A beginner's guide to FTP

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FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol.  FTP allows you to upload files to a website, or download files from a website.  Uploading is the most common method though, as you can usually download files through your web browser.

You need your own domain (e.g. yourname.com) to be able to use FTP.  For instance, if you use blogspot.com or wordpress.com then you won't be able to follow this guide.

To use FTP, you need an FTP program.  I use FileZilla, which is free.  Download the latest version, then run the install program by double-clicking it.  You will then be able to run FileZilla using the shortcut on your desktop or the link on your Start Menu.

Setting up your site

Once FileZilla has opened, click on File, Site Manager.



Click on the New Site button and you'll be able to name the site.  Type the address of your site - in my case I would type in benbarden.com.  Then fill in the boxes on the right-hand side:

• Host - type the address of your site.
  
• Port / Server type - ignore these unless your web host requires you to change them.
  
• Logon type - change this to Normal.
• User / Password - type the username and password supplied by your web host.  They might be referred to as "CPanel Login Details".  Check the welcome email you received from your web host when you signed up.  If you don't know the username and password, ask your web host.

Click the Connect button and you should be connected to your site.

Moving around in FTP

Here's a screenshot showing what FileZilla looks like after connecting to a site.



There are two lists of files.  The files on the left are on your computer - "local files".  The files on the right are on your website - "remote files".  You can go into a folder by double-clicking it, and you can go up one level by double-clicking on the ".." icon at the top of the list.

In the list of remote files, you should see a folder called public_html or htdocs.  Double-click on this folder and you'll see a list of the files used by your site.

Transferring files

Before transferring files, find what you want to upload in the list of files on the left.  Next, go to the folder where you want to put the files using the list on the right.  Both lists need to be in the correct location before you can start.

To upload one file or folder, just click and drag the file or folder from the left side to the right.  Or, you can right-click on the file or folder and select "Upload" in the options that appear.

To upload multiple files or folders (or both), you need to highlight what you want first.  You can click in a blank area in the left-hand list, then drag to draw a box around the files and/or folders that you want.  If you only want certain files or folders, hold the CTRL key on your keyboard and click on each file/folder one at a time with the mouse.  This will highlight individual items.

If you need everything except a couple of items in the list, click in a blank area of the list, and instead of drawing a box, press CTRL+A to highlight the whole list.  Then hold the CTRL key and click with the mouse to deselect items in the list.

To transfer all of the files, click and drag one of the highlighted files to the right-hand side.  I have found this can be problematic as sometimes the mouse tries to draw a box when it should just drag the files.  To address this, start dragging from the file/folder icon to the left of the name, rather than the name itself.

That covers uploading.  Downloading is virtually identical, but you move files from the right side to the left.

You'll see the progress of your file transfers in the status box at the bottom.  When the box is empty, the process is complete.

Renaming and deleting files

You can right-click on a file or folder and rename or delete it.  Be careful though - if you delete something from your website, you can't recover it from the Recycle Bin!



Just say no!  (unless you really do want to delete those files and folders.)

Setting permissions (CHMOD)

If you're installing a blogging or website system, you might be asked to "CHMOD" some files/folders.  To do this, find the file/folder you wish to change in the list of files on the right.  Then right-click on the item and select File Attributes from the list of options.  You'll see a dialog a bit like this:



Usually you'll be given the numeric value, e.g. 777, 755, 666.  All you have to do is type this value into the "Numeric value" box at the bottom of the above dialog.  For instance, if I type 777 into the box that came up earlier, all of the checkboxes will be filled in:



Typing in a different value will change which checkboxes are ticked and which are not.  Click OK when you're done.

In summary

If you have your own domain name, FTP is worth knowing.  Most software providers have installation guides and FTP is often part of the process.  I hope this guide is useful!

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