You’ve done the grunt work of planning out your online business by purchasing your domain name. You’ve even deciding on a hosting solution that best suits your website needs. But now what? How do you navigate the new learning curve of cPanel hosting when you have no idea what that means? Not to worry! We’ve got you covered in our ultimate beginners’ guide to using cPanel and getting the most out of your hosting solution.

cPanel is one of the most used Linux-based control panels used across web hosting platforms. Its design allows for a convenient and user-friendly managing of all your web services in one place. It’s your master control panel where you can control your web email, software, and server health to name a few from one interface. cPanel has secured its place as the industry standard for web hosting and is the top choice of the most seasoned web developers.

Because of its intuitive nature cPanel allows for seamless management for the highest efficacy. You can do everything your website needs right in cPanel but first, let’s show you how.

Table of Contents

What is cPanel?

cPanel is a Linux based web hosting interface and control center. Hosting solutions that use Linux as the operating system of choice include the installation of cPanel. Because cPanel is such a robust control panel it does come with a multitude of pros but has its cons as well. Regardless of the cons, cPanel works effortlessly to help you do everything needed to run and manage your hosting and website.

Pros of cPanel:

An easy learning curve
User-friendly
Keeps hosting inexpensive
Efficient
Tried and tested
Includes software auto-installers like Softaculous
Plenty of tutorials/support available online

Cons of cPanel

So many features can become overwhelming
It’s easy to accidentally change important settings
Some hosts run outdated software leaving a security vulnerability

How to Use cPanel

Various cPanel installations include different features, however, it’s still easy to look around and learn the various sections. When you first log into your cPanel hosting the first section usually displays metrics that log the resource usage of your website; those include but not limited to, CPU usage, storage space and memory usage. Consider this some monitoring metrics to keep a close look at how your website is performing. Though, they do not replace the need for monitoring tools.

Once you’ve had a good look around and have familiarized yourself with your website’s overall performance metrics, let’s explore the various modules in cPanel. We’ve used screenshots of cPanel to help guide you through each section below.

File Modules

luxhosting-cpanel

The modules located under the File section are exactly what they are named for, files. These modules enable you to directly upload and manage files from within your cPanel without having to use an FTP client. You can also make specifications for privacy levels, create backups and more. Common modules under files include:

Backup
Back up Wizard
Directory Privacy
Disk Usage
File Manager
FTP Accounts
Images
Web disks
And more…

Preferences

Language change
Style change
Add and edit Contact Information
User Manager

Databases

MySQL Database Wizard
MySQL Databases
phpMyAdmin
Remote MySQL

Softaculous App Installers for Web Applications

In this section, you will find software applications for you to install into your cPanel to manage your website. It includes everything from blogs, various CMS platforms, forums and more. Common modules normally include:

WordPress
Drupal
Joomla
phpBB

Domains Section

It’s a common practice by webmasters and web owners to use one hosting account to manage multiple websites with different domains and additionally set up subdomains and redirects. In this section of cPanel, you can manage all of that easily. Common modules usually include:

Addon Domains
Aliases
DNS Manager
Preview Website
Redirects
Subdomains

Metrics

In this section of cPanel, you can get additional metrics about your website’s performance, something you’ll need to monitor daily. The metric module helps you to mitigate site performance with ease. In cPanel you gain powerful insights into how your overall website health so you can make informed decisions about your site. Common modules in this section include:

Awstats
Bandwidth
CPU and Concurrent Connection Usage
Errors
Raw Access
Visitors

CPanel Security Tools

A major concern for any website owner is security. This is especially true for web owners that collect sensitive client information such as usernames, passwords and or financial data. This module of cPanel helps you to keep a close eye of your hosting solution’s security section. Common modules include:

Hotlink Protection
IP Blocker
Leech Protection
SSH Access
SSL/TLS
Leech Protection
Two-Factor Authentication
Manage API Tokens

Software

These modules are for the more experienced and technically savvy webmasters who are well versed in PHP and Perl. These are advanced software options that most users don’t necessarily need. Common modules included in this section:

Softaculous Apps Installer
Optimize Website
Free Shopping Cart
WordPress Themes
PHP PEAR Packages
Cloudflare
PHP Version Selector
Application Manager

Access Advanced Settings

The title speaks for itself. In this section, you find modules more suited to advanced and seasoned webmasters and users. Common modules in this section include:

Apache Handlers
Cron Jobs
Error Pages
Indexes
MIME Types
Track DNS
LiteSpeed Web Cache Manager

Configure Your Emails

All of our web hosting packages include email. Web email can easily be accessed and managed from your cPanel account. You can add and assign emails and check them all in the same place. Common modules in this section include:

Address Importer
Encryption
Track Delivery
Default Address
Calendars and Contacts
Encryption
Email Disk Usage
Global Filters
Email Disk Usage
Track Delivery
User Filters

There you have it. cPanel is completely user-friendly and easy to use and that’s why it is the more popular choice for webmasters using a Linux based hosting plan.