The easiest way to view, upload and edit files on your web hosting is to access cPanel‘s built in file manager. There are just a few simple steps to follow to get there.
- Login to cPanel. You can do this directly from your web hosting management page in Dash.
- Find the File Manager link under the Files container. This will likely be the second box on the cPanel homepage.
- Once you have opened the file manager, you will encounter a bunch of intimidating sounding folders! The only one we are interested in right now is called public_html.
- Open this folder and you will see the main directory of your website! Files and folders here will be accessible to your website’s visitors.
If you have never used web hosting before, a fun way to experiment and get a feel for the file manager, and how it affects what your website looks like, you can create a basic HTML file.
- In the top right hand corner of the file manager, click on + File. When prompted for your new file name, type in index.html. This will be the first page your visitors see when they visit your website.
- Now that your new file has been created, you can select it from the list of files, and select the HTML Editor link.
- You will be taken to a basic WYSIWYG editor, which will allow you to put together a basic HTML webpage in a way similar to creating a Word document.
- When you have finished adding some text to your new page, click on Save in the top left corner.
- You can now navigate to your website, where you should see the webpage you just created!
More advanced users can connect to your server using FTP. You can add and manage FTP accounts from the FTP Accounts link on the cPanel homepage. You will be able to access your website’s files from an FTP client such as Filezilla, or with a code editor like Dreamweaver.
