new here, learning about cPanel

[Lindsayanng]

Hello. my name is Lindsay.. I have been a graphic designer and web designers for some years, and finally i just took the plunge and bought my own server. I am lucky because the guy who set it up is basically a guru and really good with security and stuff, so the setup was easy (mainly because he did all of it)

But i definitely want to do a few things, and I just have a few questions..

Plugins/Addons...
Are there actual open source type plugins that work similar to other php script plugins? Or are these your own personal plugins?

I went to the plugins page and tried to figure out what was going on, but it was confusing.

basically there are a few things that I wanted to do to complete my cPanel install..

obviously i want to change the look, which I can do because I can edit the HTML files..

I want to add additional pages.. For instance a help resources page - pages that tell you how to setup your email to work with apple mail, outlook, etc..

i would also LOVE to have a list of sponsored links.. Like create a new category (in the X3 theme) and put some affiliate links in there.

and finally, and I know this is probably the BIGGEST project. I'd like to see how i would go about integrating a domain register account. Basically, i would like to have people have the option to purchase and control their domains through my website.. HOSTMONSTER.com has this on their cPanel.

Anyways.. i'm not expecting you guys to walk me through this and hold my hands, but if you can point me to some good resources for doing this stuff on my own, I would really appreciate it. I cant find too much for some reason.

 

[cPanelDavidG]

Hello. my name is Lindsay.. I have been a graphic designer and web designers for some years, and finally i just took the plunge and bought my own server. I am lucky because the guy who set it up is basically a guru and really good with security and stuff, so the setup was easy (mainly because he did all of it)

But i definitely want to do a few things, and I just have a few questions..

Plugins/Addons...
Are there actual open source type plugins that work similar to other php script plugins? Or are these your own personal plugins?

Plugins can be either links you add to the cPanel interface yourself or new functionality added via third party software. Fantastico, Installatron, Softaculous are all examples of plugins available for cPanel.

I went to the plugins page and tried to figure out what was going on, but it was confusing.

basically there are a few things that I wanted to do to complete my cPanel install..

obviously i want to change the look, which I can do because I can edit the HTML files..

If you edit the HTML files directly, your changes will be overwritten. I recommend using the Branding Editor instead. The Branding Editor does have a CSS editor for experienced designers to use. This will allow you to customize the appearance of the cPanel interface while allowing new features that appear in cPanel to automatically function properly and match your styling.

I want to add additional pages.. For instance a help resources page - pages that tell you how to setup your email to work with apple mail, outlook, etc..

You can easily do that using cPanel plugins. Just place the pages in /usr/local/cpanel/base/frontend/x3/ and you can set the Access URL in the plugin generator to the name of the files (e.g. help.html). You are also welcome to use cPanel's Branding Tags to ensure these pages easily integrate into your custom branding.

More details are available at: InstallingPlugins < AllDocumentation/AutomationIntegration < TWiki

i would also LOVE to have a list of sponsored links.. Like create a new category (in the X3 theme) and put some affiliate links in there.

We are working on supporting this officially. In the meantime, you can use this post as a guide to creating custom groups in X3:

http://forums.cpanel.net/f42/custom-display-groups-cpanel-95781.html#post568149

and finally, and I know this is probably the BIGGEST project. I'd like to see how i would go about integrating a domain register account. Basically, i would like to have people have the option to purchase and control their domains through my website.. HOSTMONSTER.com has this on their cPanel.

There's many ways to do this. One method you may want to do is become a domain reseller, setup some billing software like WHMCS to handle the transactions and then just add a link in cPanel for your customers to acquire domains using the billing automation software.

 

[Lindsayanng]

Thank you SO much for the great response.

So I have gotten into the WHM branding editor. I am AMAZED at how easy this all is. And it makes me happy to know that I am only editing HTML files so I can't really break anything.

So i basically designed the cpanel as a mock in illustrator and now I am branding.. but I am REALLY freaking confused.

I did a few things and it seems that no changes are showing.

First, i cloned a theme so that when I edit it, i will not loose the original.

Then i went to the branding editor, chose my style called BSC Hosting and clicked the EDIT LIVE link. THAT then brings me to a page with 20 or so themes.. I really only want to give my clients ONE choice (the one i design) so I disabled ALL of the other themes and just kept BLACK ICE because the styles were similar to what I wanted.

I then when over to my test cpanel account and clicked on CHANGE STYLE and I saw Black Ice there, but when I enabled it, it did not give me my design.

Then i went BACK to the theme editor and saw that there was a way to create a "Branding" so I did that using an existing theme as a base and re-added all of my images and styling.

STILL NOTHING!!!!

When i go to cPanel, I dont even SEE the branding theme that I created called bsc-hosting

I think i am REALLY confused as to how this all works!

 

[Lindsayanng]

ALRIGHT!!! So i got it.. I figured out that i had to apply the branding to a particular package, and then once that is done I can control what everyone who is on that package can see.

There is one thing that i would like to do, and that is remove the option in the groups to choose a style (in cPanel). I really only want to give my clients one choice for now.. the one that I designed with our logos.

the other issue is.. there is some CSS that I want to change that is not in the branding HTML files.. So how do i get there??

Its just some fonts and height attributes for the group headers (h6)

 

[cPanelDavidG]

ALRIGHT!!! So i got it.. I figured out that i had to apply the branding to a particular package, and then once that is done I can control what everyone who is on that package can see.

There is one thing that i would like to do, and that is remove the option in the groups to choose a style (in cPanel). I really only want to give my clients one choice for now.. the one that I designed with our logos.

In WHM, go to the Packages section and click on Feature Manager. You can either create a new feature list and assign that to your packages - or disable this in the special "disabled" feature list, thus disabling this for all users on the system (including you).

When you edit a Feature List, uncheck "Change Style" to disable this. If you are making your own Feature List, once you finish making the Feature List - just assign it to the package(s) you want to apply it to. You can do this on the Edit Packages screen.

the other issue is.. there is some CSS that I want to change that is not in the branding HTML files.. So how do i get there??

Its just some fonts and height attributes for the group headers (h6)

You can add your own CSS by going to the Branding Editor then click on the style you want to edit, then click on "Edit Style-sheet." You can specify any CSS you want in this screen (file). Additionally, any CSS you put here will override any other CSS.