switching from ftp to cpanel

[rorysgirl1]

forgive me for the total newbie question in advance, ok?

i've always had an ftp site at pair.com

my site is being totally redone by someone i've worked with in the past, like, and trust. for stuff we need in the cart, she wanted to upgrade to cpanel. but i think she doesn't get my total lack of understanding about what the switch from basic ftp to cpanel.

for instance, i'm used to writing my pages in html and uploading them on the ftp interface. is that totally gone? can i look at html somewhere to see my pages? to back them up?

and what exactly is cpanel. can someone just tell me basically, for a computer-dumb artist, what it is and what it does?

is it safe? ie what if my host disappears tomorrow? what happens to my site (not that i think she will, but i like to be prepared for disasters). i'm feeling lost and uncomfortable.

 

[hamper]

Hi,

I'm thinking your friend isn't sure what CPanel is either. CPanel isn't what you're thinking it is at all. CPanel is a software program that allows you control over your site. It's not a CMS either. It allows you control over CMS' such as those found in Fantastico. There is a file manager in Cpanel that you can look at your html, edit offline or online and reupload if you desire.

I still code all my pages in notepad, upload via my FTP. I use CPanel to create my email accounts instead of using the commands in the shell, create my FTP accounts instead of in the shell. To create my mysql dbs instead of in the shell at the command line.

Perhaps read the docs on CPanel and it will help you understand a bit more.

HTH