Manage and Sign Documents on your Plesk Server with cloudplan

For secure content collaboration, cloudplan provides the software to build private clouds locally or globally. As a Plesk extension, cloudplan is integrated to allow users to host and share files directly on their server. 

Now, cloudplan has created a robust workflow and e-signature solution, and you can now use your Plesk server as private storage for documents. It focuses on the broader document management life cycle, integrating tools to collaborate on documents as well as build professional workflows for approvals, agreements and signing.

All documents that are stored on your Plesk server are available for search, analysis and further archiving. The software is designed for any size and type of business. 

Let’s take a look at the features of cloudplan:

Workflows

Workflows can be created and associated with an existing document, an individual form that is filled in during a defined process, or a webform for mobile use. You can attach new documents or files or even replace documents or users while running the workflows. Define your process steps with just a few clicks in the cloudplan portal.

Cloudplan esigning Plesk

eSigning

You can invite as many users as you want to sign documents electronically. The entire process is monitored automatically. Reminders are sent and at the end all users receive a log of every single step. Signing is possible on mobile and workplace devices. PDF, Office documents and web forms can be integrated.

 

Global Search

A powerful search engine is available to you with which you can search millions of your own documents for attributes in a split second. Regardless of which storage instance the files are on, every storage location, like your Plesk server, is included without you having to configure anything. 

 

Cloudplan Global Search Plesk

Workflow Design Without Coding

You can use the intuitive workflow designer to create templates for recurring tasks as well as team-wide sharing. It includes database fields that can be used for workflow automation and as tag sources for the global search.

 

Cloudplan esigning workflow Plesk

Common Use Cases

Purchasing

Order and approval processes, conclusion of contracts (rental, leasing, service, framework contracts) with electronic signature

Service / sales

Presentations, offers, drafting and processing contracts, tenders, visit reports, on-site documentation, maintenance protocols, repair reports, work slips, acceptance protocols, license agreements

IT

Software contracts, access authorizations and access management, work orders

 

When Can I Use eSigning?

With cloudplan, eSigning can be used out-of-the-box without any further requirements. On Windows, MacOS, and Linux, you can immediately access the feature via your web browser, and cloudplan also has a mobile app for android and iOS. Additional collaboration features and storage options can be used once you’ve installed a local client. 

 

Looking for a secure file management platform? Browse the cloudplan options on Plesk here.

 

The Comfortable Advantages of the Hosting Control Panel

Hosting control panel Plesk

Let’s be honest. We all have enough to think about without constant security worries, micro-managing customers, and recovering lost versions of work.

But as a web admin, a lot of time and effort goes into these repetitive tasks every single day. Decades of complex back-ends have left end customers dependent on expert coverage for their sites, leaving necessary but mundane responsibilities to the IT crowd. 

Well, web admins and developers rejoice! The web and server landscape is rapidly transforming to allow automated management. 

Let’s say you need multiple new websites, and they have to be secured. Let’s say you need them backed up regularly, maybe when you’re not even at your desk. Some old sites need to be migrated and your SEO rank is tanking. That’s a lot to handle, right? 

Enter: The Control Panel. Web and server management, taken care of in a few clicks. *Breathe a sigh of relief*. 

So what can you expect from Plesk Hosting Control Panel? Read on.

 

Ease

What you need is a functioning system. But what you want is simplicity. 

With a single interface that organises multiple sites, giving you clear updates on security, back-ups and running efficiency, you can have both. Instead of juggling tools and manually monitoring each and every site’s health, the control panel takes care of complex tasks in moments.

Features like one-click deployment, mail server support, and automated health alerts allow quick streamlining of multiple tasks. On potentially unlimited domains, wherever you are.

Service provider view Plesk

Multiple customer management. Easy monitoring. Backup and security tasks lined up neatly. You’re welcome.

Security

Security is the #1 priority of any online business. Without it, customers won’t even be able to access your page. For that reason, web admins and hosters spend sleepless nights ensuring that their servers and customers are protected.

