WordPress cPanel: How Does It Work?

1. What is WordPress cPanel?
2. WordPress and cPanel: Connection and Difference
3. How to get to cPanel in WordPress
4. How to Create a Website Using cPanel and WordPress?
5. cPanel vs. Website Builder
6. When All Is Said

Before talking about cPanel, it makes sense to recall the key features of WordPress.

There are two ways to create your WordPress website – WordPress.com and WordPress.org. They are divided according to the principle of the host on which the website will be placed. If the first option is a ready-made hosting platform that does not need to be downloaded, installed and paid for, then the second one is a downloadable set of files with special program code that must be downloaded and uploaded to hosting.

The point at which the paths of these two options diverge is the ability to manage and customize the website. In the first case, they are practically absent or are present in a very small amount, while the second gives access to any user modifications.

What is WordPress cPanel?

Hosting requires constant monitoring. That is why there was a need to develop a special software tool, an intuitive and variable control panel for efficient operation. It is such a tool that can ensure the full use of all the features and application of all the functions of the website for the development of projects and the implementation of important decisions. This provided the basis for the appearance of cPanel, still relevant to date.

cPanel is a web hosting control panel that allows you to manage your website through a dedicated web interface. This interface is graphical, so even a novice will be able to navigate the nuances of working with their website. Now users can manage everything they need on the website directly through a browser. Web hosting with cPanel became a new milestone in server management and gained regularity and logical multi-level structure with different access levels. Its main advantages are:

• multilingual support
• automatic component updates
• support for various modules and services
• easy installation of plugins and extensions
• integration with any projects

Due to its convenience, it is now one of the most common and well-known hosting control panels. cPanel hosting offers the perfect combination of simple and simultaneously efficient and variable server management.

With this technology on your website, you can not only manage databases, but also control domain names and email accounts, make backups, etc. without any technical skills. A kind of resource manager, this panel makes it possible to optimize your website in terms of productivity and thus allows you to cope with tasks that were previously impossible to accomplish without the involvement of third-party specialists.

It doesn't matter if you ever managed WordPress hosts. User-friendly, clear, and accessible cPanel will give you all the necessary resources.

WordPress and cPanel: Connection and Difference

First of all, we’ll immediately note: WordPress is a content management system, while cPanel is a hosting management technology. Despite the fact that they are connected, each of them performs its own separate function.

To be accessible to internet users, the website must be located on the server. An online store, a news portal, a blog, or any other website needs a server – this provides it with visibility and a legitimate place in the global network. Connected to the Internet, a server always provides the opportunity for any Internet user to connect to it and see websites hosted on it.

cPanel, as we have already said, provides efficient and simple management of the server and website software without the need for any technical nuances.

WordPress itself specializes in managing content directly on the website. It allows you to create new pages, articles, posts, add photo, video, and more without coding skills thanks to an intuitive graphical interface.

Thus, WordPress is the website itself, its essence and content, while cPanel controls the server where this website is located.

How to get to cPanel in WordPress

Many people wonder how to access cPanel in WordPress. This is not entirely obvious, so pay attention to the information below.

Having purchased hosting, immediately pay attention to the first thing that the provider will send you: you should see a link to WordPress cPanel along with your login credentials. If for any reason you did not receive this letter or you lost it, you can use the alternative path.

There is absolutely nothing complicated about it. All you need to do is add 2082 (with SSL installed) or 2083 (without SSL) at the end of your domain. It will look like this:

http://yourwebsitename.com:2082
https://yourwebsitename.com:2083

After that, you will immediately be taken to the cPanel login page. The only thing is, without information about your login credentials, you still can’t log in: get this data from the provider. Further use of the tool is diverse and multifunctional: see more information on the cPanel instructions page.

How to Create a Website Using cPanel and WordPress?

Great news: with cPanel, you can avoid the need to manually install WordPress.

In the Applications section, you will see Softaculous Apps Installer – it’s your point of destination. If instead of Softaculous Apps Installer you will see Auto Installer (hosting companies features), go ahead anyway. If you do not see one or the other – write or call your provider about this issue.

Next, you will see a list of applications available for installation. Click on the desired software. You are prompted to select the domain on which you want to install WordPress. Once again having checked all the details you are interested in on this page, feel free to proceed with the installation and you're done.

cPanel vs. Website Builder

Catch question: which option is still preferable for creating a website? Speaking about the cPanel in this aspect, we mean that you are going to create a website on WordPress. Therefore, we will use it in our comparison.

Here, it is important to immediately determine the difference between the concepts: despite the widespread confusion, WordPress is not a website builder, but a system that provides rich content management capabilities.

This is the first key difference – ease of use

Usually WordPress does not involve the use of code, but sometimes in specific cases such a need may still arise. With a website builder, this certainly will never happen.

In order to get things straight with WordPress, having a steep learning curve, you will have to work hard, while the classic website builder is an elementary drag-and-drop interface where you simply drag the necessary elements to the right places. What-you-see-is-what-you-get approach allows you to immediately see the final result, but has significantly less customization potential. This may be more than enough for beginners.

The next difference is flexibility and customization options

In this regard, WordPress provides many more features thanks to plugins that can turn your website into anything from an online store to a powerful podcast platform.

The website’s complete uniqueness is the WordPress peculiarity: with its number of settings and the use of your imagination and enthusiasm, you are simply doomed to get a result that has no analogues on the internet. By the way, when configuring plugins, knowledge of the code can be useful to you.

However, it all depends. If your theme consists of a set of plugins that are ready to use, the code may not be needed. Despite the fact that the number of plugins in the website builder is rather poor, the setup is simplified to the maximum: you just choose what you need. Accordingly, if time is a priority for you, you are more likely to opt for this variant.

The next point of difference is hosting

This is something that there is no need to worry about in the website builder, as hosting is included in the package. You do not need to configure anything or worry about any incompetence in this matter.

To install WordPress (not taking into account the installation option via cPanel described above), you need to take care of PHP and MySQL web hosting. It is not as difficult as it might seem. There are many instructions on WordPress installation. However, for some, this may be the reason to decide on a website builder, despite its limited functionality.

It is important to note that the website on WordPress can be easily moved to another host. The ability to create subdomains is also an impressive advantage. This will not work with a website builder: when moving, you will have to create everything from scratch and you must know your limitations – one hosting, one domain.

Thus, you can state that your choice is ultimately a compromise and primarily depends on your goals. It makes no sense to talk about the confrontation between the two ways to create a website, because each of them has its own strengths.

When All Is Said

We believe you already understood how convenient and practical cPanel is. Answering the most common questions about how to use it, we have illustrated its multi-functionality and openness even to the most inexperienced users. Remember that some hosting providers provide a custom control panel. Always find out in advance which server management method you will be dealing with.

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