A hosting control panel is a set of instruments that you can access via a web browser to manage your online content. Since you will get a graphic point-and-click interface, you will be able to use these tools to do various tasks much easier than if you need to type complex commands inside a command line. All control panels allow you to do some basic things such as controlling your files, emails and databases or accessing stats and logs, however a few of them are a lot easier to use than others and offer more attributes that can save you efforts and time. In this light, the control panel that you will acquire with a new hosting account can make a difference, therefore you should check it and see if it'll provide what you need before you sign up for the service.