What is cPanel?

cPanel is a graphical web-based control panel that helps you quickly and easily manage your website and hosting account. cPanel software gives you complete control over a vast amount of functions, streamlining useful processes such as:

  • Creating databases
  • Managing website files
  • Setting up email accounts & auto responders

cPanel has grown to become the most popular web hosting control panel, running millions of websites around the world. cPanel was created to provide a truly user-friendly interface for managing a website. With cPanel software, website owners can easily manage their email accounts, databases, applications, security, FTP, and control every aspect of their websites.

Creating Accounts

Web site owners can use cPanel software to create email accounts, available through the standard protocols including POP, IMAP, and SMTP, all with or without SSL encryption. cPanel software also supports Push Email via IMAP IDLE, enabling fast incoming and outgoing mail delivery designed with mobile users in mind.

Webmail Access

cPanel software provides several web-based interfaces for checking email, including Horde, Roundcube, and SquirrelMail. You have the ability to access your email from any web browser, as well as configure many account options including email forwarding and auto-responders.

Spam

To help curb spam, cPanel software gives you the option of using powerful spam filters, SpamAssassin, and BoxTrapper. These powerful utilities analyze your incoming mail, looking at the source and content of the message, as well as comparing it against lists of known spammers. You can also setup spam filter rules which route messages to a spam folder, helping to keep your inbox uncluttered at all times.

Email Forwarding

cPanel users can set up email forwarding which allows account holders to have an address at one domain (such as webmaster@cpanelexample.com) and forward incoming messages to another (such as your-name@example.com).

Email Filtering

For power users, mail filtering is available for improved organization and handling of incoming mail, as well as a mailing list function to enable your users to engage in discussions via email.

Backups

Backing up data is simple with cPanel software’s “Backup Wizard.” With a few clicks, cPanel software will make a full backup of your databases, email, and web sites, which you can download to your computer or send to another server over SCP or FTP.

Databases

cPanel software makes it easy to manage databases. All of your database tasks, ranging from creating databases to manually editing tables, can be done through cPanel. As a standard, cPanel supports MySQL databases, with the ability to add PostgreSQL as well.

Easy Setup Wizard

To minimize setup time, cPanel software includes a “Getting Started Wizard,” which will walk you through the initial configuration of your account. Step-by-step tutorials, on-screen documentation, and other useful information is available through the Wizard.

Manage Domain Names

While most Web site owners manage only one domain for their Webhosting account, there are many others who use a combination of domains. Through cPanel, you have the ability to manage:

  • Subdomains are your domain (example.com), with a prefix (sub.example.com).
  • Parked Domains are additional addresses that point to the website.
  • Add-on domains are addresses that can point to a specific section of your hosting, allowing you to run several Web sites from your account.

Managing Files

With cPanel software, you have several options for managing your website content.

  • Easily upload and manage web pages in cPanel’s File Manager
  • Drag and drop files into your account using cPanel’s Web Disk feature
  • Utilize traditional file transfer methods (including FTP, SFTP, and FTPS).
  • In addition to offering various file management tools, cPanel & WHM® software makes it easy to manage FTP accounts for employees or colleagues, enabling other users to upload files with optional security restrictions.

One-Click Applications

With a few clicks, you can install commonly used web-based applications, such as WordPress blogs, simply by answering a few quick questions through your cPanel interface. cPanel’s intuitive and highly customizable interface will provide you with an environment that will grow and evolve as your needs change.

Account Statistics

cPanel software offers a range of built-in log file statistics. Through log processing programs such as Webalizer, Analog Stats, and AWStats, you can see how many times your websites have been visited and how much email you’ve been sending.