Under a web manager, you can sleep easy. Besides the necessities like SSL certificates, managed packages compile firewalls, encryptions, antivirus and more, holding the fort for you and your customers.

And guess what? Even your data is backed up and protected in the event of downtime or tricky updates, with a helpful advisor that keeps an eye on that status of your server at all times.

 

Advisor control panel Plesk

Speed

Unboxing any new feature for your site, or indeed setting up the server and domain for the site itself, can be time and soul-consuming tasks. However, web managers – or control panels – are set up with a catalog of extensions that can be installed and launched in minutes, and certain features can become active in one. Single. Click.

Heaven.

Not to mention the inbuilt performance monitor to show how fast your site is running and flagging any issues. So it keeps up the speed for your website visitors too. 

Want to automate your speed optimization? The Speed Kit is just a click away.

 

Speed Kit Plesk baqend

Efficiency

So you’re able to work fast, in total security, with ease. And it’s available on desktop and mobile for full control on-the-go. Just in case you needed further convincing. 

What else could you want?

Well there’s even more on offer if you leave traditional single-track hosting and web management behind:

 

Extensions efficiency Plesk

🚀 SEO Toolkit to put your website on the map,

🚀 G Suite integration because, well, who doesn’t use G Suite, 

🚀 Ultra-streamlined Premium Email with calendar and task lists,

and many more practical tools for WordPress, file and server management, all in one place. In fact, enjoy +100 add-ons beside what the Plesk interface already has built-in. Just, you know, for luck.

 

The future of web management has never been so clear. Customers are no longer content with sourcing each element of the online process in separate locations. They need just one, managed, safe place to work on what they love. 

Conclusion? Hosting control panels are good for the soul.

Ready to take the leap? See options for building and managing your web here. 

 

Footer coffee break Elvis Plesky Plesk Blog

Next Level Ops: Season 1 Recap

Hello Pleskians! As we approach our second season of Next Level Ops: The Official Plesk Podcast, we’re bringing you a Season 1 Recap while you get ready for more quality content. 

The podcast was created for you, Plesky reader (and listener), to give you industry insights and tips into the world of web hosting, development and management. 

So let your curiosity fly and learn through listening to these 10 curated episodes, hosted by podcast wiz Joe Casabona.

Episode 1 

20 Years of Evolution in Web Hosting

Kicking off our first ever episode of Next Level Ops, Joe meets Lukas Hertig, veteran Pleskian and fellow hosting enthusiast, to look back on 20 years of websites and hosting.

As they re-live the early years of websites and hosting (the ‘wild wild west’, in the words of Lukas), the interview unpacks the industry evolution from 2000 to today. From the first dynamic webs, to major disrupters like WordPress, the conversation ponders the growth of web hosting, and questions the future of hosting as-we-know-it. 

Looking for a trip down memory lane? Stream the episode here:

Lukas Hertig  

Lukas is the SVP Business Development & Strategic Alliances at Plesk.

Episode 2

Partnerships and High-Level Hosting Support

In this chapter, Joe interviews Pleskian Partner wizard, Francisco Pereira Carvalho, to delve into the global nature of today’s hosting market.

With more than 32 languages supported, serving 140 countries worldwide at Plesk, Francisco describes the essence of understanding what’s important for different cultures and regions. He explains that members of the Partner Program benefit from the intuitive and easy Plesk tool with the advantages of an international team.

Enticed yet? Stream the episode to find out more about the program here:

Francisco Pereira Carvalho  

Francisco is the Head of Sales at Plesk.

Episode 3

The Power of Extensions

If you’ve ever built a website, you’ve probably installed at least one or two extensions to enhance your web management. They provide extra tools and features to make your website run smoothly or to improve user experience.

In this episode of Next Level Ops, Joe talks to Jan Loeffler about Plesk’s extensions and kits that make users and admins love the Plesk experience. Some of the so-called ‘Lighthouse extensions’ – which are the most popular ones with users – are included as standard on Plesk. Others, like the SEO Toolkit, are available for download.

