# A tour of cPanel
Source: https://docs.webgee.com/en/getting-started/cpanel-complete-guide

















A walk through every section of cPanel on WebGee hosting, so you know where
things live before you need them. Applies to shared, reseller and Premium
hosting.

To sign in, see [Getting started with cPanel](/en/getting-started/cpanel-basics).

## Your first sign-in [#your-first-sign-in]

The first time you sign in, cPanel offers a starting point.

<img alt="The Choose a starting point screen offering WordPress, Sitejet Builder or Explore Account" src="__img0" />

* **WordPress** — install WordPress straight away.
* **Sitejet Builder** — build a site visually without WordPress.
* **Explore Account** — skip to the full tool list.

**Skip** dismisses it. Nothing here is required, and you can reach all three
later.

You may also be asked to consent to usage tracking by cPanel's vendor. It is
optional — leave the box unticked and select **Save and Continue** to decline.

## Reading the sidebar [#reading-the-sidebar]

The right-hand column is the most useful part of the dashboard and the part most
people ignore.

**General Information** shows your username, primary domain, SSL status, shared
IP address and home directory. The SSL line is worth checking on a new account:
if it reads **Inactive**, see
[Install a free SSL certificate](/en/security-ssl/free-ssl-certificate).

**Statistics** lists what you have used against what you are allowed — disk,
bandwidth, email accounts, databases, subdomains.

**Resource usage** is the part that explains intermittent site problems:

| Metric                     | What it means when it is high                                |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **CPU Usage**              | Pages are slow because your account is being throttled       |
| **Entry Processes**        | Simultaneous PHP requests. Hitting this causes 508 errors    |
| **Physical Memory Usage**  | A script is asking for more memory than the plan allows      |
| **IOPS** and **I/O Usage** | Disk activity — often a plugin writing logs on every request |
| **Number Of Processes**    | Total processes running under your account                   |

If a site is intermittently slow or returning 508 errors, look here first.
See [Diagnose a slow website](/en/performance).

## Email [#email]

<img alt="The Email section of the cPanel tools list" src="__img1" />

Mailboxes, forwarders, autoresponders and filtering.

The ones you will use: **Email Accounts** to create mailboxes,
**Email Routing** when mail is handled elsewhere, **Track Delivery** to find out
what happened to a message, and **MailScanner** for spam thresholds.

**Email Deliverability** checks your SPF and DKIM records and offers to fix
them — the first place to look if your mail is landing in Junk.

See [Email](/en/email).

## Files and Databases [#files-and-databases]

<img alt="The Files and Databases sections" src="__img2" />

**File Manager** is the browser-based way to reach your files; `public_html` is
your website's document root. **Disk Usage** shows what is consuming space.

For backups, use **JetBackup 5** rather than **Backup** or **Backup Wizard** —
JetBackup is incremental, stored outside your quota, and keeps a history. See
[Backups & Restores](/en/backups).

**Databases** offers both MySQL and PostgreSQL. Most applications use MySQL:
create databases in **Manage My Databases** or **Database Wizard**, and browse
them in **phpMyAdmin**. **Remote Database Access** is where you authorise an
outside IP to connect.

## Domains [#domains]

<img alt="The Domains and Metrics sections" src="__img3" />

**Domains** adds addon domains, subdomains and aliases. **Zone Editor** manages
DNS records. **Redirects** forwards one address to another.

**WordPress Management**, **Sitejet Builder** and **Social Media Management**
also live here.

## Metrics [#metrics]

**Visitors**, **Bandwidth** and **Errors** are the practical three. **Errors**
shows your site's recent error log, which is often quicker than enabling
debugging in the application.

**Resource Usage** expands the sidebar figures into history, so you can see
whether a limit was hit and when.

## Security [#security]

<img alt="The Security and Software sections" src="__img4" />

**SSL/TLS Status** is where certificates are issued — and where new domains must
be **included** in AutoSSL before anything happens. See
[Install a free SSL certificate](/en/security-ssl/free-ssl-certificate).

**SSH Access** manages keys. **IP Blocker** blocks addresses.
**Two-Factor Authentication** should be turned on. **ModSecurity**,
**Imunify360** and **cPGuard** are the server's protective layers — see
[Security & SSL](/en/security-ssl).

**Hotlink Protection** stops other sites embedding your images and consuming
your bandwidth. **Leech Protection** limits password sharing on protected
directories.

## Software [#software]

**Select PHP Version** and **MultiPHP Manager** set the PHP version;
**MultiPHP INI Editor** changes settings such as `memory_limit` and
`upload_max_filesize`.

**Softaculous Apps Installer** and **WordPress Manager** install applications.
**Redis** enables object caching. **Setup Node.js App**, **Setup Python App**
and **Setup Ruby App** run applications in those languages.

**AccelerateWP** and **Optimize Website** are performance tools; see
[Performance & Caching](/en/performance).

## Advanced [#advanced]

<img alt="The Advanced and Preferences sections" src="__img5" />

**Terminal** gives you a shell in the browser without an SSH client.
**Cron Jobs** schedules commands. **LiteSpeed Web Cache Manager** controls
LSCache per WordPress installation — see
[WordPress](/en/hosting/wordpress).

**Error Pages** customises 404 and similar pages. **Indexes** controls whether a
directory without an index file lists its contents — it should normally be off.

## Preferences [#preferences]

**Password & Security** changes your cPanel password. **Contact Information**
sets where account notifications go; keep it current, because quota and security
warnings are sent there.

**User Manager** and **Manage Team** grant other people access without sharing
your own password.

## Quick Apps Installer [#quick-apps-installer]

<img alt="The Quick Apps Installer at the foot of the tools list" src="__img6" />

A shortcut to the most-installed applications — WordPress, Joomla, phpBB,
WHMCS and others — browsable by category.

## Finding things quickly [#finding-things-quickly]

The **Search Tools** box at the top is faster than scrolling. Typing part of a
tool's name filters the whole list, and it searches descriptions too, so
searching `ssl` finds every SSL-related tool at once.

## Related [#related]

* [Getting started with cPanel](/en/getting-started/cpanel-basics)
* [Install a free SSL certificate](/en/security-ssl/free-ssl-certificate)
* [Where to upload your website files](/en/getting-started/where-should-i-upload-my-website-files)