cPanel is the industry-standard web hosting control panel included with every SakuraHost hosting plan. This comprehensive guide walks you through every major feature available in your cPanel dashboard, helping you manage your website, emails, databases, and more with confidence.
yourdomain.co.tz:2083.
1. The cPanel Dashboard Overview
When you first log in to cPanel, you will see the main dashboard organized into logical sections. The Jupiter theme (default on SakuraHost servers) presents a clean, searchable interface. At the top right, you will find your account statistics including disk usage, bandwidth consumption, addon domain count, and email account count.
The search bar at the top is your best friend. Instead of scrolling through sections, simply type what you need — for example, typing "email" instantly filters to all email-related tools. The sidebar navigation provides quick access to your most-used features.
2. Files Section
File Manager
The built-in File Manager provides a web-based interface for uploading, editing, and organizing your website files. Your website's public files live in the public_html directory. You can create, rename, move, copy, compress, and extract files directly from your browser without needing FTP software.
FTP Accounts
Create dedicated FTP accounts for developers or collaborators. Each account can be restricted to a specific directory, ensuring team members only access the files they need. SakuraHost supports both FTP and SFTP (Secure FTP) connections.
Disk Usage
This tool provides a visual breakdown of disk space consumption across your hosting account. It shows which directories consume the most space, helping you identify large files or bloated backup archives that may need cleanup.
Backup & Backup Wizard
Generate full or partial backups of your account. Download backups of your home directory, MySQL databases, email forwarders, and email filters. The Backup Wizard provides a step-by-step guided process for creating and restoring backups.
3. Databases Section
MySQL Databases
Create and manage MySQL databases for your applications. Most CMS platforms like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal require at least one MySQL database. You can create databases, assign users with specific privileges, and manage existing database configurations.
phpMyAdmin
phpMyAdmin is a powerful web-based database administration tool. You can browse tables, run SQL queries, import and export data, and repair corrupted tables. This is essential for advanced database management and troubleshooting.
4. Email Section
Email Accounts
Create professional email addresses using your domain (e.g., info@yourdomain.co.tz). Each email account gets its own storage allocation and can be accessed via webmail or configured in desktop and mobile email clients.
Forwarders
Set up email forwarding to automatically redirect messages from one address to another. This is useful for routing department emails (sales@, support@) to specific team members.
MX Entry
Configure Mail Exchange records to control where email for your domain is delivered. If you use external email services like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, you will need to update your MX records here.
Spam Filters (SpamAssassin)
Enable and configure Apache SpamAssassin to automatically filter spam emails. Adjust the spam threshold score, configure auto-delete settings, and manage whitelists and blacklists to fine-tune spam protection.
5. Domains Section
Addon Domains & Subdomains
Host multiple websites on a single hosting account using addon domains. Each addon domain gets its own document root directory. Subdomains (e.g., blog.yourdomain.co.tz) allow you to create separate sections of your website with their own directory structure.
Redirects
Set up URL redirections (301 permanent or 302 temporary) to redirect visitors from one URL to another. This is critical for SEO when migrating content or consolidating multiple URLs.
Zone Editor
The Zone Editor provides direct access to your domain's DNS zone file. Add, modify, or remove DNS records including A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, and SRV records. For a deeper understanding of DNS records, see our Complete Guide to DNS Records in the DNS & Domains knowledge base.
6. Security Section
SSL/TLS
Manage SSL certificates for your domains. SakuraHost provides free AutoSSL certificates (powered by cPanel/Sectigo) that automatically renew. You can also install custom SSL certificates purchased from third-party providers.
IP Blocker
Block specific IP addresses or IP ranges from accessing your website. This is useful for stopping malicious traffic, brute-force attacks, or unwanted crawlers.
Hotlink Protection
Prevent other websites from directly linking to your images and files, which consumes your bandwidth. Enable hotlink protection to ensure your resources are only served when requested from your own domain.
Directory Privacy
Password protect specific directories on your website. This is covered in detail in our guide on How to Password Protect Directories and Manage Access in cPanel.
7. Software Section
Softaculous Apps Installer
Install over 400 web applications with a single click. WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, PrestaShop, OpenCart, and many more can be deployed in minutes. Softaculous handles the database creation, file deployment, and initial configuration automatically.
PHP Selector / MultiPHP Manager
Select the PHP version for your domains. SakuraHost supports multiple PHP versions, allowing you to choose the version that best matches your application's requirements. You can also configure PHP directives like memory_limit, upload_max_filesize, and max_execution_time.
8. Metrics Section
Visitors & Bandwidth
View detailed statistics about who visits your website, which pages they access, and how much bandwidth is consumed. Raw access logs provide granular data for advanced analysis.
Errors
The Errors tool shows the most recent entries from your Apache error log. For a comprehensive guide on using error logs for debugging, see our article on cPanel Error Logs: How to Find and Fix Website Errors.
9. Advanced Section
Cron Jobs
Schedule automated tasks (cron jobs) to run at specified intervals. Common uses include automated backups, database maintenance, sending scheduled emails, and running custom scripts.
0 * * * * /usr/local/bin/php /home/username/public_html/cron.php
Terminal
Access a web-based terminal (command line) directly from cPanel. This provides SSH-like access for running commands, managing files, and executing scripts without a separate SSH client.
For official cPanel documentation and tutorials, visit the cPanel Documentation Portal. Understanding these tools empowers you to manage every aspect of your hosting environment efficiently and independently.