cPanel and its many features: A beginners guide

If you think of all the different types of features and ‘bits and pieces’ you need for a website, you can imagine that it could take ages and an awful lot of technical knowledge to be able to set up, maintain and update the server for your website. However, alot of this can be done in a simple way with a use of a ‘Control Panel’ with an interface such as that in Windows.

The control panel I’m going to briefly outline (there is plenty more information on the net if you want further information) is cPanel. Initially designed for use on Linux based servers, this control panel is now in Beta for Windows servers and should be available in 2008. The interface itself is customisable with different skins being available as well as different themes. Once your domain name is pointed to the correct nameservers, you simply type www.mydomain.com/cpanel and a login prompt will appear. By providing the correct credentials you will then have access to make changes to your account on the hosting server.

In cPanel itself, there are many features allowing for the configuration of email settings including accounts and mailing lists, the restriction and filtering of spam, autoresponders, forwarders and many more. All of this is done through an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) available from any computer with internet and a browser making it widely accessible even to those with little technical knowledge.

Aside from email configurations, there are backup options as well as controls for ftp accounts, easy methods to password protect directories, block IP addresses, hotlink protect (image protection) and integreated links to other programs such as phpMyAdmin. If you ever wanted a CGI counter or countdown on your website (to name just two), it is as simple as clicking on the ‘CGI Center’ and selecting the counter style etc. you want.

If you do want to do slightly more complicated tasks, cPanel allows you to control ‘Cron Jobs’ (commands that run at a set time), create customised error pages and frontpage extensions to name just a few. It should you the full service status of the server it is running on including which services are running etc.

One of the more interesting and helpful programs for new hosting customers is an addon from netenberg.com call Fantastico. This program integrated into cPanel and allows you to install a vast range of programs at with just a few clicks. These programs include forums, blogs, photo galleries, billing systems, e-commerce engines etc. etc. etc. making a possibly daunting installation of a forum a breeze and allowing far more choice for people with limited technical knowldege.

Although this is only a brief overview, more information is available on the official cpanel website at www.cpanel.net. CPanel is one of the most stable and widely used control panels in the hosting industry and with all of its features, it isn’t difficult to see why.

Bookmark This Post: