Knowledge base & FAQ
Everything you need to know about our hosting, domains, billing and support. Still stuck? We are online 24/7.
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cPanel
How do I log in to cPanel?
Open your client area, go to Services, choose your hosting package and click "Login to cPanel" - that signs you in without a second password. You can also use the direct cPanel URL and username from your welcome email, at https://yourdomain.com:2083. Forgotten the password? Reset it from the client area or ask support.
How do I create an email account in cPanel?
In cPanel open the Email section and click Email Accounts, then Create. Choose the address, set a password and a mailbox quota, and click Create. New accounts are ready within a minute. For mail clients use mail.yourdomain.com with IMAP on port 993 (SSL) and SMTP on port 465 (SSL) or 587 (TLS).
How do I install WordPress with Softaculous?
In cPanel open the Software section and click Softaculous Apps Installer, then choose WordPress and Install. Pick the domain, leave the directory blank for the site root, set an admin username and password, and click Install. The whole process takes about a minute and the same screen installs Joomla, Drupal, Magento, Laravel and 400+ other apps.
How do I upload my website files?
Two ways. 1) cPanel File Manager: open Files then File Manager, enter public_html, click Upload, and extract any zip you upload. 2) FTP or SFTP: create an FTP account in cPanel, then connect with FileZilla to ftp.yourdomain.com on port 21, or SFTP to yourdomain.com on port 22 with your cPanel username. Your website files always go inside public_html.
How do I create a MySQL database and user?
In cPanel open the Databases section and click MySQL Databases. Create the database, create a user with a strong password, then use "Add User To Database" and grant ALL PRIVILEGES. cPanel prefixes both names with your account name, so a database called shop becomes accountname_shop. Manage the contents any time with phpMyAdmin, and import a dump with the Import tab.
How do I enable HTTPS and force SSL on my site?
Open your client area and confirm AutoSSL has issued a certificate for the domain (cPanel shows this under Security then SSL/TLS Status). Once the certificate is active, turn on Force HTTPS Redirect under Domains, or add the redirect rule in .htaccess. Mixed content warnings are almost always a hardcoded http:// link in your theme - send us a ticket and we will find it for free.
How do I restore a backup?
Open cPanel, go to Files then Backup (or JetBackup, depending on the server), and pick the restore point you want. Our shared plans keep 30 days of daily backups, and you can restore a single file, a database or the full account yourself without opening a ticket. This is a courtesy service, so please also keep your own copy of anything critical.
Where do I change the PHP version for my website?
In cPanel open Software then Select PHP Version. Pick the version from the dropdown - we recommend PHP 8.1, 8.2 or 8.3 for WordPress and most modern applications. The same screen lets you enable or disable extensions such as gd, intl, imagick or opcache. The change applies within seconds and does not affect other domains on the account.
How do I point my domain name to Fonhost?
Two options. 1) Nameservers: set the nameservers at your registrar to the ones in your welcome email, and we manage all DNS for you. 2) Keep your current DNS and create an A record pointing to the server IP address shown in your client area, plus a CNAME for www. DNS changes usually take effect within an hour but can take up to 24 hours worldwide.
Still need help?
Our support engineers are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - including holidays.