A web hosting control panel is a group of instruments that you can access via a web browser to manage your online content. Since you'll have a graphic point-and-click interface, you can use these instruments to perform various tasks much easier than if you have to input complex commands inside a command line. All control panels allow you to do some basic things such as managing your files, e-mail addresses and databases or opening logs and stats, but several of them are easier to use than others and come with more attributes which can save you efforts and time. In this light, the control panel that you'll obtain with your new web hosting account can make a difference, which means that you should check it and see if it will provide what you need before you register for the service.