FatCow Web Hosting & Domain Names

What is the Drag and Drop Site Builder

The Drag and Drop Site Builder is a browser-based website building tool. Since this tool is included in your web hosting package, you can access it by logging in to your control panel, then clicking the "Drag and Drop Site Builder" icon under the "Website" section of your control panel.

Making changes to your site on the fly is easy with this tool. Use the ready-made building blocks to create your site quickly and easily! Just left-click any of the several template elements that are available, and while holding down the left mouse button, move the element from the menu on to your website. From there, you can configure the customizable template elements, edit any information or images that you want to appear on your website, then click the "Publish" button to post your website to the web!

For any questions you may have about using the Drag and Drop Site Builder to create a website, please consult our Drag and Drop Site Builder Knowledgebase. You can also access this resource directly at any time by opening the Drag and Drop Site Builder editing tool, then clicking the "Online Help" link that is located in the upper-right corner of the editor screen. 

The Settings Tab

At the top of the Drag and Drop Site Builder editor, there are four tabs - Elements, Design, Pages, and Settings. The first three tabs (Elements, Design, and Pages) are used to modify the contents of your website and change what both you and what visitors to your website will see on your web page. The fourth tab, Settings, is used to change minor details about how your website is seen in a web browser, as well as how your website interacts with search engines like Google or Bing.

There are four main sections in Settings tab: General Settings, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Ecommerce Settings, and Mobile Settings.

• General Settings
• Site Title - What you enter in this field will appear at the top of your published site as a title. If you wish to hide it so it does not appear on your published site, uncheck the box next to "Show site title on the top of your pages."
• Favicon (Premium feature) - Allows you to upload a site icon, which will appear in your address bar next to your website's url 
• Site Password (Premium feature) - Allows you to set a password to protect entry to your site. Only those who have the password will be able to view your site
  
• Footer Message - This field gives you the option to change the message that appears at the bottom of your website. By default, it will read "Hosted by FatCow." You can create your own footer message, or remove it entirely (by clicking the "x" icon below this field).
  
• Navigation - Here you can choose whether you wish to group extra site pages (those that do not appear on the navigation for your site) under a "More" tab
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Site Description - A field to enter a brief description of your site. This description will appear in search engine results right below your site title.
• Meta Keywords - Enter keywords, separated by commas, that describe your site. For example, if you have a website for a pet store, you can use "pet food, pet grooming, exotic birds for sale" to help improve the ranking of your website in search engine results when someone enters a search for a similar term to the ones you listed
• Footer Code - This is typically used with Google Analytics. If you sign up for Google Analytics, you will be given the code to place here
• Header Code - This is typically used with Google Webmaster Tools . If you are using Webmaster Tools, you will be given the code to place here
• Ecommerce Settings
• Merchant Account - Select the type of Merchant account you have - PayPal or Google Checkout - then complete the information pertaining to that account to complete the setup process
• Currency - Select the currency to be used for your site
• Mobile Settings
• Enable Mobile - Uncheck the box here if you do not want to show a version of your website optimized for viewers accessing your site using a mobile device. This box is checked by default, and it is recommended that you keep this box checked
• Theme Color - Sets the theme color for your website when being viewed in a browser on a mobile device. Left-click the box here to bring up a grid of colors, then left-click the color you wish to use to apply your selection. If you click this by mistake, just click OK in the bottom right corner to keep the current color that you've selected for your mobile theme

Find instructions for using the Drag and Drop Site Builder

For any questions you may have about using the Drag and Drop Site Builder to create a website, please consult our Drag and Drop Site Builder Knowledgebase. You can also access this resource directly at any time by opening the Drag and Drop Site Builder editing tool, then clicking the "Online Help" link that is located in the upper-right corner of the editor screen.

Get started building your site with the Drag and Drop site builder

If you are a beginner site designer, but would like to create a professional looking site, this product is for you. Here's how to get started building your website in a matter of minutes:

1. Log in to your control panel.
2. In the Website section of the control panel, left-click the Drag and Drop Builder icon. The Drag and Drop Builder start page will open.
   
