Managed cPanel Hosting provides a flexible hosting environment for customers who need more control over their websites, domains, email accounts, databases and other hosting services. It combines the familiar cPanel interface with server management and support from Domains.co.za, making it suitable for businesses, agencies, developers and website owners who require more functionality than a basic hosting environment.
cPanel provides a central interface for performing common hosting tasks without requiring every change to be completed from the command line. Depending on your hosting configuration and permissions, you can manage website files, databases, email accounts, domains, SSL certificates, backups, resource usage and other hosting features.
If your Managed cPanel Hosting package also provides access to WebHost Manager (WHM), you may have additional account-level management capabilities. WHM and cPanel serve different purposes: cPanel manages an individual hosting account, while WHM provides higher-level management of cPanel accounts and server-related settings.
This guide introduces the main areas of your Managed cPanel Hosting environment and explains what to check when getting started.
After your Managed cPanel Hosting service has been activated, it is useful to familiarise yourself with the Domains.co.za Customer Portal and cPanel before making major website or DNS changes.
The Customer Portal is where you manage your Domains.co.za services and access the hosting package. cPanel is where you perform most website and account-level hosting tasks.
Depending on your package and permissions, your hosting environment may provide access to features for:
- Managing website files.
- Creating and managing databases.
- Managing email accounts.
- Configuring domains and subdomains.
- Reviewing SSL certificates.
- Monitoring resource usage.
- Managing backups.
- Reviewing website statistics.
- Managing security features.
How to Access Managed cPanel Hosting
1. Login to the Domains.co.za Customer Portal.
2. Open the Manage Services dropdown menu.
3. Choose Managed cPanel from the drop-down menu
4. Click Manage next to the domain associated with your Managed cPanel Hosting package.
5. Click Login next to cPanel WHM Control Panel to access WHM.
6. Open File Manager if you need to manage website files directly.
7. Review Domains to confirm which domains are associated with the account.
8. Review Email if email services will be hosted on the account.
9. Check Databases if your website uses MySQL or MariaDB databases.
10. Review SSL/TLS or SSL Status to confirm the security status of your hosted domains.
11. Locate Metrics if you need to monitor resource usage or website statistics.
12. Locate the backup tools available on your hosting package and familiarise yourself with the available recovery options.
13. Open WHM separately if your Managed cPanel Hosting service provides WHM access and you need to perform higher-level account management.
Important Tasks When Getting Started
Before moving a production website to your Managed cPanel Hosting environment, confirm that you understand how the website, DNS, email and database services are currently configured.
Make a current backup of an existing website before migrating it or changing important configuration settings.
If you are changing nameservers or DNS records, ensure that all required records are recreated correctly before directing production traffic to the new hosting environment.
Additional Information
- The Domains.co.za Customer Portal is used to manage your hosting service, while cPanel provides access to website and hosting account features.
- The features visible in cPanel can be customized and can vary according to your hosting package, server configuration and assigned permissions.
- File Manager can be used to manage website files directly from cPanel without requiring an FTP client.
- Database tools within cPanel can be used to create and manage databases and database users where the appropriate permissions are available.
- SSL certificates should be checked after adding or migrating a domain to make sure that HTTPS is working correctly.
- DNS changes should be made carefully, because incorrect records can affect websites, email and other domain-related services.
- WHM provides different functionality from cPanel and is intended for higher-level account and server management where access is provided.
- You should create a current backup before making significant changes to a production website.
- Strong, unique passwords should be used for cPanel, email, FTP and database accounts.
- Resource usage should be monitored periodically so that performance issues can be identified before they significantly affect websites.
- Unused website files, applications, accounts and databases should be removed when they are no longer required.
- If you are unsure whether a particular server-level task is managed by Domains.co.za or should be completed through cPanel, contact Domains.co.za Support before making significant configuration changes.
Login to Domains.co.za Account
1. Go to the Domains.co.za website Account Login page.
2. Enter your Email and Password and click the Sign In button.
3. You will see the Domains.co.za Dashboard, displaying the Manage Account menu on the left and your Account Information, Account Overview and Open Support Tickets on the right.
