Web Applications
You can significantly increase your website functionality by using different web apps. Apps installed on a website can perform a number of tasks. If you are an individual, you can, for example, present yourself with a blog or organize an online storage of your media files. Companies can move their business online using the e-commerce or CRM web apps. All these apps are available for installation from the Applications section of the Customer Panel.
The list of available apps is governed by your hosting plan. For example, it might include only free apps or no apps at all. For more information on available apps, contact your hosting provider.
App Types
There are two types of web apps:
- Apps installed directly on your website (for example, the WordPress blogging platform or the Joomla! content management system).
- Apps installed on external servers and provided by third-parties.
Regardless of the installation type, apps can be either free or commercial. Commercial apps require you to obtain a license key to start working with them.
App Installation and Maintenance
The process of installation is fully automated and does not require any specific skills. To learn how to install web apps from the Customer Panel, refer to the section Installing Apps.
Further app management is also facilitated as you can update or remove apps directly in Plesk. Moreover, you can access some functions that apps reveal to the Customer Panel (without the need to log in to an app). For example, you can add SugarCRM user account right from your Customer Panel. Such app functionality is a service provided by the app.
After you install an app, grant other auxiliary user accounts access to it if you want them to be able to use the app. To get started with managing apps, see the section Managing Apps.
App Databases
If an app requires a database, Plesk creates it automatically during installation of the app. To create a database, Plesk uses app database settings, which you can change in the Main configuration section (Show All Settings link) when installing an app:
- A database name and a database server where the app will store the database.
- Database user credentials, which Plesk will use to access the app database. It may be convenient to employ a single database user with access to all databases. In this case, you can create a universal user account and specify it when installing apps. To learn more, refer to the section Managing Database User Accounts.
Note that if you exceed the maximum number of databases allowed for your subscription, a new app does not create a database. Instead, it adds tables to one of the existing databases, and adds prefixes to table names. Prefixes make it easier to distinguish tables of different apps from each other. For example, the WordPress app will add the “wpress_” prefix to the names of its tables.
Access to Apps
By default, after you install an app, it is available only for users with the Owner role. You can make your apps available to certain auxiliary users by adjusting their permissions. For details on setting up access to apps for auxiliary users, refer to the sectionGranting Auxiliary Users Access to Apps.
Apps and Auxiliary User Accounts
Some apps let you create and manage user accounts directly in Plesk. For example, the SugarCRM app allows you to add SugarCRM users without logging in to the app. All apps with such "account services" can associate their accounts with users of a Plesk subscription (auxiliary users). To perform such an association, you should grant the auxiliary users access to that account service (in the same way as you grant access to apps). For details on account association, refer to the section Linking Apps and Auxiliary User Accounts.
