A hosting control panel is a set of instruments that you can access via a browser to control your online content. As you'll have a graphic point-and-click interface, you could use these tools to execute various tasks much easier than if you have to input complex commands in a command line. All control panels allow you to do some basic things such as managing your files, email addresses and databases or opening statistics and logs, however several of them are a lot easier to use than others and contain more features that could save you time and efforts. In this light, the control panel that you'll acquire with your new web hosting account can make a difference, so you should check it and see whether it'll suit your needs before you subscribe for the service.