Web Sites and Ezine Design and Hosting
Download
Download a shareware ftp program from shareware.com or versiontracker.com. For our examples we use Fetch for MacOS and WS_ftp for Windows.- authoring tools may have buggy FTP
- authoring tools may not show you all your files
- authoring tools may require you to setup a whole web site just to transfer a single file
- it's good to have options
Setup Your FTP Program
Your FTP program needs to know certain information to identify and communicate with our host. This information is nearly always:Host Name: yourdomain.com
User Name: FirstLast
Password: <enter your requested password>
That's all you generally need. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here's what you will see:
Setup with Fetch (MacOS)
The information is all here:
Setup with WS_ftp (Windows)
If you don't check the Save Pwd box, you will be prompted for a password.
The next series of screen shots shows you what you will see when you are connected to the host.
Transfer Files with Your FTP Program
To transfer files between your computer and the internet host computer, you choose one or more files with your mouse, then drag and drop them. The direction of your drag and drop depends on whether you are uploading or downloading.
Upload means transfer from your computer to the internet host. Download means transfer from the internet host to your computer.
Naming your files Name your files without any spaces. Our hosts use case-independent file naming. Legal names are: "MyFirstPage.html", "Links-Page.html", "Baby_Pictures.jpeg" and so forth. We normally call our home page files "index.html". Ask us, if you want to name your home page something different. |
Here's what you will see:
Transfer Files with Fetch (MacOS)
Arrange windows on your desktop so you can see both your website folder and the Fetch window.Drag and drop files from your file folder to the Fetch window (left to right) to upload. Drag and drop files from the Fetch window to your hard drive folder to download. In this case "Default.html" is the name of the Web Site Home Page.
Transfer Files with WS_ftp (Windows)
Drag and drop files from left to right for upload. Drag and drop files from right to left to download. In this case "Default.html" is the name of the Web Site Home Page.
It's wise to make a folder on your hard drive that exactly mimics the files on your host Web Site. That way, there is less chance of confusion and error.
