This book is designed to provide in‑depth information for anyone who needs assistance with cPanel web hosting software. If you’ve never managed your own website before you will be able to confidently use the many features cPanel provides after reading this book. Even intermediate and advanced users of cPanel will likely learn many tips and tricks that will enable them to work both faster and smarter.
Chapter 1:Introduction to cPanel Hosting
Before diving into the many features, you will learn:
What cPanel is and what it is used for
What tools you will need to get started working with cPanel and your website
How to locate a web host that offers cPanel and what to look for in a good host
Chapter 2:Getting Started with cPanel
Start learning a few things about cPanel:
Access cPanel in several different ways
Familiarize yourself with the main cPanel interface
Learn about some of the features of your cPanel account
Chapter 3:FTP and cPanel's File Manager
In this chapter you will discover most of the methods that cPanel provides to enable you to transfer files to and from your web hosting account:
Discuss methods of uploading files to your hosting account
Learn about the types of FTP clients available
Learn how to work with FTP
Accessing the main FTP account
Creating FTP accounts and placing limits on those accounts
Deleting FTP accounts
Checking FTP quotas for accounts you create
Managing Anonymous FTP access
Monitoring FTP access and killing FTP sessions
SFTP (Secure FTP)
FXP (File Exchange Protocol)
Navigating your site with the cPanel file manager
Uploading files and downloading files, editing and managing files with the file manager
WYSIWYG HTML editing via WYSIWYG Pro in the file manager
Dive into the many features cPanel offers for working with e‑mail:
Why you may want to manage your own e‑mail accounts
How to setup and manage POP3 and IMAP e‑mail accounts
How to create e‑mail forwarders and forward all e‑mail from one account to another
Ways to combat spam and viruses using features available in cPanel
How to work with web mail
How to manage mailing lists
The more advanced features cPanel provides for working with e‑mail (changing MX records, tracing mail, etc.)
Chapter 5:Working with Databases
In this chapter we will explore the wonderful world of databases:
What databases are and what they are used for
How to work with both MySQL and PostgreSQL databases in cPanel to handle administrative tasks
Creating databases
Creating database users
Adding users to databases
Common connection settings for databases
Deleting databases and users
Checking for damage, repairing, and optimizing databases
Basics of working with databases using phpMyAdmin or phpPgAdmin
Backing up databases with phpMyAdmin or phpPgAdmin
In this chapter, you will learn how to manage access to and organize your site using numerous cPanel tools:
Change your main cPanel password
Create and manage subdomains
What redirects are and why you might use them
Enable hotlink protection and learn how to use it
Manage leech protection
Password-protect directories
Stop problem users from visiting your site with the IP deny manager
Create custom error messages
cPanel offers a number of features designed to allow you to keep track of what is happening in your account. In this chapter we will focus on:
How to work with the various web statistics packages that cPanel offers
How to disable and re‑enable web statistics packages using the Stats Manager
When and how to use your site’s raw web logs
How to keep track of the disk space your files are taking up
How to use your cPanel error log to track down problems
cPanel includes a number of tools that can help you get your site up and running again quickly in the event of data loss:
What backups are and why they are so important
How to use cPanel to back up the data in your account
Automated backup methods
How to use cPanel to restore the data that you’ve backed up
What to do if you do not have a backup and need to restore the data in your account
Regardless of your level of expertise, there will probably come a time when you want to add content or features to your website without spending days or weeks coding something or paying someone to create the content for you. This is where pre‑coded web scripts may come in handy. In this chapter we will cover:
What scripts are and what you might want to use them for
What scripts cPanel offers for installation and how to install them
Some important advice concerning working with scripts.
You’ve mastered the basics and are still hungry for more, so in this chapter, we will explore:
How to enable and disable FrontPage Extensions and learn why you may or may not need them
Creating and managing Add‑on and Parked Domains
Creating Cron jobs and learning what they can be used for
The basics of working with SSH/Telnet
Editing MIME Types and learning what they are used for
Adding Apache Handlers and learning their uses
The cPanel interface for creating and storing OpenPGP Keys
How to manage SSL certificates using cPanel
The advanced network tools cPanel offers
What cPanel Pro is and what new features it can provide
You know how to use the features in your cPanel account and now it is time to learn how to protect yourself and your account data. Specifically, we will cover the following:
What hacking is and why you may be at risk
What you can do to protect yourself and your site from attack
What to do if your site is hacked
This chapter will cover most common cPanel additions, and you will discover:
Many popular cPanel themes and learn about what makes them unique
A number of popular third‑party add‑ons for cPanel and learn how they work
You’ve learned how to use the tools cPanel gives you. In this chapter you will find several great links for tools you can use for:
FTP clients
More cPanel information
Basic webmaster and scripting assistance
Domain, DNS, and Site Monitoring tools
Password-storing programs
While the information in this book is as current as possible at the time of its publication (covering cPanel 10.8.1), the features and functions of cPanel may be different from what is described in this book. The primary reasons for this are:
cPanel is constantly being updated and revised to add new features and fix bugs. New features may be added or existing features extended or rearranged.
Not all web hosts offer all features mentioned in this guide with all hosting plans. This is particularly true of some of the third‑party add‑ons that will be discussed. If you have questions about what features your web host offers, please contact them directly.
Some web hosts may use a different default theme for cPanel than the one you see in this book (XSkin). Please see Chapter 12 for some screenshots of other themes that your host might offer.
If you find that you need additional information or assistance with cPanel there are several places you can turn to for help.
The first place to go if you have any questions is your web hosting company. They should be able to answer almost any question you have concerning cPanel or any web hosting plan features. Please be sure to follow your web host’s support procedures when asking for assistance.
cPanel Inc., the makers of cPanel also maintain a customer‑to‑customer general support forum http://forums.cpanel.net/ This forum is not designed as a main means of support for cPanel, but is a good place to go if you have questions or concerns that your web host cannot answer. Often you can find answers to commonly asked questions by searching the forum, so make sure you try that before attempting to post a question.
cPanel Inc. also maintains some very basic (and typically very outdated) documentation. The online version of this documentation can be found at http://www.cpanel.net/docs/cpanel/ You may also be able to find this documentation as a link directly from the main screen of the cPanel interface (depending on the theme your web host provides). A PDF version of this documentation can be downloaded from http://www.cpdocs.com/docs/pdf/cpanel. Note that PDF files require a PDF reader such as the free Adobe Reader program, which you can obtain from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Conventions
In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.
There are three styles for code. Code words in text are shown as follows: "We can include other contexts through the use of the include directive."
A block of code will be set as follows:
<? header ("Location: http://domain.com/scriptdir/"); ?>
</html>
<title>
Page Title</title>
<head>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items will be made bold:
<? header ("Location: http://domain.com/scriptdir/");
</html>
<title>
Page Title</title>
<head>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
New terms and important words are introduced in a bold‑type font. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in our text like this: "clicking the Next button moves you to the next screen".
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