# Getting started

Five steps take you from your order to a site online. Your hosting opens by itself, within a minute of your payment.

## 1. Order your plan

Write to our team, at <support@simafri.com> or from the **Support** section of your client area, stating:

* the plan you have chosen, **Perso**, **Pro** or **Premium** (see the [overview](/en/hebergement-web.md));
* the **domain name of your site**, for example `your-company.com`;
* whether you already own this domain name, or whether it needs to be registered.

Our team sends you the proforma, which you find in the **Billing** section of your client area and pay online (see [Invoices and payments](https://docs.simafri.com/en/espace-client/facturation/)). With a plan paid yearly, the domain name offered free for the first year appears on the same proforma.

:::tip Your site is already online elsewhere Mention it when you order: our team transfers your files, your databases and your email addresses to your new hosting, then tells you when to switch your domain over. :::

## 2. Receive your hosting

Your hosting appears in the **Web hosting** section of [my.simafri.com](https://my.simafri.com/) as soon as you order, with the status **Being prepared**. Within a minute of your payment, it moves to **Active**, and an email tells you that your hosting is ready, with the address of your panel and your login.

Your hosting's card then shows:

| Information          | What it shows                                                       |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Control panel**    | the address of your panel, for example <https://web1.simafri.cloud> |
| **Login**            | your account login, taken from your domain name                     |
| **In service since** | the date the hosting went into service                              |

## 3. Get your password

1. In your hosting's card, click **Get my password**.
2. Confirm.
3. Note the password shown: it is shown only once, and it works on your panel within a minute.

The account owner and managers have access to this. Your password is handed to you in your space, to you alone, and stays out of email. The same button, now **New password**, gives you another one at any time.

## 4. Sign in to your panel

Open the **Control panel** address from your card, then enter your **login** and your password. Your DirectAdmin panel opens on your account: your domains, your files, your databases, your email addresses (see [The control panel](/en/hebergement-web/panneau.md)).

## 5. Connect your domain and publish your site

Your site and your mail answer at your domain name as soon as it uses the name servers of your server.

* **Your domain is managed by Simafri**, including the domain offered with your plan: our team connects it to your hosting; write to support if a setting remains to be made.
* **Your domain is registered elsewhere**: at your registrar, replace its name servers with those of your server, for example `ns1.web1.simafri.cloud` and `ns2.web1.simafri.cloud` (see [Domain name and DNS](/en/hebergement-web/domaine-et-dns.md)).

Then place your files in your domain's `public_html` folder, from the panel's file manager, over FTP or over SSH (see [Putting your site online](/en/hebergement-web/mettre-en-ligne.md)). For WordPress or another application, write to support: our team installs it for you.

## Frequently asked questions

### The panel does not open at the address I noted.

Use the address shown in your card, for example <https://web1.simafri.cloud>, with no port number at the end.

### My hosting stays at "Being prepared".[​](#my-hosting-stays-at-being-prepared "Direct link to My hosting stays at \"Being prepared\".")

It moves to **Active** within a minute of your payment being recorded. For a bank transfer or a mobile payment, reply to your proforma email with your payment reference: our team matches it to your order.

### Can someone on my team manage the hosting?

Yes: give them the manager role in your client area (see [Members and roles](https://docs.simafri.com/en/espace-client/membres-et-roles/)). They can then request a panel password too, which replaces the previous one.