Backstage Guide
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What is Backstage?
Backstage is our customer portal. Using the Backstage system, you can access the control panel for your individual Site5 hosting accounts (called SiteAdmin), view and modify your account information, manage account payment details and review invoices, purchase new services and grant access to other users to all or part of your account.
Backstage was built entirely in-house by Site5 engineers. It is the culmination of years of experience in the web hosting industry, and literally thousands and thousands of development hours by seasoned software veterans. We designed the system from the ground up to meet the growing needs of our customers, and are confident that it provides one of the best user experiences in web hosting!
Below is an in-depth explanation of how Backstage is structured. By no means do you need to know everything described below to start using Backstage, however it will help explain how you can better harness the full power of the system to make the most of your Site5 hosting account.
Your Backstage Login = Your Email Address
First things first:
People in Backstage are identified by their email address. Your email address is your Backstage login and vice versa. If you change your contact email address in the account settings area of Backstage, your Backstage login is your new email address.
The system was intentionally designed so that there can never be two Backstage contacts with the same email address at any given time. Every person, regardless of the number of Site5 accounts and services they own or manage, should only have a single login to Backstage. By the same token, no two people should use the same Backstage login information. Of course we don't have any rules against multiple people using one Backstage login or one person having multiple Backstage logins under different email addresses, but it's definitely not the way the system was designed to be used.
Updating Your Email Address
To change your email address for your account, please log into Backstage, click the "Account" tab at the top, then, under the "Manage Users" menu on the lower left, please click "List Users". Next to the email address you'd like to change, you'll see an "edit" icon--a pencil enclosed in a box. Click that icon, and you can alter that particular email address.
The direct link to this page in your Backstage is https://backstage.site5.com/client/account/contact_list.
Backstage (and Site5) Terminology
The terms contact, customer, and service to refer to specific concepts in our system. It can be a bit confusing at first, but essentially one person (also sometimes called a "contact") can actually be associated with multiple Site5 customer accounts, and each customer account can have multiple services. The vast majority of people will only ever have access to a single customer account through their Backstage login, however just know that it is possible for one person to be linked to multiple customer accounts.
When you get a brand new Site5 account, we create a new contact for your email address, a new customer for grouping your services and payment information, and a new service, which represents your new hosting account. Here's an explanation of what those terms mean in the context of Backstage:
- Contact - A contact is a single person, identified uniquely by their email address (which also serves as their Backstage login). No person should ever have more than one contact, and no contact should be used by multiple people. If you need multiple people to access your account, they should all have their own logins. If you have a MultiSite™ account, you can add additional users under the "Account" tab in Backstage.
- Customer - A customer is a grouping of services that share payment information. Services belong to customers. When an invoice is generated for a service, the invoice is applied to the account of the customer to whom that service belongs. A customer will only have a single payment method--usually a credit card--on file at any given time (although payment information can be changed through Backstage whenever necessary). Remember: a contact represents a single person, while a customer represents an entity that is financially responsible for one or more services. Often times they will be the same (the contact is the person paying the bills), but they don't have to be, and one contact can have or be associated with multiple (or zero) customer accounts.
- Service - A service is just that: a service. A hosting plan is a service. A domain name registered through Site5 is a service. If you have multiple services (I.E. multiple hosting accounts and/or domain name registrations) that are paid for and operated by the same person or group of people, it's best to have them all under a single customer account, as doing so makes managing payments and tracking your balance much simpler.
Backstage: Contacts and Customers
A Single Contact Linked to Multiple Customers
There are some instances where a single person (a "contact"--a single Backstage login) will be associated with more than one customer. For instance if a web developer works with multiple customers--all of which are hosted at Site5--the developer will still only have a single login to Backstage. But, assuming the customers approve, the developer's one Backstage account can be granted access to each of the customer accounts that he or she manages.
Note that when clicking on the SiteAdmin, MultiAdmin and Domains tabs in Backstage, only services belonging to the current active customer are visible. If a contact only has access to a single customer, that customer will always be active. If a contact has access to more than one customer, a dropdown menu will automatically appear in the upper right-hand corner of Backstage. This dropdown box can be used to switch between different customer accounts.
A Single Customer with Multiple Contacts
Just as a contact can have access to multiple customers, a customer can be accessed by multiple contacts. Each contact has a specific set of permissions for each customer to which they have access. A contact with "superuser" access to a customer has full access to all of that customer's services and billing/account information (sensitive payment information like credit card numbers, however, are never displayed, regardless of the user). Alternatively, a contact can be given limited access to a customer account. For example, a contact may have access to manage all of a customer's websites, but no access to billing functionality. Contacts can even be limited to accessing only certain services under a customer. This is especially helpful with MultiSite™ accounts, as it allows the account owner to add contacts and grant them access to some services and not others.
Consolidating Multiple Services Under a Single Customer
If multiple services all belong to the same person or group of people, having them consolidated under a single customer account offers multiple benefits:
- You can access all services without needing to toggle between customers. As is mentioned above, at any given time, only the services belonging to a single customer will appear under the MultiAdmin, SiteAdmin and Domains tabs.
