Knowledge Base
Categories: General Information
Quick Answers to Common Support Questions
Welcome to your HostGator quick-start guide! Whether you are launching a brand-new website, troubleshooting an unexpected error, or just trying to log into your dashboard, we have rounded up our most popular step-by-step articles and video tutorials right here to give you a helping hand. Think of this page as your toolkit to easily manage cPanel, configure your domain, fix errors, and optimize your WordPress site. Explore the categories below to find exactly what you need to keep your online presence running smoothly.
Need help with your website?
Here are some common requests and quick tips to get you started.
Account Issues
- Log in to the Customer Portal - From here, you can access cPanel and everything else.
- Change your DNS or name servers - If you have an existing domain, your domain name must be configured to work with your new hosting account. Follow the instructions here to connect your name servers with your HostGator account.
- DNS records - Do you already own a domain? Connect your domain to your hosting package by setting your name servers. Here’s how.
- Domain propagation - Domain not working? It could be because of propagation. If you bought a new domain or made a major change, such as changing your name servers, it may take 24-48 hours to start working.
- How to find your name server - Not sure what your name server is? Or if you need to change it? Read more about name servers and how to find your name server.
- Email issues - Can you send emails but can’t receive them? Here are some troubleshooting steps.
- Transfer a domain - Ready to transfer your domain to HostGator? We recommend keeping your domain and hosting package with the same company. It just makes everything more manageable in the long run. Follow the steps in this article.
- Install your free SSL - An SSL certificate helps protect information passed from your website to the server. So when someone enters a credit card or fills out a form, that information will be protected. HostGator offers a free SSL certificate for all web hosting packages, and we have upgraded Positive or EV SSL Certificates for purchase.
Videos
Navigate cPanel and Customer Portal
- A Beginners Guide to cPanel - New to HostGator? Here’s a quick guide on using cPanel to manage your account, email accounts, domain names, and more.
- Customer Portal Overview - Learn to navigate the Customer Portal for basic tasks, such as making payments, making purchases, and managing your domain's name servers.
- FTP Getting Started - Need a way to access and manage your files using an FTP client of your choice? Please visit this article for more information.
- How to Navigate through File Manager - File Manager is a quick and easy way to navigate your files in your HostGator hosting account. See this article to learn more.
Videos
Common website error messages
- 403 Forbidden or No Permission to Access - When file or folder permissions are incorrect, you will see a 403 error.
- 404 Error Page - You will see this error when a typographical error occurs, the URL is incorrect, or an element is missing from a page.
- 500 Internal Server Error - There are several possible causes of a 500 error page. See this article to know how to resolve this.
PHP Error Messages
- How Do I Update the PHP Version on My Site - Updating your site's PHP version fixes the problem with how your server handles PHP packages.
- How to Fix Error After MultiPHP Update - The article will discuss the workaround for fixing the Multiphp error.
Videos
All about WordPress
- HostGator Softaculous Auto-Script Installer - Install WordPress from cPanel using the cPanel's one-click installer, Softaculous.
- How to Install WordPress Manually - If you have issues with Softaculous, for some reason, you still have the option to manually install WordPress. This might be helpful for our more advanced hosting packages like dedicated servers, resellers, or VPS.
- Guide to WordPress Themes - Follow this guide to learn how to choose and install a WordPress design theme and get your WordPress site going!
Videos
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