The cPanel web hosting software is an easy-to-use, feature-rich tool for managing your website. But before we dive into all of cPanel's features, we need to have a basic idea about cPanel—What is it used for, what tools will you need to get started working with cPanel, how to locate a web host that offers cPanel, and what to look for in a good host. So let's start by learning a little bit about what exactly is cPanel.

Webmaster, Meet cPanel…

Once you've decided that you want to create your own website, you have a lot of work ahead. You need to design content and figure out how to upload it to your site. Then you need to attract people to your site and manage any other features that your web host may offer such as e-mail, databases, subdomains, site security, etc. If you have no previous experience with handling any of this, it can be quite overwhelming.

cPanel is a web hosting control software that can be accessed using any modern web browser. It is designed to make the complex task of managing your hosting account easy. With the aid of cPanel and this book you should be able to get your new site up and running in no time.

What Tools Will You Need?

These are a few things which you will need before you start working with cPanel:

• Private Internet Access: You need to be able to freely access the Internet from a private location. For security reasons you should never try to access your cPanel account or work on your website from a public location like a library, school, or job.
• A modern web browser: cPanel works well in any recent web browser like Internet
• Explorer 5.5+, Netscape 7+, Mozilla, Firefox, Safari, or Opera. If you are using anolder web browser you should upgrade if you want to use cPanel.

In addition, you may also want to make sure you have access to some of the following optional tools:

• An HTML editor: Such programs make it easier to create or edit files that are part of your website.
• An FTP client: This sort of program is used to upload, download, and manage files on your website. A client that supports SFTP (Secure FTP) is a bonus.
• More than one modern web browser: This can be handy to test your new website to make sure it looks the same on a wide variety of browsers.
• An e-mail program: If your hosting account includes e-mail, you will most likely find managing e-mail easier if you use a dedicated e-mail program rather than web-based e-mail programs