Tutorial: What Is cPanel and How Do I Log In? cPanel, also referred to as your Control Panel, is the website management software that we provide you so that you can manage various aspects of your website. To log in to your cPanel, open your Internet browser of choice (such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or Google Chrome). In the address bar type in your domain name and add /cpanel to the end of it.

For example, if your domain name is www.mysite.com, you would get to your cPanel by going to www.mysite.com/cpanel

. You'll then see the page below:

You will need to enter your username and password to log into your cPanel. You received your cPanel username and password in your Brain Host welcome email (see the image below).

Please note that you will receive a unique username and password. Do not use the username and password you see in this example! If you need help retrieving your username and password, please contact Customer Support by calling 1-877-586-4694, emailing support@brainhost.com, or submitting a support ticket at http://www.brainhost.com/help/. Once you enter your username and password, you'll be taken to your cPanel home screen, which looks like this:

cPanel offers a helpful Getting Started Wizard in the "Preferences" box that can help you learn more about the system.

In cPanel you can handle many of the administrative tasks for your website. We won't go over the specifics of how to perform any of these tasks in this tutorial, but we will highlight some of the things you can do in cPanel.

Changing Your cPanel Password: To change your cPanel password, click on "Change Password" in the "Preferences" box.

Creating Email Accounts for Your Website: To create email accounts for your website (for example, yourname@yourwebsite.com), click on "Email Accounts" in the "Mail" box.

Checking Your Email Accounts: To check the email accounts that you create for your website, click on "Webmail" in the "Mail" box.

Installing Software on Your Website: To install software on your website (such as WordPress, Zen Cart, or Drupal), click on "Fantastico De Luxe" in the "Software/Services" box.

Adding a Subdomain to Your Website: To add a subdomain to your main website, click on "Subdomains" in the "Domains" box.

Backing Up Your Website: To back up your website, click on "Backup Wizard" in the "Files" box.

Uploading / Managing Your Website Files: To upload new files to your website or manage the files that are already there, click on "Legacy File Manager" in the "Files" box. Note: Do not delete any files unless you know exactly what they are! Deleting important files by mistake can break your website.

These are just some of the many things you can do in cPanel. Spend some time exploring your cPanel and learning the various ways that you can manage your website. If you have questions or need additional help, please feel free to contact us at Customer Support. For more information about Brain Host, visit http://www.brainhost.com/.