Your web host provider will offer you a control panel and this will enable you to better manage your site. The control panel is where a user can look after their entire site and holds information on statistics, traffic, hosting functions, access to FTP, email account access, domain issues and the ability to manage files, amongst much more.

There is a white variety of control panels available. cPanel is the most popular but others include NextGenCp, VDeck, Ensim, Sphera or Hostopia. Each panel is different and offer many tools and functions peculiar to their own product. The panel you receive may depend upon which platform you our web host uses. Factors for changing a control panel includes what features they have and how do they perform on a specific platform.

These are features you need on a control panel:

Parked Domains

Cron Jobs

Addon Domains

Error Log

Hot Link Protection

PostgreSQL Database Manager

SSL Manager

Password Protect Directories

Parked Domains

Addon Domains

FTP Manager

Subdomain

Redirects

Frontpage Extensions

Web/FTP Stats

Raw Access Logs

Raw Log Manager

Raw Access Logs

Sub domain Stats

Subdomain Stats

Frontpage Extensions

Cron Jobs

MIME Types

Raw Log Manager

Index Manager

SSL Manager

Among the differences that ditinguish various control panels, is the ease of use. Some control panels like Plesk are relatively more user friendly. While others like cPanel, are well regarded for their functionality. Before you can appreciate which is the best control panel that can serve your needs satisfactorily, you will need to have an idea of what is on offer in the market. Towards that end, an overview of various control panels follows:

cPanel:

Linux based systems is where cPanel is mainly found. It can offer assistance for over 10 types of Linux the and at the moment does not cater to Windows or OSX. cPanel is helpful in controlling everything your site needs including MySQL database to email issues and much more beside.

cPanel has a whole range of functions and provides much more than the majority of control panels. The amount of functions offered is a key reason why it is so popular, that and it is cheap.

Plesk:

Plesk can cater for Linux and Windows which is an advantage over many control panels. Plesk has an interface that is similar to Windows XP which is good for many users and there is a good style to the package. In addition to this, Plesk offers web building support and a large number of functions. These functions do mean an increased price tag though and it is more expensive than many of its rivals, including cPanel.

H-Sphere:

Of all the control panels available, H-Sphere is extremely popular and can be used with Windows and Linux. There are many functions offered by H-Sphere although it pales in comparison to Plesk or cPanel.

DirectAdmin

DirectAdmin features a number of options that other control panels do not have. However it comes out lacking, when compared to features available with cPanel or Plesk. Furthermore DirectAdmin does not support Windows based platforms, and only supports a few flavors of Linux. On the plus side, it is cheaper than cPanel.

Ensim

Ensim is also available for Windows as well as Linux. It has an adequate interface but lacks in features.

Interworx

Interworx also caters only to Linux based Web hosting servers. It has got a clean and well-organized interface with some impressive features like the site usage snapshot.

Hosting Accelarator

Only available on Windows web hosting servers, Hosting Accelerator is not recommended for novices as it has a crowded interface that may be confusing.

Helm

This is another Windows only web host server and this offers the ability to view billing details from within the control panel.

CWIPanel

There is not a lot to be said for CWIPanel except it offers Windows support and is quite average.

InsPanel

This is another Windows based server which offers a basic range of features.

There are many control panels but cPanel remains the favorite due to its cost, easy to use functions and wide range of features.

However, there are new control panels emerging all the time and NextGenCP looks very impressive. It may have been developed over a number of years but it appears to be worth the wait.

You can tell that modern internet technology has shaped this product. It is simple to use and has been created specifically for web hosting clients. It has such a great ease of use that even novices can pick it up in next to no time. It is said it takes no more than mouse clicks to perform any function. It may seem simple but there is a lot going on and all of the functions aid web site management. The makers of the service have also issued all users with a challenge and if they can think of something they would like in the next version of the product, they will incorporate it.

An overview of the features of NextGenCP:

Domain Control:

All users have full control of any domain and sub-domain and the registration process is very simple. Users have full control over their domain as well as sub-domain. They can also register and host their own domain names easily and quickly.

Managing a Database:

NextGenCP provides everything you need to manage your own website database in just a few clicks of the mouse. All of the management of the database is controlled by phpMyAdmin and Database Backup Manager provides the management of data.

Mail Accounts:

It is very simple to add and control email accounts using this system. Pandela.com have provided many SPAM filters which should vastly reduce the amount of junk a user receives. There are also features to organize mail accounts, and look through and filter mail that is not desired.

Tools for the Site:

There are numerous tools for this product, all of them aiding the management of a site. Some of the tools include IP Access Manager, Hotlink Protection and Script Installer.

Statistics of the site:

Site statistics options in NextGenCP, provides complete information about the visitors, and the amount of bandwidth/traffic consumed by the site and mail accounts on a daily basis.

Feel the benefit of the support system:

Having full access to a support system is a great feature offered by NextGenCP. Anytime a user notices a problem, they have to submit a ticket and they will be offered assistance from a member of staff as quickly as possible. It usually takes no more than fifteen minutes to be responded to.

With so many impressive features, there is no doubt that NextGenCP looks one of the best web host control panels ever created. It is also good to hear that Pandela.com is promising to continually improve the service each and every day.

Article is published with permission from http://www.webhostingmadness.com, a leading provider of comprehensive reviews of web hosting companies. Visit http://www.webhostingmadness.com for more information about and exclusive deals on web hosting.

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