A web hosting control panel is a collection of software tools that you can access through a web browser to control your online content. Since you'll get a graphic point-and-click interface, you could use these tools to do various tasks a lot easier than if you need to input complex commands in a command line. All control panels allow you to do some basic things such as managing your files, e-mail addresses and databases or browsing through statistics and logs, yet several of them are easier to use than others and offer more features that can save you time and efforts. In this light, the control panel that you'll obtain with your new web hosting account can really make a difference, which means that you should check it and see whether it will suit your needs before you sign up for the service.