One of the main questions we get asked is "Do you have a control panel?" However, I'm finding that this isn't really a yes/no question - as this can mean anything from just an email control panel to a full-fledged "I want this control panel to do everything for me, including create and upload my site."

My question:

HOSTING USERS ONLY (not hosting companies):

What features do you look for in a control panel?

Please do not say "I like XYZ control panel the best." Cuz then I'll have to go hunt for the demo. ;)

--Tina

Oops....I wanted to post this in General Discussion. Someone move it for me? Please?? :blush:

Actually, this is the right spot for this. It is a survey and thus it belongs here.

nothing

Originally posted by cimshimy
nothing

Nothing, as in you don't want any type of a control panel?

...or were you just being silly?

--Tina

Well even though you said not to ;) I say cpanel has everything I've ever needed. No point running through its endless features I love.

You can demo it at:
http://demo.vosn.net/cpanel/

username: demov
password: demo

There I even saved you the hassle of hunting around for a demo.

Any hosting companies here use it? Comments?

--Tina

Better question - where can I see Cpanel's website? There is no link to the homepage on the demo! Grrr.

--Tina

www.cpanel.net

Its kinda pricey @ $199 a month per server if you're hosted outside of VDI. Though you can probably get bulk discounts.

And I think you'll find the majority of hosts here use it. :D

Originally posted by c0bra
www.cpanel.net

Its kinda pricey @ $199 a month per server if you're hosted outside of VDI. Though you can probably get bulk discounts.

And I think you'll find the majority of hosts here use it. :D

Ah - I went to the .com and saw that the domain name was for sale. Kinda panicked me for a sec.

Anyway, $199 is kinda pricey.

Any hosting companies wanna comment on it? Good? Bad? Does it have any admin features as well?

Better 'n Plesk?


--Tina (my 100th post to WHT - WOOHOO!)

cpanel.net prompted me to download something. I don't think so. I just want some info on their product!

--Tina

Doh looks like the cpanel website is all messed up. It has an administration package called "Web Host Manager" which I think is pretty cool.

You can take a peek at it here:
http://www.venturesonline.com/whm/

Originally posted by c0bra
Doh looks like the cpanel website is all messed up.



:) well that suits cpanel anyway since the code and features are always "messed up" as well.

Originally posted by AffordableHost
Better 'n Plesk?

Definitely... Plesk is relatively limited in its features and ugly in the way it takes over your server (unless you're not particular on what and how apps are installed on your server).

CPanel is buggy as hell and is put out by a group of incompetent fools. However, aside from Albanza's solution, it is the ONLY alternative out there that has the features that everyone is looking for...

Plesk is good for general server maintenance but is by no means on the same level in terms of features. (However it is very stable and the authors know what they're doing...)

Most clients want to administer evey aspect of their account through a control panel. This includes email, databases, ftp accounts, mailing lists, sub domains, stats, logs, etc.

As a CPanel + Ensim user, while CPanel is fantastic for ease of use, the code underneath it is a bit of a wreck in places (particularly in WHM, which does.... interesting things to certain configuration files....).

Ensim (http://www.ensim.com) is quite stable, and while not as easy to use as the CPanel (about 90% of the options compared to Cpanel) it is reasonably customisable :)

As a hosting user, if you look at the CPanel demo that is what I would personally like (simply for ease of use and the vast majority of the features I want are there). Basically standard info such as change passwords, manage my site online, maybe access to phpMyAdmin if necessary, webmail, etc. However, if my host didn't have a decent CP then I'd be able to cope with a bare e-mail control panel.. LOL

My current choice is Ensim.

Want me to elaborate further, Tina? :)

As a user, I guess I'd look out for a control panel with the ability to manage my email: POP3, aliases, autoresponders, forwarding. This is critical and non-negotiable.

Everything else is optional as long as I have telnet or SSH (and FTP of course) access to the account and I can do things manually from the shell command line (eg, change passwords, add cron jobs, download log files, download stats, etc).

As for CPanel - it's *slow*. At least for me.

Originally posted by BC
My current choice is Ensim.

Want me to elaborate further, Tina? :)


Yes, if you have more to add.

--Tina

I find Ensim very hard to get use to - I got it installed on my dedicated server.

There are lots of bugs in it too - like the link to the administer MySQL database doesn't work, nor does the start/stop services bit.

I really do prefer CPanel's interface - it is easy to get around, but it DOES take a while to load up because of all the gfx.

--James

And again, nobody mentions,

smarthostingcontroller http://www.smarthostingcontroller.com

H-sphere
http://www.psoft.net/h_sphere_info.html

Sphera
http://www.sphera.com/

Originally posted by Domenico
And again, nobody mentions,

smarthostingcontroller http://www.smarthostingcontroller.com

H-sphere
http://www.psoft.net/h_sphere_info.html

Sphera
http://www.sphera.com/


We almost went with H-sphere - but, when I contacted their support email, they didn't answer my first email....and I got a rather snotty response to the second.

I figured if support was that rude BEFORE the sale....yikes.

--Tina

How stupid!

Originally posted by WildWayz
I find Ensim very hard to get use to - I got it installed on my dedicated server.

There are lots of bugs in it too - like the link to the administer MySQL database doesn't work, nor does the start/stop services bit.

--James

James.. What does not work on the MySQL? Did you talk to Ensim? I find it easy to use and bug free.. Just curious.. :confused:

Thewebbie - When I go into the MySQL Services part, and click on Administer MySQL part, then the link points to

http://humanleague/MyAdmin - and even if I put the correct location in, it won't find it.

Also if I want to upgrade things like PHP/Apache, I can't.

Got a situation where I want PHP4.0.5 installed, but that requires an Apache recompile - something that Ensim won't like :/

Waiting to hear back from Ensim about it :/

--James

BC,

I think the reason you experienced problems with MySQL was because you had not yet added a site when you tried to access MySQL. Once you have added a site, then you should be able to login into the MySQL control panel. Please let me know if I am mistaken.

Thank you,

Alex

Originally posted by WildWayz
Thewebbie - When I go into the MySQL Services part, and click on Administer MySQL part, then the link points to

http://humanleague/MyAdmin - and even if I put the correct location in, it won't find it.

Also if I want to upgrade things like PHP/Apache, I can't.

Got a situation where I want PHP4.0.5 installed, but that requires an Apache recompile - something that Ensim won't like :/

Waiting to hear back from Ensim about it :/

--James

I'm sure that apache does not to be compiled. You can compile PHP as a module yourself and just replace the /etc/httpd/modules/libphp4.so module file.
make sure you backup the modules directory first!! Make sure you compile with mysql so you do not break the mysql support.

As far as the MySQL link problem.. try and use http://physicalserver/MyAdmin/ The sites do not have a redirect or an individual phpMyadmin installation.

It's really not all that bad.

Originally posted by WildWayz
Thewebbie - When I go into the MySQL Services part, and click on Administer MySQL part, then the link points to

http://humanleague/MyAdmin - and even if I put the correct location in, it won't find it.

--James

One more thing.. Is the url above the actual url in the admin screen? http://humanleague/MyAdmin ??

If it is then you may have a problem with the FQDN setting in your server? You can always post questions at the http://www.ensim.com/support site in their forum.