What you can brand as a reseller
As a reseller you can present cPanel to your customers under your own name and logo rather than ours. What you cannot do is remove cPanel's own branding entirely, since cPanel's licensing requires their attribution to remain.
In practice you can change the logo, the favicon, the documentation and help links, and the name your customers see, which is enough for the control panel to look like part of your service rather than someone else's.
Before you start
Two things are worth setting up first, because they make everything else look consistent:
Private nameservers. If your customers are still pointing at our nameservers, branding the control panel is a half measure. Set up nameservers on your own domain and use those for your customers' domains.
A hostname on your own domain for the control panel, such as cpanel.yourdomain.co.uk, so the address bar does not show ours. Ask us and we will help you set this up with a valid certificate.
Customising cPanel
Log in to WHM and find cPanel Customization. The quickest way to reach it is to type "customization" into the search box at the top of the WHM sidebar.
Jupiter is the only cPanel theme in current versions, so there is no theme to choose. Everything is done through this one interface.
From here you can set:
- Logo. Upload your own, and supply both a light and a dark version if you have them so it works in either display mode. A transparent PNG or an SVG gives the best result.
- Favicon. The small icon in the browser tab.
- Documentation link. Point this at your own knowledgebase instead of cPanel's documentation, so customers looking for help arrive with you.
- Help link. Point this at your support desk or ticket system. This is the single most valuable change, because it routes support requests to you rather than leaving customers wondering who to ask.
Save, then log in to one of your own cPanel accounts to check the result. Customers with a session already open may need to refresh before they see the change.
Set your contact details
Also in WHM, set your public contact information so that system-generated messages and interfaces show your details rather than a blank or a default. Customers who receive an automated notice should be able to tell who it came from.
Email templates
The messages cPanel sends to your customers, such as quota warnings and new account details, can be edited so they carry your wording and your support address. Look for the email templates section in WHM.
It is worth reading through the account creation email in particular, since that is the first thing a new customer receives from you.
Branding your own client area
Most of what customers actually see day to day is your billing and support system rather than cPanel itself. If you use WHMCS or something similar, that is where the majority of your branding effort belongs. Single sign-on from your client area into cPanel means many customers never see a cPanel login page at all.
What to check when you have finished
- Log in to a test cPanel account as a customer would and confirm the logo, favicon and colours are yours.
- Click the help and documentation links and confirm they arrive at your site, not ours or cPanel's.
- Create a test account and read the email it generates.
- Check it on a phone as well as a desktop.
Things that catch people out
Logos that only work on one background. Check both light and dark display modes.
Oversized image files. A large logo loads on every control panel page. Keep it small.
Links left pointing at cPanel's documentation. This is the most common oversight, and it sends your customers to generic documentation that does not describe your service.
Expecting to remove cPanel's branding completely. Not possible, and attempting to work around it puts your licence at risk.
Need a hand?
If you would like help setting up private nameservers, a control panel hostname on your own domain with a valid certificate, or working through the customisation options, open a support ticket and we will go through it with you.
