Can anyone recommend a good resource for learning cpanel? I'm about to take the step up to a host with control panel access, but I want to be able to configure my domain quickly once I make the move to the new host. Also, I've read the horror stories about people losing settings when updating cpanel. I would like a solid learning & reference resource at my side when I begin this journey. ~thanks

http://www.cpanel.net/docs/cp/

http://servershit.com/cpanelhelp/ Any cpanel host should have it for you

the problems related to cpanel would more than likely not affect an end user of cpanel, at least not for long. As an end user, you don't update cpanel, your host does. There are occaisional problems when updating cpanel, and usually your host will deal with it right away. Most hosts that have used cpanel for a while get used to it, for instance, I can't use cpanel to upgrade apache without problems, so we do it manually. Also I have found it easier to setup SSL certs manually. End users don't usually notice any problems round here, but when they do a good host takes care of it right away.

Thank you both for the excellent resources and the peace of mind that I won't have to update cpanel myself.