ftp guide

FTP is just a method of transferring files (ie the pages, images etc that make up your website) from your computer to another computer. We want to send your files to a machine – a Web Server or Web Host , that allows other people on the web to view your pages.

Your ISP should be able to get you some space on a web server. You should be furnished with the following information when you sign up: Host Name or Address, User ID/ Name and Password.

Next you need what’s known as an FTP Client – this is just the application program that allows one computer to talk to another. They have names like, Fetch, Filezilla, CuteFTP, SmartFTP etc etc. HTML editors such as Dreamweaver have FTP built into them.

Again you can find them available for free. We’ll use a popular PC application, the catchily titled WS_FTP LE for our screenshots.

You’ll need to fill in your details so it looks something like this…

Then hit apply & OK. With luck, a fair wind and an internet connection you should make a connection to the remote site (your webserver sitting out there in cyberspace somewhere). Most FTP clients will let you know you have connected and then show you two windows as illustrated below. If you don’t get a connection, check your password, user name etc – they must be exactly right, and case sensitive. Host Name might be in the format ftp.xxx.xxx, www.xxx.xxx , xxx.com, or even just 123.45.67.89 depending on the host.

Once connected you will see your remote (webserver) site on the right and your local (your PC) contents on the left. You can navigate around the folders by clicking. Often you will find a folder on the remote server called ‘public_html’ or ‘www’ – it’s usually a safe bet to bung your files in that folder.

Now just select the webfiles you need to transfer and drag&drop (or use the arrows) over to the right. The file transfer should begin, when finished you should see those files appear in the right hand window, signalling that they have been uploaded. That’s it. You have just uploaded a website. If you can reach, pat yourself on the back.

Remember to upload all images etc along with your pages, and keep the directory (folder) structure the same. Then just enter the URL (web address) into your browser ie http://www.mynewpage.com or http://www.freewebtown.com/cauliflower/ and you should see your new page.

To update pages on the web, simply make your changes to a local version of the page and upload it via FTP. Files with the same name will overwrite older versions on the server so if I change my page “vegetables.html” and upload it to the server it will overwrite the vegetables.html on the server. Go to the URL to see the changes (don’t forget you may need to refresh your browser).

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