What is cPanel?

cPanel is one of the leading web hosting management software. It is a highly popular web-based control panel that plays a big role in managing the web hosting server with the help of an intuitive interface. It includes all the required tools to create and manage and administer websites. The graphical interface of the control panel helps you execute tasks that would otherwise require you to learn to code. Basically, it makes your web server human-friendly and easily accessible.

‘cPanel’ what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear this term? Or what do you understand by cPanel? Whenever you sign up for a web server chances are you going to deal with the control panel. Most of the web hosting service providers use a control panel. And it makes perfect sense to understand the whole idea and functioning of cPanel thoroughly.

cPanel may seem a little daunting to beginners. Of course, when you’re starting a website, there are a lot of things to take care of. Certainly, the control panel is an integral part and this is where this comprehensive guide will help you. By the end of this tutorial, you will have a good understanding of cPanel WordPress.

 How does cPanel Works or Functions?

cPanel allows you to perform various tasks for all CMSes including WordPress. And some of them are as follows:

  • It helps you quickly install software like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and more.
  • It adds domain names and subdomains to your hosting.
  • Set up an email for your website.
  • It manages the FTP account to upload files.
  • Manage security settings.
  • Diagnose issues with your system.
  • Database management.
  • Backups.
  • Installing add-on apps on the server.

And more.

The Control panel offers you amazing features and functions. However, these are highly beneficial for your website. But you just don’t have to understand them in detail. This guide will make everything easier for you to draw an inference.

Ease of Use of cPanel

cPanel has a clean and simple to use interface. And that is the beauty of this software. Everyone from novices to seasoned professionals can handle everything with ease. While creating a WordPress website, help with several factors such as managing databases, creating pages and allocating space to them, handling Cron jobs, and many more. Everything is so smooth with cPanel. There are many tasks that the control panel performs automatically. Such as while performing automatic scanning if the control panel finds something that isn’t working then, it can also restart the services if necessary to make it work. And it can also help improve the performance of your WordPress website.

However, the installation of cPanel is not that tough either. generally, you need not install it, basically, you’ll find it pre-installed on your hosting account.

How to Log in to cPanel?

Generally, your hosting provider shares your control panel account-related information via a welcome email. Whereas, on the other hand, you can simply type www.yourwebsitename.com/cpanel in the browser (replace ‘yourwebsitename’ with your actual website name) to continue.

You can also use the following two ways to access cPanel by appending either 2082 or 2083 instead of /cpanel i.e.

  • :2082 – If your site’s URL begins with HTTP
  • :2083 – If your site’s URL begins with HTTPS

For instance, if your site URL is ‘https://www.yourdomainname.com’ then you can access cPanel simply by typing ‘https://www.yourdomainname.com:2083’ in the address bar you can access your cPanel account.

cPanel

Now, enter your credentials to log in to cPanel i.e. username and password.

Which are the Best cPanel Host Options

There are various hosting service providers are available in the market. Most of them offer an interactive control panel with ease of use. Some of the best control panel host options are-

  • Bluehost is the most reputed hosting provider in the industry and is also officially recommended by WordPress.org itself. It offers industry-standard cPanel, which is highly intuitive to make the navigation easy and impressive for the users.
  • Similarly, SiteGround is another hosting provider with an impressive control panel. Their control panel is custom made, named as SiteTools, which allows them to add new tools for their customers without having to comply with third-party frameworks. Overall, their control panel is better in every aspect.
  • Moving to A2Hosting, it offers a control panel with a one-click installer. It means, it is not only easy to use but the installation experience is also short and crisp, making it another best cPanel host option.

How to Install WordPress in cPanel?

Now I come to the point, how to install WordPress through cPanel instead of installing WordPress manually. Once you have finalized the WordPress hosting provider, let’s now install WordPress. However, if you wish to install any other content management system you can do that as well. Since we are discussing control panel WordPress thus, we will install WordPress only. (Yes! This is a little different from the normal WordPress installation).

Most host providers such as Bluehost, SiteGround, Kinsta, InMotion, WPEngine, FlyWheel, A2 Hosting, Cloudways, etc. allow you to access ‘Autoinstallers’ in your cPanel dashboard. This is a super friendly tool that helps you install WordPress with a few simple clicks. the control panel uses an additional script named Softaculous to install any third party software i.e. WordPress, Joomla etc.  Now, just follow the setup wizard instructions to complete the WordPress installation process.

After a successful WordPress installation, head to WordPress login URL and see your WordPress dashboard as shown below.

WordPress control Panel

cPanel WordPress – In Conclusion

So, here comes the end of this What is cPanel in WordPress tutorial. The chances of the user control panel get really higher if you are using a shared hosting service. I hope this guide can help you understand the cPanel well. However, when you create a website with the help of an offline website builder or manually, one thing is certain that you will have to purchase the host service. And there you would need some knowledge about control panel. As you can see the overall procedure is quite straightforward. But still, if you find any difficulty while creating your website or dealing with cPanel please leave me a comment below. I will do my best to answer all your queries.