But what makes them so great? Let Jan and Joe tell you in Episode 3:

Jan Loeffler  

Jan is the Chief Technical Officer at Plesk.

Episode 4

How Not to Become a Security Engineer

For the fourth instalment of the series, Joe chats with security warlock Igor Antipkin about safeguarding websites. As he explains, the need to educate and be aware of potential threats is real. Web admins need to know the software they use, and share key insights with their own communities.

Alright, so now you’re getting worried. But have no fear, this episode explains how easy security can be with Plesk (and how to avoid dedicating your life to it):

Igor Antipkin  

Igor is a Security Engineer at Plesk. 

Episode 5

Finding the Right Managed Hosting for You

As WordPress continues to grow, traditional, service-free hosts could be left behind. This is what Andrey Kugaevskiy tells us in this episode of Next Level Ops, spelling out the benefits of Managed WordPress Hosting. 

In this month’s discussion with Joe, we learn how choosing a suitable WordPress host can be tricky, and you should keep WordPress-savvy people around if you’re not sure. Andrey suggests, for a smoother, easier and safer experience, take the option of host + management, any day.

Hear the full break-down of Managed WordPress options to make your life easier:

Andrey Kugaevskiy  

Andrey is a Senior Program Manager at Plesk.

Episode 6

Competing in a Hyperscale Cloud Environment

Welcoming back Lukas Hertig, episode 6 explores the world of cloud hosting, its applications in our everyday lives, and ‘hyperscaling’. In other words, companies like Netflix and Amazon that are scaling their operations thanks to shared services in the cloud.

More and more, hosting services opt for the cloud, with its flexibility and specialist managed services. So how do you compete in that environment? Are you thirsty to know how to benefit from the cloud, from experts?

Well then listen to this episode here:

Lukas Hertig  

Lukas is the SVP Business Development & Strategic Alliances at Plesk.

Episode 7

The Downtime Checklist and Web Scaling

Jan Loeffler, tech mage at Plesk, returns for this edition of Next Level Ops to discuss scalability and hosting. 

As you grow your online presence and traffic starts streaming in, Jan talks of the necessary steps for scaling. Have you considered how you’ll avoid downtime? Does your server have the capacity to grow? How long will customers have to wait for the page to load? Jan suggests a Downtime Checklist for scaling and optimization, but you’ll have to hear the full version in the episode here:

Jan Loeffler  

Jan is the Chief Technical Officer at Plesk.

Episode 8

Solving Common WordPress Problems

“The great and terrible thing about WordPress is the amount of freedom you have.” Guest-starring to discuss common issues with WordPress, product wizard Lucas Radke explains the value of a secure hosting environment. With so much margin for error, web builders, admin and users have to be proactive in preventing risks for their WordPress.

But hope is not lost. Click play to learn how powerful hosting and plugins make your life easier and avoid the most common WordPress mishaps:

Lucas Radke

Lucas is a Product Manager at Plesk

Episode 9

The World of Email Hosting Providers

Are you searching for the best email hosting provider, and don’t know where to start? Scratching your head about enterprise options? Then put on those headphones and tune in to this edition of the Plesk Official Podcast, where Joe speaks to Christian Mollekopf from Apheleia IT to clarify the features and pitfalls of email hosting.

You’ll learn about calendar options, self-hosting, spam control and more. Click play to get the full intel:

Christian Mollekopf

Christian is a Senior Software Engineer at Apheleia IT.

Episode 10

Toolkits and Tips for Web Development

For the final episode of this season of Next Level Ops, special guest Brian Richards, Creator of WPSessions, takes us listeners through the modern tools for everyday web developers. 

Besides imparting useful tips about coding, Brian provides a specific list of great web dev tools and learning resources, suitable for keeping any developer in-the-know. 

Intrigued? Get your coding fix by pressing the play button:

Brian Richards

Brian is the Creator of WPsessions and an independent web developer.