3. On this page you can choose the domain to create a website for with the Drag and Drop Site Builder tool. Your primary domain is selected by default. If you choose to use a different domain to associate with the website your are building with this tool, select the different domain from the dropdown menu. Make sure to click the Change Domain button to save this change.
   
   You can also review more information here on enhancing your site-building experience with this tool by adding on the Premium or Ecommerce features.
   
   NOTE: You can only have ONE domain per account that uses your website built using the Drag and Drop Site Builder tool.
   
   
4. Once you are ready to create a website using this tool, click the Edit My Site button. The Drag and Drop Site Builder editing screen will open.
   
   
   NOTE: You can return to the Drag and Drop Builder start page at any time when in the Drag and Drop Site Builder editing tool by clicking the Site Info link in the upper-right corner
   
   
   

For more assistance with building your site, visit the Drag and Drop Site Builder Knowledgebase to see all available tutorials and articles for the Drag and Drop Site Builder

Configure site settings in the Drag and Drop Site Builder

When creating a website in the Drag and Drop Site Builder, there are a number of settings which control how your pages look, how they are accessed, and many other functions.

To get to the settings page:

1. From your control panel, select the Drag and Drop Site Builder
2. Click the Edit my Site button to launch the Drag and Drop Site Builder editing tool
   
3. At the top of editor page, there are tabs: Elements, Designs, Pages, and Settings. Select the Settings tab.
   
4. The Edit Site Settings screen will appear. Please consult the Settings tab knowledgebase article for more information on what is listed on this screen.

Downgrade your site from Premium to Basic Drag and Drop Site Builder

To downgrade your Drag and Drop Site Builder from Premium to Basic:

1. From the control panel, click the Drag and Drop Site Builder icon
2. On the Drag and Drop Site Builder start page, click the "Downgrade to Basic" link located below the Change Domain button
   
3. Confirm your downgrade in the dialog
   
   NOTE: Your changes may take up to a few minutes to take effect.
   

Once the downgrade is complete, you will no longer be charged for the Premium service, and the following changes will take place:

• Premium Features
  If you have elements from the premium features on your pages, after the downgrade the used elements will show up in the editor, but not on your site. If you delete them from your pages in the editor, and attempt to drag them back to the pages, you will be prompted to upgrade.
• Extra site pages
  If you have more than six pages on your site, after the downgrade, your published site will only show the first six. However, the remaining pages are still accessible through the editor. If you wish to publish a page that does not fall in the first 6, you can reposition it, and republish your site. 

Introduction to the Drag and Drop Site Builder

Drag and Drop Site Builder not working properly when using Safari or Firefox browsers

If you are having trouble using the Drag and Drop Site Builder, on either the Safari or the Firefox browsers, please make sure that your browser is set to always accept cookies.

In Safari:

1. Select Preferences > Security
   
2. Under Accept Cookies select Always

In Firefox:

1. Select Tools > Options > Privacy
2. From the drop down, select Use custom settings for history
   
3. Check Accept Cookies from Sites

Drag and Drop Site Builder giving 500 error, ftp_path not defined

If you are trying to access a page in the Drag and Drop Site Builder, and you get a 500 error, your domain is probably not hosted by FatCow. To fix this:

• Solution: Add your domain to your hosting account
  or
• Solution: Choose a different domain for your site
• Log into the Drag and Drop Site Builder
• Click Site Info at the top of the page
• Select a different domain from the drop down 
  

Website built with Drag and Drop Site Builder is not showing up

On occasion, you may experience difficulty with your website that was built using the Drag and Drop Site Builder showing up correctly or at all in a web browser. This may be due to the browser archiving, or "caching" an older copy of the website. It is a good idea to clear your browser's cache when building a website using this tool to ensure that it displays properly.

For more troubleshooting help with clearing your web browser's cache, please refer to the Clearing a Web Browser's Cache knowledgebase article.