Across the Internet there are a lot of passwords you need to remember. So, to help in our little corner of the web, here is a guide all about the different passwords you may have through Reclaim. We will cover Client Area, FTP, cPanel, application, and email passwords, though let us know if there are any extra we should add.
First, we will start with some best practices to keep in mind when using passwords.
Best Practices
Passwords should be at least 10 characters, and include the following:
- Don’t use your username, any personal information, or common words (i.e. “password”) as the password.
- The longer the password the better, but 10 is usually the minimum.
- Try not to use the same password twice, instead, change it up.
- Use any combination (the more the merrier) of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.
Client Portal
This is where you log in to view your hosting accounts, domains, invoices, contact information, subaccounts, and more. This uses the email address associated with your account and a password set by you during signup (or you can use the Lost Password Reset function).
Changing Client Area Password
If you would like to change your client area password, check out Changing Your Client Area Password.
If you instead need to reset it, check out Reset Your Client Area Password.
FTP and cPanel
When you access cPanel through the Client Area your credentials are automatically passed into cPanel for you. Though, it is important to note that they are not the same credentials. Instead, it is your cPanel, FTP, and shell access credentials that are the same.
Along with username and password, FTP/SFTP consists of server/host name and a port number. You can find more information about what FTP is and how to use in our Getting Started with FTP guide.
Changing cPanel/FTP password
If you ever have trouble getting logged into cPanel you can confirm or change that account login by signing into your Client Area and clicking Active Accounts, then View Details next to the associated hosting plan, and then clicking the Change Password tab to view and change the cPanel account credentials.
Additional FTP Account Passwords
Your cPanel password won’t be the password for additional FTP accounts that you create. These passwords are assigned when you create the additional account and can also be easily changed later:
Application(s)
WordPress, Omeka, Scalar, what-have-you. These passwords are set when you install the application through Installatron, though usually they can be changed later. There will be a meter that shows if your password is weak, fair, or strong.
While not required, strong passwords are recommended to keep your site secure. To get a strong password any 3 or more combination of uppercase letter, lowercase letter, number, and special character.
Applications often automatically populate the username/password fields with randomly generated values that you might now have copied down. For apps like WordPress and Omeka Classic, you can change your password in the settings of your application, this guide walks you through that quick process.
Passwords are again separate for email. You choose/generate the password upon creating the email account. They can also be changed by going from cPanel > Email Accounts > Manage.
External Resources
- Here is a password generator that allows you to toggle criteria.
- Another tool that would be helpful is a password manager such as LastPass or 1Password.
As always, if you have any trouble one of our support agents can lend a hand at support@reclaimhosting.com.