Did this series leave you wanting more? To make sure that you get your regular dose of tech podcasts, Season 2 is coming soon. Watch this space, or our Spotify and Apple Podcast channels to get the latest updates.

Get to Know our Season 1 Host:

Joe Casabona

Joe is a college-accredited course developer. He is the founder of Creator Courses.

Setting up Your Ideal Web Development Environment With Plesk Essentials

Morning beverage ready. Mail and calendar checked. Daily meeting with the team done – It’s time to start your engines and crack on with your project. If you’re familiar with this sequence, it’s because you’re also immersed in the web developer’s everyday routine.

Carrying out your daily tasks might be an easy-peasy chore. But when it comes to beginning a new project from scratch. And setting up your web development environment, you might need to add on a few more steps. Before starting cooking up a new project, you must have all the ingredients sorted. That is, for example, prepare all the data and tools you’ll need along the way.

And indeed, there’s a significant amount of web development tools out there. But what tools are suited to web developers? How do you decide which ones to have in your toolbox? In this article, we’ll bring you some prime extensions and toolkits that will make your web development experience even better. Let’s get ready to know some of Plesk’s essentials for web development, DNS, security, SEO, server, and backup.

Organizing Your Toolbox

At Plesk, our goal is to make web development simple and easy. And its integrated platform with full development and deployment capabilities allows you to build, secure, and run servers and websites. But if what you want to know is how to level up your skills with great tools, here are some excellent examples. Let’s dig deeper:

DNS, Security, and Web Plesk Extensions for Web Developers

Plesk DNSSEC

The DNSSEC acronym stands for Domain Name System Security Extensions. It’s a set of DNS protocol extensions that sign DNS data to secure the domain name resolving process.

The Plesk DNSSEC extension helps make the Internet safer. Let’s see what it allows you to do:

  • Configure the settings used for key generation and rollover.
  • Sign and unsign domain zones according to the DNSSEC specifications.
  • Receive notifications related to DNSSEC records and keys.
  • View and copy DS resource records and DNSKEY resource record sets.

Docker

Docker is a handy software technology that provides containers. That means an extra layer of abstraction and automation of operating-system-level virtualization. As a flexible Plesk tool, Docker can help you perform a wide variety of tasks. But that’s not everything. Docker also removes the obstacles to adapt to new technologies digitally as it uses existing technologies. This way, it acts as an assistant between different operating systems and developers.

The extension also frees applications from system infrastructure. Allowing expansion in capacity through collaboration. Here’s more of what you can achieve with Docker for Plesk:

  • On-demand access to a vast range of modern technologies.
  • Upload a custom image or choose one from a catalog.
  • Deploy and manage Docker containers straight from the Plesk interface.
  • Install Docker containers locally or to a remote node registered in Plesk.

Web Presence Builder

If you’re a beginner in web development, Web Presence Builder is the right tool for you. It doesn’t require great HTML knowledge or graphic design skills. This tool helps you create professional-looking websites – not bad, huh?

Web Presence Builder also provides a simple visual editor and a broad set of templates for different websites. Pick a page design that you like and your content template. And then add your text to the pages and publish the website. Here’s what you can do with this tool:

  • Create web pages.
  • Add a wide variety of content (text, images, video, scripts, and more).
  • Edit website settings (website name, keywords, icons, and so on).

Joomla! Toolkit

Up next it’s the Joomla! Toolkit. A complete toolkit to power Joomla! websites. With this toolkit, you can mass-manage, secure, and automate all your instances, extensions, and templates running on a server managed by Plesk. All from one single entry point. Here’s more:

  • One single dashboard to control, maintain and monitor all your instances.
  • One-click installer to download, initialize, and configure Joomla! from start to finish.
  • It hardens your site against all types of cyberattacks with its robust security scanner.

Plesk WordPress Toolkit

As a developer, you’re probably craving lots of features and intelligent tools that make your daily workload easier to digest. Well, we’re proud to say that our beloved Plesk WordPress Toolkit is definitely one of them. With this toolkit, you can focus on core tasks and automate the mundane ones. And substantially increase productivity, security, and efficiency too.  

