User Guide
Welcome to HostCraft. This manual explains every screen in the panel and walks you through the tasks you will actually do: signing in, adding websites, setting up email, managing databases and DNS, handling files, running backups, and keeping your account secure.
You do not need to know how the platform works under the hood. Each page names the exact buttons and fields you see on screen, says who is allowed to use them, and lists the common errors with their fixes.
Who this guide is for
Section titled “Who this guide is for”HostCraft shows a different panel depending on who you are. The same login page serves everyone, and after sign-in you land in the area that matches your role.
| You are | You land on | What you manage |
|---|---|---|
| Server administrator | Overview (/admin) |
The whole server: accounts, resellers, plans, mail, security, updates, licence |
| Reseller | Overview (/reseller) |
The accounts, plans, domains and backups in your pool |
| Account owner | Dashboard (/) |
Your own hosting account: websites, email, databases, DNS, files and more |
| Sub-user | Dashboard (/) |
The parts of an account the owner has granted you |
| Mailbox user | My mailbox (/mailbox) |
One email address: password, automatic reply, forwarding, filters, webmail |
See Roles and access control for the full permission model.
Sections in this guide
Section titled “Sections in this guide”- Getting started: signing in, two-step verification, password reset, the dashboard, navigation, the command palette, and your profile
- Websites: add a website, pick a PHP handler and version, manage SSL, and control caching
- Email: mailboxes, forwarders, autoresponders, filters, webmail, and external mail providers
- My mailbox and webmail: for mailbox-only logins, reading mail and changing your mailbox settings
- Databases: create databases and users, open Adminer, manage database backups
- DNS: zone records, DNSSEC, import and export, and common DNS pitfalls
- Files: file manager, uploads, permissions, SFTP access, and quota
- FTP accounts: extra FTP logins limited to a folder
- Terminal: a browser shell for your account
- Backups: backup repositories, scheduled jobs, snapshots, and restore
- Security: firewall rules, quarantine, file integrity monitoring and spam reporting
- WordPress: install, updates, staging, vulnerability scanning, and hardening
- Applications: Node.js and Python apps
- Git: repositories and deployments
- Cron jobs: scheduled tasks, cron syntax, run-now testing, and execution history
- Analytics: per-site visitor stats and data export
- Settings: profile, password, 2FA, sessions, API tokens, sub-users and SSH access
- Reseller guide: for resellers managing their own customer accounts
Server administrators should read the Admin Guide.
If you are new here, start with Getting started.
