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Is there a safe way to allow an outsourcer access to cpanel?

by Ashley Gable
9 replies
I am having trouble with my wordpress blogs not sending out emails. Some of the blogs will some wont. I have tried my host but I cant seem to get them to understand that cpanel IS sending emails, my squirrel mail gets sent, it just some of my wordpress blogs arent.

So I am wanting to just hire someone to go in and sort it out for me, i dont have the time to deal with it anymore.

Is there a way to allow access to cpanel (in case they need it) and not compromise its safety?

And I was going to post the job on vworker.com (previously rentacoder.com) and see what offers I got, unless any of you got a better suggestion on where to go?

Thanks
#access #cpanel #outsourcer #safe
  • Profile picture of the author jasonthewebmaster
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Ashley Gable View Post

    I am having trouble with my wordpress blogs not sending out emails. Some of the blogs will some wont. I have tried my host but I cant seem to get them to understand that cpanel IS sending emails, my squirrel mail gets sent, it just some of my wordpress blogs arent.

    So I am wanting to just hire someone to go in and sort it out for me, i dont have the time to deal with it anymore.

    Is there a way to allow access to cpanel (in case they need it) and not compromise its safety?

    And I was going to post the job on vworker.com (previously rentacoder.com) and see what offers I got, unless any of you got a better suggestion on where to go?

    Thanks
    What connection details are you using to connect wordpress to your cpanel mail? Try to post everything here (except the password) and I will tell you if it's correct.

    I would not recommend giving anyone access to your cpanel. You can however give them the error log files found under "logs" section that may contain more info about the email logs.

    Also, If wordpress is the problem then you should not have to give anyone access to your cpanel. They can access all they need in WP through FTP.

    Another thing I have noticed about cpanel is that squirrel mail is very unreliable - not sure if this is related, but thought I would mention it.

    Lastly, before you go offering to pay for something u may be able to fix yourself, try the cpanel forums for anyone with similar problem, also WP forums. (not sure if you have already but just in case..)
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    • Profile picture of the author ntemple
      No, there is no "safe" way to give access to Cpanel. Once someone has cpanel access, they have complete access to your site.

      Once you do give someone access (if they need it, they may not), you can and probably should change both your cpanel and database passwords, unless you're entering into a long-term webmaster arrangement.

      That said, I've used oDesk.com and have found very, very good people there.

      Also ... what hosting provider are you using? Email normally "just works" with WordPress.

      Initial thoughts are that maybe you are running over your sending limits.

      Are you using any special plugins that may alter the way email is sent?
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      • Profile picture of the author Ashley Gable
        Originally Posted by jasonthewebmaster View Post

        What connection details are you using to connect wordpress to your cpanel mail? Try to post everything here (except the password) and I will tell you if it's correct.

        I would not recommend giving anyone access to your cpanel. You can however give them the error log files found under "logs" section that may contain more info about the email logs.

        Also, If wordpress is the problem then you should not have to give anyone access to your cpanel. They can access all they need in WP through FTP.

        Another thing I have noticed about cpanel is that squirrel mail is very unreliable - not sure if this is related, but thought I would mention it.

        Lastly, before you go offering to pay for something u may be able to fix yourself, try the cpanel forums for anyone with similar problem, also WP forums. (not sure if you have already but just in case..)
        Hi thanks for the reply. I am not sure what you mean by connection details, if you could let me know what you mean exactly I will get on it.

        On my old host everything worked perfectly. I didnt have to set anything up, as ntemple said below, it just "worked".

        I tried using a plugin called WP SMPT (or something like that) and I couldnt get it to work.

        As I said, I dont think it is the hosting, as I get some emails from some of my sites. And if it were the hosting you think it would include all my domains.

        One other thing I should add though is that I have a "reseller account" using WHM. I have never used it before, but they told me that they could still answer all my support questions (and they have). Could that have anything to do with it? Do I need to set something up in WHM maybe?
        I have been using this host for a few months now, and apart from some slow load times everything has been great except for this.

        Basically the main issue, and why I need it fixed, is because I put a contact form on my moms greeting card business site (wordpress) and it isnt working. Also I have a membership site that isnt able to send out password resets or signup info.

        Thank you both though for informing me about not letting anyone in cpanel, I was on the verge of just doing it as I was so frustrated!

        Thanks for the help!

        Originally Posted by ntemple View Post

        No, there is no "safe" way to give access to Cpanel. Once someone has cpanel access, they have complete access to your site.

        Once you do give someone access (if they need it, they may not), you can and probably should change both your cpanel and database passwords, unless you're entering into a long-term webmaster arrangement.

        That said, I've used oDesk.com and have found very, very good people there.

        Also ... what hosting provider are you using? Email normally "just works" with WordPress.

        Initial thoughts are that maybe you are running over your sending limits.

        Are you using any special plugins that may alter the way email is sent?
        I am using an offshore host, due to the fact that I was brought up with privacy as a high value. None of my sites deal with anything even remotely illegal, in fact my mums site, the one mentioned above is talkingdogcards.com - a greeting card site.

        I dont think I am going over my limits because all the emails are only coming from a few sites, and I would of thought that a few emails from each would come. As no priority was given to certain sites.

        But I am going to ask my host anyways and see what they say.

        Thanks
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        • Profile picture of the author jasonthewebmaster
          Banned
          Originally Posted by Ashley Gable View Post

          Hi thanks for the reply. I am not sure what you mean by connection details, if you could let me know what you mean exactly I will get on it.

          On my old host everything worked perfectly. I didnt have to set anything up, as ntemple said below, it just "worked".