The Plesk WordPress Toolkit is by far the most complete tool for WordPress admins seeking pre-configured solutions for the best possible performance. As well as an intelligent tool that helps to always keep their WordPress sites secure and up-to-date without breaking a live site. In case you’re not falling yet, here’s why using this tool is not only a smart idea but also a rewarding experience: 

  • Manage all WordPress sites on the server simplifying admin tasks.
  • Install, activate, update, and remove plugins and themes from one single dashboard.
  • Keep the highest level of security selectively securing websites.
  • Clone and stage websites to simulate changes before going live. 
  • Synchronize the changes between files and databases of different sites.
  • Optimize SEO for higher traffic and manage WordPress search engine indexing.

Smart Updates

A great addition to the Plesk WordPress Toolkit is the Smart Updates feature. This power-tool combo automatically updates WordPress core, plugins, and themes using AI. Here’s more:

  • Smart Updates clones and simulates your WordPress updates before performing them.
  • It mitigates the risk of hacked sites by running updates in a secure staging environment without affecting production. 
  • You can activate Smart Updates in WordPress Toolkit with a switch, as well as automate update analysis email notifications.

SEO, Backup, Cloud, and Server Plesk Extensions for Web Developers

SEO Toolkit

Along with the performance, a thought-out SEO strategy is fundamental to improve your search engine rankings. And with better rankings, more visibility, traffic, and conversions. 

Organic search can become your primary source of clicks, traffic, and revenue for your business. With the SEO Toolkit, you get all the tools you need to give your customers a chance to find you online. And help them pick your website over those of your competitors. We’re listing some reasons why you should use SEO Toolkit for your website:

  • Track SEO KPIs and check your website’s Visibility Score to measure your success.
  • Site Audit analyzes your site and gives you tips on how to enhance optimization.
  • SEO Advisor provides you a to-do list to improve your performance based on your Site Audit and Visibility Score.
  • Log File Analyzer will crawl your site and pages to help search engines rank and index them accordingly.
  • Check each of your keyword’s performance and compare it directly to your competitors’.

Google PageSpeed Insights

As explained above, one of the main worries for web developers is site performance. Because after all the work you’ve put into your web development, you just want it to work smoothly and without any issues. But don’t panic – Here’s what you need to know to achieve good visibility in search engines. 

First of all, you need to create websites that are fast, useful to your visitors, optimized for all traffic, and most importantly, mobile-friendly. And secondly, you should monitor your sites with tools like Google PageSpeed Insights. It will help you analyze your website’s content and its performance to suggest specific improvements. Here’s how the PageSpeed Insights extension works:

  • Analyzes the performance of websites hosted on your Plesk server.
  • Assigns every website a desktop and mobile score depending on its performance.
  • Generates a report based on the results of the analysis and displays suggestions to optimize your websites’ performance.
  • Provides links in the extension UI to the suggested tools aimed at improving websites’ performance (for example, the mod_pagespeed Apache module).
  • Gives already compressed files to reduce the size of static files (free API key required).
  • Installs the mod_pagespeed Apache module and lets you configure it for your needs.

Plesk Cgroups Manager

Often, web developers suffer what’s known as the ‘noisy neighbor’ problem. For those who aren’t familiar with this concept, this issue occurs when a website on a shared hosting consumes all system resources and disrupts the performance of other websites.

To avoid this common problem, we recommend using the Plesk Cgroups Manager extension. This solution helps you deliver reliable and continuous availability. The Cgroups Manager lets you control the amount of CPU, RAM, and disk read/write bandwidth resources each subscriber or tier of subscribers gets. You can use Plesk Cgroups to:

  • Prevent consuming of resources of your server by some of the subscriptions on your shared environment.
  • Automatically set a limit of resource consumption, monitor it, and send email notifications when it exceeds a certain level.
  • Set limits at two levels – subscriber service plan level or subscriber level.

