cPanel gets highly regarded as one of the world’s best and easiest-to-use pieces of hosting management software. However, if you are looking to make a choice between using cPanel or using a different piece of software, it is best to know about some of the brilliant features that set cPanel above other similar products.
Some of the best cPanel features include the backup and security management sections of the cPanel database, which makes keeping your information secure a breeze. In addition, the email, database, PHP, and file management software also allows cPanel to be one of the best hosting management software.
Though cPanel is well-known and widely used, some features may be unfamiliar. Though you may not have heard of or used some of these features, some are essential and can make your work and maintenance a breeze compared to other hosting management software. Below are the five essential cPanel features everyone should know.
5 Essential cPanel Features you need to Know
cPanel is well-known and highly praised for the number of features it provides while still being easy to use. However, some of these features get overlooked, especially when all you want is a website already set up for you. With this in mind, there are some features you should know and understand if you want to take full advantage of your website and hosting package.
1. Backup Management
Anyone who works with websites and hosting can tell you that having and making backups of your work is essential if you don’t want to be caught off-guard. For this reason, the backup software that comes with using cPanel is the first and one of the most critical stops we make when discussing the essential features of cPanel.
The backup feature you have through cPanel does more than the usual backup software you may install on a website and can help you save everything from your databases and even the email configurations and preferences.
This backup feature is brilliant since it allows you to always have a hard copy of your entire website, home directory, databases, and much more if anything goes wrong. Not only is this useful if you accidentally delete something you shouldn’t have, but it also allows you to keep a secure backup of everything for worst-case scenarios like hackers getting access to your hosting.
2. The Security Section
In addition to having backup software that can help you keep all the files, folders, and precious information on your websites and hosting server, cPanel can also help you keep everything online safe with the Security section.
This section allows you to view and manage your websites’ and domains’ SSL certifications, something that is essential if you are hosting an online store and also allows you to manage API tokens, Hotlink protection, and even Leech protection.
One of my favorite features within just the security section of cPanel is the IP Blocker. The IP blocker allows you to block IP addresses that are more likely to cause trouble for your websites or hosting, which is an excellent way of keeping unwanted guests at bay.
3. Email Management
I would expect anyone with a website and hosting platform to know that when you have hosting, you can use it to make custom email addresses. However, though it is steadily declining, plenty of websites still show you Gmail or other email client email addresses on their contact pages. Luckily, cPanel makes setting up new email addresses relatively straightforward, even if you know little about it.
The email section in the cPanel dashboard allows you to do many things. Still, the most important is the “Email Accounts” button that allows you to view your current email accounts, change the passwords or other details, delete accounts that serve no function, and create new accounts linked to your domain and hosting.
This feature allows you to get rid of the email address you used when you first started thinking of creating a website and instead allows you to get a new and much more professional-looking email address. These Email addresses can connect to most, if not all, email clients, including Apple Mail, Gmail, and Windows Mail, allowing you to read and receive your emails on any device.
4. MySQL Database Management
If you’re looking to host more than one website on your server or even want subdomains on your website server, you will need to know how to work with databases and database users. Luckily, this is one of the things cPanel can help you with by simplifying the process of creating a database, database user, and linking these two aspects.
By searching and clicking on the “MySQL Databases” button, you can view your current databases, your current users, and which users got connected to the different databases. You can also easily add a new database or database user and connect them while choosing what access you want to allow the user over the database.
If you want to install a new piece of software onto your server, like WordPress, which is still very popular, you will need the MySQL database details to allow the software to extract. cPanel makes managing, creating, and viewing all this information a breeze by having these options on the cPanel dashboard and easy to access.
5. MultiPHP INI Editor Access
If you want to keep your website and server up to date, you may need to install software quite a few times. However, once you have a lot of things running, the memory allocation will eventually run out, but that’s one of the best uses of the MultiPHP INI Editor.
As someone that’s worked with WordPress a lot, there are times when your websites may cause you some problems, usually called the white screen of death. Often, this is due to too little allocated memory to a specific website or domain, which is why this editor is so helpful.
In this editor feature of cPanel, you can view and edit many limits, including the memory and file upload limits. There are also other valuable things you can change and update in this editor, such as the post size, execution time, and input variables. Not only is this feature great in its simplicity, but it is essential for any developer.
Other Features that make cPanel Great
Though the features mentioned above are excellent in the way they work through the cPanel dashboard, some more commonly used features are worth mentioning.
Final Thoughts
cPanel is a brilliant and easy way to manage your hostings and domains, which is why it is one of the top hosting management software available. If you have the option to choose, the abundance of tools, features, and other things that make cPanel easy to use, should persuade you to use it every time. (Related: How To Easily Create A WordPress Staging Site)