          I tried using a plugin called WP SMPT (or something like that) and I couldnt get it to work.

          As I said, I dont think it is the hosting, as I get some emails from some of my sites. And if it were the hosting you think it would include all my domains.

          One other thing I should add though is that I have a "reseller account" using WHM. I have never used it before, but they told me that they could still answer all my support questions (and they have). Could that have anything to do with it? Do I need to set something up in WHM maybe?
          I have been using this host for a few months now, and apart from some slow load times everything has been great except for this.

          Basically the main issue, and why I need it fixed, is because I put a contact form on my moms greeting card business site (wordpress) and it isnt working. Also I have a membership site that isnt able to send out password resets or signup info.

          Thank you both though for informing me about not letting anyone in cpanel, I was on the verge of just doing it as I was so frustrated!

          Thanks for the help!



          I am using an offshore host, due to the fact that I was brought up with privacy as a high value. None of my sites deal with anything even remotely illegal, in fact my mums site, the one mentioned above is talkingdogcards.com - a greeting card site.

          I dont think I am going over my limits because all the emails are only coming from a few sites, and I would of thought that a few emails from each would come. As no priority was given to certain sites.

          But I am going to ask my host anyways and see what they say.

          Thanks
          Hey,

          WP SMTP is a plugin that will use SMTP to send mail from your website. (as opposed to sending mail through PHP which just plain works automatically)

          You will need to configure the SMTP settings correctly in your plugin or it won't work. Also, some servers require SSL when using SMTP.

          Typically, the SMTP settings are like this:

          Host: mail.yourdomain.com
          Username: youremail@yourdomain.com
          Password: the password you chose for the email address you are using.
          Incoming port: 25
          Outgoing: 465

          To double check the correct settings, go into your cpanel and click "Email Account" to see the list of emails you have setup.

          To the right of the emails list you are able to click a button for more options. This will drop down a menu with a selection for "Configure Mail Client" - click there and it will show you the correct settings to configure.

          BTW,

          If you have WHM then you can give someone access to your cpanel and although they could totally destroy your website, you will be able to change the cpanel password from inside WHM so you wont lose total control.
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          • Profile picture of the author Ashley Gable
            Originally Posted by jasonthewebmaster View Post

            Hey,

            WP SMTP is a plugin that will use SMTP to send mail from your website. (as opposed to sending mail through PHP which just plain works automatically)

            You will need to configure the SMTP settings correctly in your plugin or it won't work. Also, some servers require SSL when using SMTP.

            Typically, the SMTP settings are like this:

            Host: mail.yourdomain.com
            Username: youremail@yourdomain.com
            Password: the password you chose for the email address you are using.
            Incoming port: 25
            Outgoing: 465

            To double check the correct settings, go into your cpanel and click "Email Account" to see the list of emails you have setup.

            To the right of the emails list you are able to click a button for more options. This will drop down a menu with a selection for "Configure Mail Client" - click there and it will show you the correct settings to configure.

            BTW,

            If you have WHM then you can give someone access to your cpanel and although they could totally destroy your website, you will be able to change the cpanel password from inside WHM so you wont lose total control.
            Great thank you so much. I just kind of winged it last time with WP SMTP, not really knowing what I was doing.

            My host is changing servers at the moment and I dont want to do anything incase the changes dont take effect.

            So I will try what you outlined in a couple of days.

            Thank you again, youve been a real help!
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          • Profile picture of the author ntemple
            Originally Posted by jasonthewebmaster View Post

            WP SMTP is a plugin that will use SMTP to send mail from your website. (as opposed to sending mail through PHP which just plain works automatically)
            I suspect jason is correct, here: you either need to fully configure SMTP config, or not use it (uninstall and delete it).

            Most hosting companies don't use SMTP directly for sending mail, you'd use the built in "mail" function in PHP, and the hosting company would handle the details of setting up PHP to appropriately send mail.

            Use WP SMTP or similar only when you want to skip your hosts email system and connect to service such as SendGrid (which is awesome, by the way).

            Good luck with your updates!
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  • Profile picture of the author adizam
    Do you have any email accounts on the same hosting setup? Have you tried having the contact form email its post data to that specific email address? Or are the email addresses being contacted all outside the domains on your account.

    Just wondering.
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  • Profile picture of the author garraye34
    I don't know if you've managed to resolve the issue or not. Anyway, if you've not, you need to be careful. I had similar problem in the past with someone i hired to build me a blog. What he did was he access my blog at will did some damage and i kept calling on him and he will charge me. On two or three occasions, my blog will just disappear. In the end i had to forget about this blog. I learnt my lesson never to let any one access my cp. If you can't send me set of instructions on what to do , i pay you after a satisfactory job, then forget it.
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  • Profile picture of the author SteveJohnson
    It's unfortunate that you're having such problems with email. Unfortunately, troubleshooting low-level email problems isn't easy as most of the necessary logs aren't accessible to anyone but server admins.

    You should start with your hosting company, they're in the best position to troubleshoot email issues.

    As far as your original question goes, no, there's no 'safe' way to allow access to your cpanel. You need to find someone you trust to work on your sites.

    If someone hires me to do this type of work (troubleshooting server issues or account-level issues) I have to have full access so I can do my job efficiently. If I'm not allowed the necessary access, I either charge extra or turn down the job.

    Having said that, though, the first requirement I make of my clients is that they verify I haven't added any users and that they change the cpanel password as soon as I'm through.

    BTW - I'm not soliciting your work, just giving some advice and background. I don't do email problems
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