1\
domain1\domain2
domain1\domain3
domain1\domain4

which really stinks IMHO

No.
Your primany domain resides in the public_html folder, and all the ad-don domains in subfolders of that folder:

public_html\ << primary domain
public_html\addon1
public_html\addon2

[Prezadent]

Come on guys. Please be consistent. I'm more confused now then when I first posted.

Is quietFinn correct or not? That really answered my question but Serra's reply doesn't really make sense if quietFinn is correct.

[GatorWesley]

They are both right. What you want to do is not possible in cpanel. quietFinn was just explaining how it actually works.

All addon domains will be stored in the public_html folder of the shared account. That will not be seen by the end user, only you will see it.

Serra was explaining that if you want all of your own sites to have separate cpanels, you will need a reseller account.

[Prezadent]

Also, what does my primary folder get named to? The host I have now calls it www

[Prezadent]

Freaking heck. I'll draw a picture.

[othellobloke]

Your primary folder is 'public_html'... with HG there's also a 'www' folder which is just a shortcut to 'public_html'.

[Prezadent]

This is what I want.
http://www.happymule.com/var/choicegood.jpg

This is what I don't want. I don't want index.html for the primary in the same directory as folders for addons. If this is the case, I want to use a bogus domain name during signup as primary and setup powermad.com as an addon. That will keep the primarys files from being in the same folder as the addon domains and cause my structure to look like the pic above.
http://www.happymule.com/var/choicebad.jpg

[rota919]

Originally Posted by Prezadent

Freaking heck. I'll draw a picture.

It's not so hard to understand if you just take the time to read what the people are saying.

If you do not want to "mix the domains" go for a reseller package.
You will need to...
1. Define different packages in Web Host Manager
2. Assign a package to each of your domains.
3. Each domain will reside in it's own public_html folder and will not be visible to the rest.

If you do not want a seperate Cpanel for each domain you need to do the following:
1. Buy yourself a shared package.
2. Choose a domain, any domain and make that your primary domain.
That will reside in the public_html directory with the www directory pointing to public_html as a shortcut.
3. Define the rest of the domains as "addon Domains". They will reside in folders within your pimary domain's public_html folder.

That is the way Cpanel works and you can't change it even if you wanted to.

An add-on domain is a domain that points to a folder within a website, but is not merely a redirect to it, as is a parked domain. For example, supposing a website's URL was www.maindomain.com, you could set up an add-on domain such as www.addondomain.com to point to www.maindomain.com/subdirectory/. Users visiting www.addondomain.com/file.html would actually be seeing www.maindomain.com/subdirectory/file.html, even though 'www.addondomain.com/file.html' would appear as the address in their browser.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addon_domain

[gtgeorge]

Originally Posted by Prezadent

This is what I want.
http://www.happymule.com/var/choicegood.jpg

This is what I don't want. I don't want index.html for the primary in the same directory as folders for addons. If this is the case, I want to use a bogus domain name during signup as primary and setup powermad.com as an addon. That will keep the primarys files from being in the same folder as the addon domains and cause my structure to look like the pic above.
http://www.happymule.com/var/choicebad.jpg

I think you could possibly do what you are asking by redirected the primary domain with a .htaccess redirect to a folder you name as such. Then you should have all your domains in separate folders. Not sure if that would work as I have never done it.

[rota919]

Originally Posted by gtgeorge

I think you could possibly do what you are asking by redirected the primary domain with...

Was just thinking about the same thing of using a redirect.
Never tried it...

[slapshotw]

Originally Posted by Prezadent

This is what I want.

That would happen with my plan of registering some domain to use instead of a bogus domain. My point was that I think it would be unwise to use a domain that's actually bogus and doesn't exist, because cPanel will get confused. Buy a domain like "prezdomains.com" and use it as your primary. No content needs to be hosted on it. Then, make addon domains for it for all your real domains and the tree will look exactly as you've drawn it.

