Hosting & cPanel guides
Hosting & cPanel, explained
You’ve got a domain and hosting — now what? Seven short guides take you from “what am I actually paying for?” to a working website with email, written for complete beginners using cPanel on OnPoint Hosts.
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GUIDE 01
Domain name vs web hosting: what each one is and how renewals work
The address and the building: what you’re paying for, when each renews and what happens if one lapses.
About 8 min -
GUIDE 02
Log in to cPanel: a tour of every section
From your OnPoint Client Area into cPanel, then what every section does and which tools you’ll really use.
About 15 min -
GUIDE 03
Create email addresses with your own domain
Mailboxes, forwarders, webmail, phone and Outlook set-up, and stopping your mail landing in spam.
About 15 min -
GUIDE 04
Your PHP version: why it matters and how to update it
Which PHP versions are still supported, how to check and switch yours, and how to test safely.
About 10 min -
GUIDE 05
Create a MySQL database and database user
The Database Wizard, privileges, phpMyAdmin, connecting from PHP and backing up.
About 12 min -
GUIDE 06
FTP accounts and uploading your website
File Manager, FileZilla, secure FTP accounts and exactly where your files need to go.
About 15 min -
GUIDE 07
Move a WordPress site and email to OnPoint from a cPanel backup
Bring a whole site and its mailboxes over from a .tar.gz backup — by OnPoint, or step by step yourself.
About 45 min
Where these fit
Order hosting, then learn your way around it
Not sure how you’ll build your site yet? Start here. The eight-step guide takes you from choosing a name to being found on Google. These guides sit alongside it: read the first one before you buy, and the rest once your hosting is set up — in order, or whenever you need them.
- Before you buy: domain vs hosting, and how renewals work.
- Day one: log in to cPanel and set up your email.
- Building: upload your website, and create a database if your site needs one.
- Moving from another host: restore your WordPress site and email from a full cPanel backup.
- Once a year: check your PHP version and your renewal dates.
About the screens
Written for cPanel on OnPoint Hosts
cPanel is the most widely used hosting control panel, so these guides work with most cPanel hosts. Where it matters — logging in, plan limits, nameservers, support — they describe OnPoint Hosts, the host we use for every site we run. OnPoint Hosts is run by the same company as The Web Toolbox.
cPanel’s layout changes slightly between versions. If a tool isn’t where a guide says, type its name into the search box at the top of cPanel.