cPanel is actually a control panel that you can use to manage each and every part of your website on the web hosting server on which you are hosting your website. This control panel is based on Linux and offers a quite intuitive, simple and easy-to-use interface to its users.
You, as a beginner, will have to be familiar with a handful of basic things before going ahead to start using the cPanel. Hence, with an intention to assist you with that, I have put a light on those basic aspects of the cPanel. So just keep reading…
Accessing cPanel
Once you purchase a hosting plan or package, you are sent a welcome email. That welcome email includes the URL for your cPanel that can be used to access your cPanel. Moreover, you can also access the cPanel through the customer area of your hosting account while you are logged in.
Things That Can Be Done With The Use Of cPanel
When it comes to the various tasks that can be performed with the use of the cPanel, I have the following important points to be shared with you:
- You can install various CMS (content management systems) like WordPress, Drupal, etc with the use of this control panel.
- There is a facility to directly upload files on the server.
- New domains and sub-domains can be added to the hosting account you are having.
- It also facilitates the management of FTP accounts.
- There are different ways offered to you for increasing the security of your website.
- You can both manage the existing databases as well as create new databases with the use of cPanel.
About cPanel Interface
It should be noted that different hosting providers may offer different design of the interface of the cPanel. It simply means that the design of the cPanel interface offered by one hosting company may be different from the design offered by the other. The important parts of the cPanel interface are briefly described below:
· Navigation Bar
The navigation bar in a cPanel interface consists of the features: Account management, Notification, Search feature, and Logout. And, the navigation bar is located at the top right section in your cPanel.
· Side Bar
As far as the position of the Side Bar is concerned, you can locate it at the side of the cPanel page. Home, Dashboard, Statistics and User management are the various features that you can find in the sidebar of your cPanel page.
· Search Bar
The search bar is provided in the top part of the cPanel page right below the navigation bar. The search bar is made use of in order to find out the function or feature that you are not able to find out. All you have to do to make use of this feature is just type the name of the function or option you are intending to search and you will end up having the desired function in front of you.
Adding Domains & Sub-Domains In cPanel
When you purchase a hosting plan, you end up adding a primary domain to your hosting. Further, you can add more domains and sub-domain as well to your account by making use of the cPanel provided to you.
In order to add a new domain, you will need to follow the steps as given below:
- First, click on the option “Addon Domains” available in the Domain section of the cPanel page. Once you click on it, a new window will open in front of you.
- In the field for “New Domain Name”, enter the domain name you want to add. Once you enter this, other fields (except the field for password) will be automatically filled.
- Enter and re-enter the desired password and then hit the “Add Domain” button. And, it’s done!
And, in case, you intend to add a new sub-domain to an existing domain, you will need to follow the steps as given below:
- First, click on the option “Subdomains” available in the Domain section of your cPanel page. Once you click on it, a new window will open in front of you.
- Now you have to enter the desired subdomain and select the domain which you are intending to add that sub-domain to.
- Finally hit the “Create” button. And it’s done!
Using Softaculous App Installer
On your cPanel, under the section “Software” or “Autoinstallers”, you will find a tool named Softaculous App Installer. This tool can be used to install various apps and content management systems (CMS) like WordPress.
In order to install Wordpress on your domain, you will need to follow the steps as mentioned below:
Step-1:
First, click on .the Softaculous App Installer available on your cPanel. Once you click on it, a new window will open in front of you. There you will come to see plenty of apps to choose from in order to install on your website. Hover over the icon of Wordpress among the various available apps. As soon as you hover over it, the option “Install” will appear. Click on the “Install” in order to go ahead for the WordPress installation process.
Step-2:
Once you click on the “Install”, the installation page will open up where you will need to fill various details. First choose the protocol as either ‘HTTP://’ or ‘HTTPS://’ depending upon whether or not you have an SSL certificate installed on your website.
Step-3:
Now select the particular domain name for which you are intending to install WordPress. And, fill in the right detail like “blog” or “wp” in the “In Directory” section if you are planning to add a WordPress blog to an already existing website. And, if you are installing a completely new WordPress blog website that is going to be 100% blog, then leave the field for “In Directory” empty.
Step-4:
Now fill in the name of your website in the box provided for the site name. And, enter the Admin username and password of your choice that you will need to get logged into the admin panel of your WordPress website.
Step-5:
Now fill in an existing email address of yours and select the desired language.
Step-6:
Next, there is “Limit Login Attempts” that can be enabled in order to keep your site safe against brute force attacks.
Step-7:
Now select the desired theme for your WordPress website and finally hit the “Install” button. Wait a few minutes and the WordPress with the selected free theme will be installed on your domain.
Step-8:
As far as, the way to access the admin panel of the website is concerned, it depends on what you filled in your “In Directory” box. If you left it blank, you can go to the http://www.yourdomainname.com/wp-admin/ to login to your admin panel. And, on the other hand, if you have filled in something like “blog” in that box, you will need to login by accessing http://www.yourdomainname.com/blog/wp-admin/.
Final Words
There is a lot more to know about cPanel but the information provided above is enough for a beginner to start using it for the first time.