setting up .bash_profile for domain owner's account?

[joshb]

In Plesk, I'm able to give a user FTP access on a domain. I'm also able to allow SSH access vis the same credentials. So far, so good.

Where I'm getting stuck is when it comes down to nitty-gritty customization on that SSH login. It's my own login (so I don't have to log in as root), and I'd like to modify my .bashrc or .bash_profile file to set up some environment variables and such. Typically these files would be in my home directory, but my home directory is /var/www/vhosts/exampledomain.com and it's owned by root (I have no write access).

Where should I put the .bash_profile or .bashrc file?

[joshb]

I figured it out. /var/www/vhosts/exampledomain.com is the right place to put the .bash_profile. I su'ed to root, created the file, then chown'ed it so I could edit it as a normal user. Then I went back to being a normal user, edited the file, and next time I logged in the changes took place!

Is there a security reason for not chown-ing the /var/www/vhosts/exampledomain.com to the domain owner? Very annoying that I'll have to use su or sudo anytime that I want to create a file there.