Tips for Using Control Panel Software to Streamline Website Maintenance
Key takeaways
- Control panels allow users to automate file and database backups
- cPanel’s Softaculous and Plesk’s Application Vault make it easy to install apps
- They can keep apps updated as well
- Many control panels allow users to install SSL certificates
- They provide insights into CPU, memory, and disk usage
Website maintenance is more important than ever, with factors like poor design and low website loading speed causing palpable discontent among internet users. 85% say a website’s design should be mobile-responsive, and 83% expect sites to load in three seconds maximum. 57% of customers wouldn’t recommend an organization with a poor website design on mobile.
38% of website visitors will navigate away if the site takes too long to load, including widgets, images, etc.
Having a main image on a website can be a two-edged sword. On one hand, it attracts attention, with visitors viewing it for an average of 5.94 seconds. However, if it loads slowly, it becomes annoying.
Finally, a website’s audience grows by 25% when efforts are made to keep it accessible. Organizations with websites that load slowly incur damages to retailers, amounting to $2 billion in lost sales every year.
Using control panel software can greatly simplify website maintenance by making it possible to centrally manage different website functions and features. To monitor web traffic in Windows, open “Task Manager,” then go to “Open Resource Monitor” under Performance. Switch to “Network” in Resource Monitor. You will see the active connections, processes with network activity, TCP Connections, and Listening Ports. Popular control panels in 2024 include cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, and Webmin.
Maintaining a website on cPanel
cPanel will not work on Windows, but it is suitable for users of another OS who don’t have extensive technical experience. For WordPress sites, the WP Toolkit provides a simple way to activate and deactivate maintenance mode via control panel interfaces. You log into the control panel, go to “Applications,” and click on WP Toolkit. There is an arrow to the left of the WordPress installation options. Click the one where maintenance mode should be enabled or disabled.
cPanel is popular among website administrators due to its ease of use and performance. Your web hosting provider can alleviate your maintenance efforts. cPanel web hosting refers to providers that use cPanel instead of other solutions to maintain and manage websites. cPanel hosting plans include virtual private server hosting, dedicated hosting, and other solutions.
To upload website files, go to “Files” in the dashboard, then “File Manager.” Navigate to the “public_html” folder (for the main site) or another directory where you want to upload files. Click “Upload,” select the respective files, and use the interface to rename, move, or delete files.
Maintaining a website on Plesk
To enable website maintenance mode in Plesk, login to the control panel. Click on “Websites & Domains,” “Show Advanced Operations,” and then “Website Maintenance Mode.” Check the box where it says “switch on the maintenance mode for the website” or something similar. The site is now offline.
To deactivate maintenance mode and go back online, click on “Change” and uncheck the above-mentioned box, and then “Ok.”
When a site is in maintenance mode, visitors see “503 Service Unavailable” instead of the site. If the hosting plan offers this option, the error page can be customized via the File Manager. You can write your own message instead of the default “Service Unavailable” one.
Maintaining a website on DirectAdmin
It’s possible to enter a customized HTTPD configuration for the domain in DirectAdmin maintenance mode. This method is used as an element of a user migration script. You or your IT specialist can use the DA hook script to automatically return the website to maintenance mode when performing admin_backup. This way, the database will never become corrupted during backup.
Recap
- You can use control panel software to schedule updates or backups
- Most control panels inform visitors when updates are underway
- They provide easy access to server logs to identify performance and security issues
- The software helps manage multiple websites and subdomains from a single place
