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How To Use FTP?
What is FTP?
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is the simplest and most
secure way to exchange files over the Internet.
Although you can upload web pages via online
control panel, most Webmasters choose FTP to upload or download files.
It's faster and more reliable.
FrontPage and Dreamwaver have built-in FTP
features. Or you can use standalone FTP applications such as WS_FTP.
The LE version is free to download. Personally, I prefer
standalone software.
How to use FTP?
It's not as hard as it sounds to use FTP. Just
follow these simple steps.
I take WS_FTP as example here. Any other FTP
software should work similarly.
Step 1 - Connect to the Internet.
Step 2 - Launch WS_FTP LE.
Step 3 - Connect to your web site:
When WS_FTP LE first launches, it opens the Session
Properties window. Here is where you select which FTP
site you want to connect to for this session.
From this Session Properties window, click on the
"New"
button.
All fields should go blank. Now you can create a new FTP site
"Profile". The following information is what you'll need to
connect to your Website:
Profile
Name |
Anything You
Want |
Host
Name/Address |
The FTP Address |
User
ID |
Your User Name |
Password |
Your Password |
Check 'Save Password' so that you don't have to
re-enter it every time you want to upload files.
Now click the "Apply"
button. Congratulations, you have successfully created an
"FTP Profile" in WS_FTP LE!
Click on the OK button and WS_FTP LE will connect
you to your site.
Step 4 - Transfer files
Your screen should now look like this:
The left-hand side is a view of the files on your 'Local
System' (your computer). The right-hand side is a view of
the files on the 'Remote System' (Your web site server).
To transfer files between the left and right side, highlight a
file and click on one of the two arrows located in between the
panes.
The default view of your Local System (left
pane) is 'C:\Program Files\WS_FTP'. You can move up to
'C:\Program Files' by double-clicking the green up-arrow.
To move up to to 'C:\', double-click the up arrow again. To
change to another drive letter, scroll down and double-click on
any available drive.
Some Useful FTP Tips
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Make sure there's index.html file in each and
every directory. Otherwise, visitors may have access to all
the files in this directory.
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Unix systems are case sensitive.
-
Unix filenames also may contain almost any type of
character, and sometimes this may confuse FTP clients. If you
have trouble retrieving or linking to a file, try using
wildcards in FTP to delete it, and replace it with a file that
doesn't have spaces or other special characters in its name.
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CGI scripts must have file
permissions set to "executable". Otherwise they will not
run correctly.
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You should upload graphic files (such as .jpg or .gif files)
in 'Binary' mode with FTP, and HTML or scripts in 'Ascii' mode.
Feel free to use this article in your
publication or web site.
It's pre-licensed to you.
The only requirement is to include this resource box:
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Article by Zac Hewlett at
1stSingaporeWebHosting
Visit http://www.1stSingaporeWebHosting.com
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