[Featured] Quick Answers to Common Questions

In this article, we've compiled a list of common answers to questions asked to our Support team. We have included knowledge base articles to answer questions. You are welcome to search our knowledge base for more information on specific answers to your questions.

Here are the main topics we will cover in this article: 

• Account Management (Customer Portal) ⤵
• Hosting & Website Management (Customer Portal) ⤵
• cPanel Management ⤵
• Domains & DNS ⤵
• Emails ⤵
• View & Update PHP Version ⤵
• Website Error Message ⤵
• Troubleshoot WordPress Error ⤵
• Build a WordPess Site ⤵

Account Management (Customer Portal)

Do you need help accessing your Customer Portal? Here are the articles to help you get started with your account with us.

Account Overview:

• Customer Portal Overview – HostGator continuously improves the Customer Portal so you can conveniently manage your billing and hosting account with us, allowing you complete control of every aspect of your HostGator account.
• Customer Portal - How to Login – This article discusses how to log in to your Customer Portal.
• Customer Portal - How to Merge Accounts - This article will guide you in merging your multiple HostGator accounts within the Customer Portal.

Billing:

• Guide to Invoices – This article will go over how to locate invoices, check their payment status, and read invoices based on the hosting product type.
• Invoicing and Automatic Billing - Discusses HostGator's billing policies.
• Recurring Charges: What You Need to Know - This article will walk you through understanding the recurring charges in your HostGator account.
• Customer Portal - Manage Credit Cards - This article will guide you on adding and managing your card or payment method(s) within the Customer Portal. 

User Role:

• Customer Portal - User and Roles Permissions - This article will outline the users and roles, detailing their capabilities when using the Customer Portal or contacting HostGator for support.
• Customer Portal - Profile - This article helps you manage your account contact information in the Customer Portal.

Support:

• Customer Portal - Contact Support - Need assistance for your account? This article lists the contact details and support options for you.

Hosting & Website Management (Customer Portal)

HostGator has simplified the management of your hosting account through your Customer Portal. The platform has been enhanced and now includes additional features and functionalities, so you can easily manage your hosting account and websites with us.

• How to Manage SSH Keys in the Customer Portal - This article explains how to use the SSH Management panel in the Customer Portal and manage your SSH keys.
• How to Redirect a Domain - This guide will help you set up a domain redirect.
• How to Create and Manage FTP Accounts in Customer Portal - This article will walk you through creating and managing FTP accounts through your Customer Portal.
• How to Create and Manage Indexes in the Customer Portal - This article will walk you through the steps to manage indexes in the Customer Portal.
• How to Enable HostGator Directory Privacy Protection - This article discuses how to activate and remove the dirctory privacy protection.
• How to Manage MySQL Databases and Users in Customer Portal - This guide will walk you though managing your MySQL database through your Customer Portal.
• How to Manage Your Database with phpMyAdmin - This guide will walk you through the key features and best practices for using phpMyAdmin through the Customer Portal.
• How do I Create and Manage a Cron Job in Customer Portal - This article discusses how to manage cron jobs within the Customer Portal.
• How to View Error Logs for Website Troubleshooting - This article explains how to access the error logs in your Customer Portal to resolve website issues.
• How to View Access Logs in the Customer Portal - This article covers how to view the access logs in your Customer Portal to enhance you site's security and performance.

If you prefer using cPanel to manage your websites, please see the cPanel Management section below.

cPanel Management

Are you just starting web hosting and curious about cPanel, or do you prefer managing your website using cPanel? If yes, here are articles tailored for beginners about the cPanel control dashboard.

• A Beginner's Guide to cPanel – If you are just getting started with web hosting, you will likely hear about cPanel at some point, but what is it? In short, cPanel is a control panel you see in your hosting plan and where you can access all the server features.
• Generate & Download a Website Backup | cPanel Backups – All our accounts can keep a full backup of their hosting package. The method necessary for creating a backup depends on your hosting type.
• How to Access your Emails through cPanel - This article discusses the different methods of accessing the Email Accounts section of your cPanel.
• How to Log in to cPanel | Launch cPanel via URL - Here is how to access the cPanel through the Customer Portal.
• How to Navigate Through File Manager – With the File Manager in cPanel, you can upload your files immediately. You can manage all the files associated with your account using the cPanel interface.

Domains & DNS

Are you looking for articles to help you manage your domains or DNS records? Here are the articles to guide you.

• Customer Portal - Domains - This article will walk you through the Domains tab of your Customer Portal.
• Domain Overview - Here is our consolidated guide of domain-related articles.
• Domain Concepts - Learn more about domains and what you can do with them!
• Domain How-To's - You may visit our go-to articles for domain management.
• Domain Troubleshooting - This is the ultimate guide to troubleshooting common domain-related website issues.
• DNS Troubleshooting Guide - This article provides troubleshooting tips for common DNS issues.
• Making DNS Changes to the Domain Bought from HostGator - This article will help you manage the domains you registered with HostGator through your Customer Portal.
• What are my Name Servers? - This will guide you in managing your name servers through your Customer Portal.

Emails

Do you need help with articles to help you set up, manage, and troubleshoot your emails? Here are email articles to equip you.

