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);
- 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). 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 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
- In your hosting's card, click Get my password.
- Confirm.
- 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).
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.cloudandns2.web1.simafri.cloud(see Domain name and DNS).
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). 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".
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). They can then request a panel password too, which replaces the previous one.