Parallels Plesk Sitebuilder 4.5 for Windows Release Notes

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Installation Instructions
    1. Before Installation
    2. Software Requirements
    3. Installation Steps
    4. Completing Installation
  3. Upgrade Instructions
  4. Uninstalling and Repairing Plesk Sitebuilder
  5. What's New
    1. Plesk Sitebuilder 4.5 build 080902.182
    2. Web Services API
  6. Known Problems and Limitations
  7. Contact Information

1. Introduction

Thank you for downloading this release of Plesk Sitebuilder 4.5 for Windows. This file contains information that supplements the Plesk Sitebuilder 4.5 for Windows documentation, such as requirements, information on new features, corrected bugs, known problems, etc. This file was updated with the latest information available by release time.

2. Installation Instructions

We strongly recommend that you refer to the product installation instructions and the product user manual prior to upgrading/installing and working in Plesk Sitebuilder. Refer to the Parallels web site at http://www.parallels.com for more information:

Plesk Sitebuilder 4.5 for Windows documentation: http://www.parallels.com/en/products/sitebuilder/docs

Plesk Sitebuilder 4.5 for Windows FAQ: http://kb.swsoft.com/en/products/sitebuilderwindows

2.1. Before Installation

Before starting the installation process, we strongly recommend that you create a full system backup of the entire server.

Internet Information Services (IIS) should be preinstalled with World Wide Web (WWW) Service support.

2.2. Software Requirements

The following software should be installed in the system prior to the Plesk Sitebuilder installation:

Below is a list of required software components which are shipped with Plesk Sitebuilder and are installed automatically if missing:

2.3. Installation Steps

Parallels Plesk Sitebuilder 4.5 is a new major release. 

The instructions below are applicable for installing Plesk Sitebuilder 4.5 on a clean server only.

  1. Log in to your server as "Administrator" or another user with Administrator's privileges.
  2. Download:
  3. Open the folder where you have saved the Plesk Sitebuilder distribution.
  4. Run the installer. System will extract the installation bundle to a temporary folder and will launch the Installer.
  5. Follow the on-screen instructions.
  6. The Installer will prompt you to select an installation scenario: a local SQL server (recommended and described below) or a remote SQL server (for advanced users; please refer to the Installation Guide for instructions).
  7. For the local SQL server scenario, the Installer will install MS SQL 2005 Express edition (if necessary) and will prompt you to specify the destination folder to copy web site files to.
  8. The Installer will copy the files to the specified destination folder and will install a new IIS web site for Plesk Sitebuilder.
  9. At the end of the installation process, the Installer will create shortcuts to the Plesk Sitebuilder Wizard and Administrator Panel on your Desktop and in the Programs menu. You can access the Plesk Sitebuilder using these shortcuts.

2.4. Completing Installation

When installation is completed, the Installer will notify you that Plesk Sitebuilder was successfully installed. Click Finish to complete the installation. If you want to proceed to creating your Plesk Sitebuilder administrator account upon finishing the installation, select the Complete your system setup after installation check box. If you exit the installer having this check box cleared, account creation will be postponed till you launch Plesk Sitebuilder program for the first time.

To access the Plesk Sitebuilder Administrator Panel, open your browser and go to http://domain.name:2006/Login or http://IP-address:2006/Login, or just double-click the shortcut to Plesk Sitebuilder Administrator Panel on your Desktop or Program Menu.

If it is first time you open Plesk Sitebuilder, you will be prompted to create a first Plesk Sitebuilder administrator account and configure SMTP settings. After you complete the form and click Next, you will be taken to the Desktop page of the Administrator Panel.

Plesk Sitebuilder version number (4.5) is displayed on Server -> License Management page in the Plesk Sitebuilder Administrator Panel.

3. Upgrade Instructions

The instructions below are applicable for upgrading from Plesk Sitebuilder 3.x and Plesk Sitebuilder 4.x. To be able to upgrade from 3.x to 4.x versions of Plesk Sitebuilder, you need to have active Software Update Service (SUS).

  1. Log in to your server as "Administrator" or another user with Administrator's privileges.
  2. Download:
  3. Open the folder where you have saved the Plesk Sitebuilder 4.5.0 for Windows distribution.
  4. Run the installer. System will extract the installation bundle to a temporary folder and launch the Installer.
  5. The Installation Wizard detects an earlier version of Plesk Sitebuilder and prompts you to upgrade.
  6. The Plesk Sitebuilder version number (4.5) is displayed on Server -> License Management page in the Plesk Sitebuilder Administrator Panel.