- You will only need to maintain payment information for one customer account. Since all invoices for a customer's services are grouped together and paid using the same payment information, there is one account to keep track of.
If you find yourself with services under two different customer accounts unintentionally (perhaps because you placed a new order through our main order form, which will always result in the new service being created under a new customer), you can request that our billing staff consolidate those services under a single customer.
Existing Customers Ordering New Services
When an order is placed through the Site5.com website, the new service(s) ordered will always be created under a new customer account. This means that existing customers wishing to purchase additional services will end up with multiple customer accounts, when they really would be better off having multiple services under a single customer.
In the future, we will be adding full order functionality into Backstage, allowing for the addition of new services (aside from domain names, which can already be ordered directly from Backstage) directly to a customer account without staff intervention. At present, however, orders for additional hosting accounts must be placed through the Site5.com website order forms and will result in a new customer being created. Once the new order is processed, our billing department will be happy to merge the new customer into your existing one--just send us an email letting us know that you'd like this done.
Managing Your Accounts' Billing via Backstage
Billing Preferences
Updating Your Details
- Updating payment information
You may update your account's credit card details securely at any time via Backstage. To update your payment information, please log into Backstage, click the Account tab, and then click the Edit Billing Info link.
In order to ensure that your updated information is valid, Site5 will temporarily authorize $0.01 against the card you provide below, this authorization will be immediately voided (and not charged to your card), however depending on the policies of your financial institution, they may withhold that amount from your account's available balance for a brief period of time.
Site5 currently accepts most Visa, MasterCard, and American Express credit/debit cards.
- Updating address/telephone details
If you should wish to update your account's physical address or telephone number, please contact the Billing department with the updated details and please include the last four digits of the credit card number currently on file with your account for security purposes.
Billing with Regard to Multiple Users
As stated, each hosting account or service may be associated with multiple contacts. You may grant specific permissions to each individual user as needed.
Contacts with permission to receive billing-related notices (such as service invoices and payment receipts) will be sent a copy of billing notices. Contacts with permission to modify billing information will be able to update your account's credit card/payment details at any time through Backstage and will also be able to review your account's billing and payment history.
Contacts which have been granted "Superuser" permission will be able to access all technical and billing areas of your account and will receive copies of all account notices.
Although your credit card number will never be displayed in Backstage, because it would be possible to update your account's payment information--and because a primary method of identity verification is requesting the last four digits of the current credit card--please be certain that you do not grant access to update payment information to any contact whom you would not trust with full control of your account.
Transferring Your Account to a New Owner
To transfer your account to a different person, please email Billing with the following:
- The primary domain name on your account
- The answers to the security questions on file with your account, for ownership verification purposes
- The name of the person or company who will be taking over your hosting account
Once this information has been verified, we will ask that you have the new owner of your account contact Billing to confirm that they would like to assume responsibility of your hosting account and charges.
Upon confirmation, we will ask the new owner for their complete contact information (physical mailing address, telephone number, and email address) and then provide them with a new welcome email and login for the account in question.
Plan and Contract Management
Upgrading/Downgrading Your Plans
In most cases, you are able to simply upgrade your account to one of our new plans where it is on your current server. To do this, simply write to Billing with:
- The primary domain name on your account
- The plan to which you would like to upgrade
- The term length you would prefer
- The answers to the security questions on file with your account, for security purposes
.
You are also now able to upgrade your account through Backstage.
If you are on one of our older servers and would like to migrate to one of our newer systems, simply open a new account for the plan of your choice and then transfer your own files and databases over to the new account. If you are on a shared or MultiSite plan, then you would need to contact technical support to update your DNS information. Finally, after you have successfully migrated your account over to the new server and are done with your old account, you would need to request a cancellation of this account. We would then be able to apply a credit to your new account balance for any full months remaining on your original account's pre-paid term.
Also, if you are currently on a reseller plan but would like to upgrade to a shared or Multisite plan, or are on a shared or Multisite plan and would like a reseller plan, because these plans are hosted on separate servers, you would need to open a new account for the plan of your choice.
Please remember that if you are currently on a MultiSite plan with subaccounts, before you can upgrade to one of our shared plans, you would need to convert your subaccounts to domain pointers first. Our shared plans do not support MultiSite capabilities.
Canceling Your Account
Renewing Your Account
All accounts active with Site5 are on an automatic renewal schedule. On your hosting anniversary date, Site5 will automatically send an invoice to the email address on file for your account. Following the invoice, the billing system will attempt to charge the credit card number on file within 24 hours, often sooner rather than later.
If you need to change the term length of your account, please write to Billing with:
1. The primary domain on your account
2. The answers to the security questions on file with your account, for security purposes
3. The length of term you would prefer
Currently, our shared and Multisite plans are offered on 3-, 12-, 24-, 36-, and 60-month terms and our reseller plans are offered on 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month terms. Please note that older plans do have different term length options. Term changes will take effect on your next scheduled renewal date, unless otherwise explicitly requested to begin immediately.
