# Layout and preferences

> The client panel's two layouts, its themes and five languages, the links that open a dialog directly, and the customer's own notifications — who chooses each and what a support session can change.

Source: https://www.corepanel.net/docs/client-panel/layout/
Last updated: 2026-10-19
Part of the CorePanel documentation — https://www.corepanel.net/docs

---

The client panel can be laid out two ways, in two themes and five languages, and each
customer has their own notifications feed. You set the defaults; the customer can change
them for their account. This page covers each preference and who decides it.

## Two layouts

Both views have the same sections, URLs and permissions. Only the home page changes.

- **Icon view** (default) — the home page is headed by the account's domain, with a
  *Visit site* button, over a page of tools grouped the way cPanel groups them: Domains,
  Email, Files & backups, Databases, Security, WordPress, Advanced and Preferences, each
  group in its own colour. Beside each section sit the functions a cPanel customer looks for by name
  (*New subdomain*, *Autoresponders*, *phpMyAdmin & SQL*, *Restore a database*…), each
  opening straight on what it names. Beside them, **Account overview**, a **WAF protection**
  card — the attacks blocked in the last 30 days, a bar per day and a link to the WAF
  screen — and **Usage** against the plan. On a phone the WAF card shrinks to one line under
  the overview. Tools sit two to a row, one on a phone.
- **List view** — the home page is a summary: counts of domains, subdomains, databases and
  cron jobs, and the list of domains. The sidebar shows the functions under the section that
  is open.

In both, the sidebar sits down the left, its sections under the same group headings as
the icon view, and search, notifications, language, theme and the
account menu run across the top. Opening one WordPress site or one database shrinks the
sidebar to icons while the customer is inside it.

**⌘K** (Ctrl+K) or the *Search the panel* field searches every section and function. It
understands what customers type: "phpmyadmin" finds Databases, "default address" finds
the catch-all.

### Who chooses the layout

- **You set the default** in **Server → Settings → Client panel** (Pro and Business,
  super-administrators only). It applies to every account that has not chosen.
- **The customer can override it** in **My account → Appearance** or the account menu.
  *"Whatever my provider chooses"* puts them back on your default.

The choice is stored on the account, so it follows them to any device.

> **Note**
>
> Since the October 2026 redesign the default is icon view, and the upgrade moved every
> server to it — including servers where list view had been picked on purpose. To keep list
> view, set it again in **Server → Settings → Client panel**.
## Links that open a dialog

Every function has its own address, so you can send a customer straight to it from a ticket,
a help article or a WHMCS template. A link only **opens** the dialog; nothing is saved until
the customer confirms.

| Link | Opens |
|---|---|
| `/my/sites?open=add-subdomain` | *Add subdomain* |
| `/my/sites?open=add-domain&type=addon` | *Add domain* with Addon chosen (`type=alias` for an alias) |
| `/my/sites?open=settings&domain=shop.example.com` | That site's settings: HTTPS redirect, www, web mode |
| `/my/sites?pick=settings` | Asks for a site, then opens its settings |
| `/my/wordpress?open=install` | *Install WordPress* |
| `/my/wordpress?pick=login` | Asks for a site, then signs in to its wp-admin |
| `/my/wordpress?pick=updates` | Asks for a site, then its plugins and themes (`pick=restore`, `pick=security`) |
| `/my/email?pick=autoresponder` | Asks for a mailbox, then its autoresponder (`pick=filters`, `pick=security`) |
| `/my/forwarders?open=catch-all` | The catch-all of the last selected domain (`open=domain-redirect` for the whole-domain redirect) |
| `/my/dns?open=verify` | *Verify my domain* (`open=mail`, `point`, `website`, `spf`, `custom` for the other tasks) |
| `/my/databases?pick=sql` | Asks for a database, then its SQL console (`pick=users` for its users) |
| `/my/files?view=trash` | The File Manager trash |
| `/my/ftp?open=add` | *Add FTP account* |
| `/my/ssh?open=add-key` | *Add SSH key* |
| `/my/backups?pick=files` | Asks for a backup, then its files (`pick=databases`, `pick=mail`) |
| `/my/backups/<id>?tab=databases` | That backup, on its databases (`tab=files`, `tab=mail`) |
| `/my/apps?app=api&focus=logs` | The application `api`, on its logs (`focus=env` for its variables) |
| `/my/apps?pick=logs` | Asks for an application, then its logs (`pick=env`) |

A `pick` link asks the customer which item they mean, unless there is only one.

## Theme

The panel **follows the customer's computer**: **Classic Blue** (light, with a navy menu)
on a light desktop, dark on a dark one. The sun/moon button offers Classic Blue, Dark and
System. The choice is kept per browser, separately from your own panel's theme.

## Language

English, Spanish, German, Indonesian and Brazilian Portuguese, from the globe in the header,
**My account → Appearance → Language**, or the login form.

- Until the customer chooses, the panel follows their **browser**. Once they choose, it is
  stored on the account.
- Any Portuguese (`pt`, `pt-PT`, `pt-BR`) gets Brazilian Portuguese; anything else
  unsupported gets English.
- **Notification emails are still in English**, whatever the panel's language.

## Notifications

The customer has their own bell and feed with the **account owner** copy of each event —
the same one [emailed to them](https://www.corepanel.net/docs/notifications#who-gets-told). Your copy, and anything
about the server itself, is not there.

![The Notifications screen of the client panel: a severity filter and an "Unread only" toggle above a feed of five entries — a warning that a known vulnerability affects the Contact Form Lite plugin on example.com, an informational WordPress update, a warning that the account is close to its disk limit showing 8.6 GB of 10 GB and a ×2 chip, a completed backup and the account's own creation. Unread entries are highlighted and offer "mark as read" and delete. Below the feed, an "Email me about this" card gives the recipient address, a "Send me email" switch and a minimum severity of Info.](https://www.corepanel.net/_astro/client-panel-notifications-light.DfwXVggb.png)

They can read, mark as read and delete entries, and choose what reaches their mailbox:

- **Send me email** — off keeps everything on the page only.
- **Minimum severity** — **Info by default**, so "your backup finished" reaches them.

The digest interval, the From address and sending a test stay with you. Read status is
separate: clearing their feed does not touch yours.

## In a support session

When you [log in as a customer](https://www.corepanel.net/docs/client-panel/access#logging-in-as-a-customer), you
can switch the layout, theme and language to see what they see — **nothing is saved** to
their account. Their notification preferences are read-only to you.