[Prezadent]

Well I registered my primary domain as bogus.com

So far no problems except I have to use an IP address to ftp instead of ftp.bogus.com

[slapshotw]

cPanel is a finicky piece of software. Pay the $7, get some random domain, and use that. You will regret using a fake domain when two things happen:

1. cPanel glitches out on you
2. You have to reexplain what you did to HG staff every time you submit a ticket, because the first thing they will do is tell you that your domain isn't setup correctly.

[gwyneth]

Originally Posted by slapshotw

cPanel is a finicky piece of software. Pay the $7, get some random domain, and use that. You will regret using a fake domain when two things happen:

1. cPanel glitches out on you
2. You have to reexplain what you did to HG staff every time you submit a ticket, because the first thing they will do is tell you that your domain isn't setup correctly.

Matt, that sounds like a boring bad dream. It made me shiver.

There are probably dozens of non-obvious hooks in cPanel that somehow need a real domain to successfully 'pretend' your little slice of the server is an independent entity.

Just imagining the support scenario in your second point is enough to get a headache. Then imagine going through all of it again. And then, after you maybe have explained it to one person, having to deal with someone else the next time and starting the explanation from scratch.

For some reason it makes me think of trying to tell a cable company that you don't actually have a tv, but have service anyway, and there's a problem with it.

[tribe]

The setup Dreamhost has is what I think you're looking for. When I had my Dreamhost account (incidentally where I JUST switched from because the service was sub par at best), you had your account (which wasn't a domain name at all, just your account name and how you logged onto to Dreamhost's version of CPanel).

Once you're logged into your "account", you then add on domain names. When you FTP into each of your domain names to view your files, all you see are the files associated with that domain names, nothing else.

I too am not a fan of having a main domain name and your add-on domain names as "sub-domains", BUT trust me, you do NOT want to have to deal with Dreamhost even though it may be more organized as far as domain names go.

But back to CPanel, it WOULD be nice if you could "install" your add-on domains to subdirectories of your main domain name. I've already tried.

Like instead of your add-on domains looking like this:

www.my1stdomain.com/my2nddomain/
www.my1stdomain.com/my3rddomain/
www.my1stdomain.com/my4thdomain/

I'd be nice to having something like this:

www.my1stdomain.com/websites/my2nddomain/
www.my1stdomain.com/websites/my3rddomain/
www.my1stdomain.com/websites/my4thdomain/

But ultimately, it's a very small price to pay, because you do NOT want to be on Dreamhost.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by tribe

because you do NOT want to be on Dreamhost.

Yup, they dont even have UPS systems in their datacenter

[raidensnake]

using an IP to access your cpanel is a massive security risk as it's prone to get you hacked very easily. I have 4 domains with my primary as raidensnakesden.net

My List:

raidensnakesden.net/raidensnakesden.co.uk
raidensnakesden.net/raidensnakesden.com
raidensnakesden.net/ameteurvoicetalent.com

what you don't seem to get is the addon domains rely on the nameservers of the primary domain. If you put a dud one as your primary it's gonna knock all of them out as it will have a DNS error.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by raidensnake

what you don't seem to get is the addon domains rely on the nameservers of the primary domain. If you put a dud one as your primary it's gonna knock all of them out as it will have a DNS error.

They dont, Addon domains rely on their own nameservers..

[GatorChrisD]

I have personally seen people do exactly what you are asking, and while I'm not certain of the security risks involved with using an IP instead of a domain, it is possible to use a primary domain that is not in use. This would allow your public_html folder to only contain the folders for your add on domains as displayed by Prezadent in post #13. The name servers are separate for each domain, so if the primary domain isn't pointed or propagated it will not affect the DNS for the add on domains.

[alkaline]

I understand what you mean and totally agree with you and that exactly how I want my domains/setup. I'm very happy with it at DreamHost (1.5 years now). I have several sites and use 3 hosting companies. Signed up with Dreamhost 3 - 4 days ago. Still struggeling with a few isses, hope to have them resolved soon. HostGator has some good reputation out there.