A Control Panel is a web-based interface through which you can manage various aspects of your presence online. As an example, you could set up or edit website files, create and check e-mail messages, manage databases, check visitor stats and so on. Those things are performed using buttons and menus inside a web browser and the Control Panel can also be called ‘back office’, i.e. the admin area associated with your website hosting account. Most Control Panels these days will allow you to manage all hosting-related matters, but you'll commonly need a different system to manage payments or to get a new domain name in case the company offers domain registrations. Based on the platform they use, you may be able to use the billing account to open a support ticket to ask a question or to troubleshoot and fix an issue too, or you might have to employ a third system.