Backup to Cloud Pro

Last but not least, we find the Backup to Cloud Pro extension. This solution is for all web professionals that want to set up different backup schedules to the cloud effortlessly. What’s more, it allows you to focus on more exciting and innovative tasks as it automates your backup management. It’s easy to set up and you can secure your domains with Google Drive, Amazon S3, DropBox, DigitalOcean Spaces, and Microsoft OneDrive:

  • Back up the entire server, individual user accounts with websites or individual subscriptions.
  • Schedule backups.
  • Restore data from backup archives.

CyberDeals Sale – 50% Off Selected Plesk Extensions and Toolkits

Thank you for reading up to this point – As a reward, we want to share with you a sneak peek of what’s coming soon this November. From Friday 27th until Monday 30th, we’re giving 50% off all the extensions listed in the article as part of our CyberDeals sale. So if you don’t want to miss out on these unbeatable offers, stay on the lookout for new updates. And catch them before they fly! 

Next Level Ops Podcast: The Best Extensions for Your Website with Jan Loeffler

Next Level Ops Podcast: The Best Extensions for Your Website with Jan Loeffler - Plesk

We’re back with the third episode of the Official Plesk Podcast: Next Level Ops. In this installment, Superhost Joe speaks to the Pleskian Technology Mage, Jan Loeffler. Jan tells us about Plesk Lighthouse Extensions and why they’re super useful.

In This Episode: The Weather, Popular Plesk Extensions, SEO and More

In This Episode: The Weather, Popular Plesk Extensions, SEO and More - Next Level Ops Podcast: The Best Extensions for Your Website with Jan Loeffler - Plesk

If you’re unfamiliar with Plesk extensions, you’re probably wondering what Lighthouse Extensions are. To clarify, Joe and Jan dive right into the specifics, after updating us on the weather of course.

In general, Plesk’s extensions provide extra tools, features and services to users. Their purpose is to enhance the ways in which users work and interact with websites. In particular, they serve a useful role when dealing with specific website areas, such as SEO. So, the SEO Toolkit extension can help users in designing an SEO strategy for better visibility on search engines.

“Usually it’s like running a marathon. If you want to run a marathon, you don’t do it in one day. It needs consistent training and working towards this goal. The same is true for getting on the first page of Google.”, says Jan.

Well Jan, we hope that soon you’ll be able to run a marathon once more after this lockdown is over. We will cheer for you!

"Usually it's like running a marathon. If you want to run a marathon, you don't do it in one day. It needs consistent training and working towards this goal. The same is true for getting on the first page of Google.”

Jan Loeffler

Key Takeaways

  • What are Lighthouse Extensions? There are over 130 extensions in the Plesk Extensions catalog. The Lighthouse Extensions are the most popular among users.
  • Why are the Speed Kit and SEO Toolkit extensions important? As soon as you start selling something on your website, performance matters. If a website takes more than 3 seconds to load, many users will leave. Speed Kit analyzes your site and knows how to cache it. The SEO Toolkit gives you stats to narrow down the areas where your website performance can improve. It supports all major search engines: Google, Bing, Baidu, Yahoo, and so on.
  • How can users get started with Lighthouse Extensions? Some are pre-installed when you spin up a new Plesk server. And the Extensions catalog gives insights into the most popular extensions. Additionally, there’s an Advisor tool that helps users become more productive. It guides you along the value chain and recommends tools you can enable to get the best out of each step.

…Alright Pleskians, it’s time to hit the play button if you want to hear the rest. Or go to our Simplecast channel to listen to the full episode. While you’re there, take a peek at our previous episodes here and here. We’ll be back soon with the next installment.

The Official Plesk Podcast: Next Level Ops Featuring

Joe Casabona

Joe is a college-accredited course developer. He is the founder of Creator Courses.

Jan Loeffler

Jan is the Chief Technical Officer at Plesk.

Remember to update your daily podcast playlist with Next Level Ops. And stay on the lookout for our next episode!