Here are some basics about your hosting account.
Username and Password:
These are stated in the welcome email you received with your account activation. They are used to access your hosting control panel. If your account has been migrated from another hosting company, these should be the same as they were with them.
Hosting Control Panel:
Your hosting control panel (cPanel is the brand of software used) is where you setup email accounts, work with databases, create sub-domains and much more. It is the heart of your website hosting environment. You can access your cPanel through your browser at www.your_domain.com/cpanel.
Webmail:
Once email accounts are setup in cPanel, you can get to your email from anywhere you have internet access. Again, it is accessed in your browser at www.your_domain.com/webmail. The username is your full email address (johndoe@your_domain.com) and the password is what you set for that email account.
Email Client Software Settings:
You can use any email client software you like on your computer. (Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Eudora, etc.) To send and receive email using that software, you need to apply some settings to access the email accounts in your cPanel. There are some automatic settings installers in cPanel for a few client programs. If you need to set or change your settings manually, here are the basics:
Mail Server Username: email@yourdomain.com
Incoming Mail Server: mail.yourdomain.com
Incoming port: 110
Outgoing Mail Server: mail.yourdomain.com
Outgoing port: 26
Outgoing server requires authentication – use the same settings as the incoming server.
Example for johndoe@mywebsite.org
Mail Server Username: johndoe@mywebsite.org
Incoming Mail Server: mail.mywebsite.org
Outgoing Mail Server: mail.mywebsite.org
port 26
server requires authentication is checked
FTP (File Transfer Protocal):
FTP is used to transfer files to and from your hosting space. You can upload the files you want to make web accessible to the "public_html" directory in your account. DO NOT delete files that have been created by the system or your account may cease to work! FTP software has some settings to be able to connect to your hosting:
Host Name: ftp.your_domain.com
Username: your cPanel username
Password: your cPanel password
In cPanel, you can create new FTP only users that can transfer files, but not get into cPanel settings. For a developer, you can create an FTP user that has access to the /public_html/ folder. This way, you do not have to give out your cPanel username and password.
Video Tutorials:
There are a number of video tutorials outlining more details here.