IMPORTANT: If in Plesk Sitebuilder 3.x you have the default license installed, then upon upgrading, you will be given the default license for Plesk Sitebuilder 4.x. If you have uploaded a regular license in Plesk Sitebuilder 3.x, then upon upgrading, an equal 4.x license will be installed (with all the permissions allowed in 3.x, plus new features introduced only since 4.x version).


4. Uninstalling and Repairing Plesk Sitebuilder

To uninstall or repair Plesk Sitebuilder, open Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs, select the Plesk Sitebuilder software in the list of installed programs and click Remove or Repair.

5. What's New

5.1. Plesk Sitebuilder 4.5 build 080902.182

  1. [+]  New Vista-like skin.

  2. [+]  Site Map module. Allows site owners to display a clickable hierarchical model of their site structure to visitors.

  3. [+]  Removing design template  from pages. Site owners can now remove design template's layout and graphics from the desired pages.

  4. [+]  External Page module. Allows site owners to link site menu items to external web sites.

  5. [+]  Save button. A handy way for site owners to save changes they make while working on their site.

  6. [+]  Counter settings are moved to the Wizard. Site owners can now enable a counter on their sites at the Pages step of the Wizard, which previously required them to go to the Administrator Panel.

  7. [+]  Site visitor management is moved to the Wizard. Site owners can now manage their registered visitors through the Registration module editor at the Edit step of the Wizard, which previously required them to go to the Administrator Panel.

  8. [-]  [Wizard, Pages step] An issue with empty site structure is resolved..

  9. [-]  [Wizard, Pages step] An issue with adding/removing the Forum module is resolved.
  10. [-]  [Image Gallery] An issue with specifying "0" as a number of images per page is resolved.

  11. [-]  [Blog] An issue with users unable to edit their comments is resolved.  
  12. [*]  [SDK] Ability to create custom design templates with more than three color schemes.

  13. [*]  Design templates improvements.  An issue with menu styles is resolved.

5.2. Web Services API

  1. [+] New protocol version (4.5) support. Minor changes: unused fields are removed,  publication site response is extended, delete plan response is extended.

    NOTE: Currently supported protocol versions are: 3.1, 3.2, 4.0, 4.1.

Legend:

[+] new feature

[-] bug fixed or removed

[*] bug fixed and improvement made


6. Known Problems and Limitations

  1. Sites data is not transferred during republishing.
  2. Supported browsers are: Internet Explorer 6.0/7.0, Firefox 1.5/2.0.
  3. Maximal number of page levels on sites is 2.
  4. Wizard Edit step may not open and Preview functionality may not work if Plesk Sitebuilder is installed in a local network under NAT. As a workaround, try the following:

    If the Plesk Sitebuilder web site has host header(s) specified upon installation, open %WINDIR%\system32\Drivers\etc\hosts file and append the line 127.0.0.1 %host_header_value% to the end of the file, where %host_header_value% - the Plesk Sitebuilder web site's host header.

    If no host headers have been specified upon Plesk Sitebuilder installation - only IP address and TCP port, please do the following:

  5. If the English locale was disabled during Plesk Sitebuilder upgrade, the Plesk Sitebuilder login page will be unavailable. As a workaround, you can enable the English locale by setting the value of the "Enabled" parameter in the "LanguageEntity" table to "1" for the row with "en" locale ID.
  6. Plesk Sitebuilder 4.5 is available in the following languages officially supported by Parallels: English, German, Japanese, Spanish, French, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese.

7. Contact Information

Parallels Headquarters
13755 Sunrise Valley Drive Suite 600
Herndon, VA 20171 USA
Phone: +1.703.815.5670, Fax: +1.703.815.5675

Web: http://www.parallels.com

E-mail:
For billing information, email accounting@parallels.com
For purchasing or partnering information, email sales@parallels.com
For technical support, use our Online Support Form.
To report problems with Plesk Sitebuilder software, email bugreport@parallels.com
For information on career opportunities with Parallels, email careers@parallels.com
For press contact information, email press@parallels.com
For information about becoming a Partner, email partners@parallels.com
For information on translating Plesk Sitebuilder into your language, email i18n@parallels.com
For general product information, email info@parallels.com

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