Premium Email Purchase & Setup:

• Professional Email Product Overview - This article discusses the key features of Professional Email.
• Professional Email - How to Set up and Create an Email Account - This is your guide in purchasing and creating an email account with Professional Email.
• Setup Professional Email MX and TXT records - This will walk you through setting up the DNS records of your Professional Email.
• What is Google Workspace (Formerly G Suite)? - This article discusses how you can purchase and manage Google Workspace.
• Google Workspace (Formerly G Suite) Setup Part 1 - This article will walk you through purchasing and setting up Google Workspace with a domain you've registered with HostGator.
• Guide to Using Google Workspace with an External Domain - If you're using external domains for your Google Workspace, refer to this article in setting up your Google Workspace.

Webmail & Third-Party Email Client Setup:

• Email Connection Settings - When setting up your email client or email applications, your settings must match the settings provided in your hosting account. This article covers a complete set of matching settings for each desired email configuration for our servers.
• Client Settings - Outlook, Eudora, Thunderbird, Mac, iPad, Phone - You can use any email client to log into the server and receive, manage, and send mail.
• How to Log in to Webmail - Webmail is a great feature offered by cPanel. This tutorial will cover logging in to your HostGator-hosted webmail once those accounts have been created.
• How Do I Create Email Accounts in cPanel - You have no email account by default. The primary username may look like it is set up as an email, but you will need to add it as an email account if you wish to use it.
• Use SpamAssassin - SpamAssassin works for all of the email accounts in your cPanel. It can be set to mark spam messages, making them easy to notice. You can also configure SpamAssassin to delete any emails marked as spam automatically.

Email Troubleshooting:

• Are you able to receive emails but not send? - In this guide, we've listed the directions on changing the outgoing email port to 26 or 587 if your ISPs are blocking port 25.
• Are you able to send emails but not receive? - In this guide, we've gathered the most commonly known issues about why you are not receiving emails in your HostGator free email (webmail).

View & Update PHP Version

• How Do I Update the PHP Version on my Site (Customer Portal & cPanel) - This article will guide you in updating the PHP version of your website through the Customer Portal and cPanel.
• How to View PHP Info in the Customer Portal - This guide will walk you through viewing your site's PHP version within the Customer Portal.

Website Error Message

Are you getting an error message when visiting your website? Here is the list of common website errors that you might encounter. Check the articles to find out the cause and how to fix it.

• 403 Forbidden or No Permission to Access - If you receive a 403 Forbidden error message, it signifies that you are either not authorized to see the requested file, resource, or page, or you do not have the authorization to do so.
• 404 Error Page -  A 404 error means a file cannot be found. If you have already uploaded the file, the name is either misspelled or in the wrong folder.
• 500 Error Internal Server Error - This article will discuss the commonly known causes of the 500 Internal Server Error and the general troubleshooting steps for resolving them.
• Error Page Codes - This article provides you with a list of error codes you may encounter on your website.

Troubleshoot WordPress Error

Are you experiencing an issue that'll take your WordPress website offline or make it very difficult to use? Although these issues can be frustrating, they are solvable most of the time. Check some of the most common WordPress stumbling blocks and show you how to solve them.

• Fix the Critical Error on Your WordPress Website - A critical error message you want to get immediately fixed.
• Fix the Internal Server Error in WordPress - Not all instances of the 500 Internal Server errors are related to WordPress. Other problems can cause by the server as well. The common reasons for WordPress's 500 Internal Server problems are covered in this post.
• Repair a Broken Database - Use this article to reveal the cause of the broken database. If the problem is "marked as crashed," proceed with the steps.
• Troubleshooting Common WordPress Login Issues - Have trouble logging into WordPress dashboard? These might be annoying, particularly if you want to update your WordPress website quickly.
• WordPress Blog Blank Pages - A corrupted plugin or theme is most likely to cause your WordPress blog to stall or not respond. The blog will load in your browser either with a blank page or continually until it times out.
• WordPress Home Fix - Incorrectly configured URLs in your WordPress blog's database are often caused if the links on your website display the wrong domain, redirecting to another website, or lacking styling.

Build a WordPress Site

Are you looking to build a website from scratch using WordPress, but don't know where to start? WordPress can be daunting when you first start, but even the most extensive beginner can get an excellent website by reading these articles.

• Guide to WordPress Block Editor - With the release of WordPress 5.0 back in 2019, WordPress incorporated the new Gutenberg editor as the default content editor. The Gutenberg editor, known as the Block Editor, allows more customized options when creating and adding content to a WordPress site.
• Guide to WordPress Pages and Posts - Post over pages? Or pages over posts? Knowing the differences between the two can help you create content faster without thinking about which to use. Keep in mind that correct content structure is crucial since each page or post has a different set of features and functions.
• Guide to WordPress Plugins - Using plugins is another excellent feature of WordPress. A plugin is a small application of software that improves the features of a WordPress website and enhances website functions. 
• Guide to WordPress Themes – WordPress is an excellent Content Management System (CMS) for building a website for a business or hobby.Its popularity has allowed numerous themes to be created, either free or paid upgrades, and even premium ones.
• Guide to Publishing a WordPress Page or Post - You are getting close to the next stage of your website hosting journey after selecting your theme and plugin(s) and adding content to your pages and posts. Your website is ready for launch!
• Install WordPress Manually – WordPress can be instantly installed via Softaculous, so there is no need to install it manually; but, if you want a more technical or manual option, this guide will cover the steps.
• Install WordPress With Softaculous –  In this article, we'll cover how to install WordPress using Softaculous.