FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. This means that it is a standardized, agreed-upon method (protocol) for transferring files between two different computers, generally computers that are not on the same network, and which are only connected via the Internet using TCP/IP.
When you are doing FTP, you are generally seated at a particular computer working away at things. This computer is usually referred to as the local host. You will then log onto a remote computer, located somewhere else, called the remote host. Often you will not know where this computer is. All you know is its name or its IP address. But if you have either of those you can reach the remote computer and log on to it. Once you are logged on to the remote computer, you can transfer files from your local host to the remote host (called uploading), or you can transfer files from the remote host to your local host (called downloading).
Generally, to accomplish this task you need to have an account on each computer, and be logged in to that account. Your local host may or may not require a login, depending on the operating system and where it is set up. Most home computers using Windows 95/98 will not insist on a login. The same type of computer on a corporate network probably will require that you be logged in before you have access to the computer. The remote host, though, will always require a login. This means that before you can begin an FTP session you will need three things:
If you do not have all three of these, don't bother trying to login and begin an FTP session, because you won't get far. For Web sites, the company or host that provides your Web site should provide you with all three of these. If you do not know what they are, you should contact their customer service department and ask for this information. Write it down and store it securely, since you may need it again someday.
You could, if you were sufficiently well informed, telnet to the remote host, login, and begin transferring files by typing cryptic commands. But this is fairly geeky stuff to do, and not really necessary. There are a number of FTP clients available that make all of this much easier. Among the more popular are:
If these are not enough options, you can check the invaluable online repository at http://www.tucows.com for more options. Please note that while some of these programs are free, not all of them are. Some are shareware, and shareware programs can be used for limited time, usually 30 days, so you can see if they will do the job for you. After that, you are obligated to pay for them if you plan to continue using them. To keep using shareware that you have not paid for is theft, and no decent person would ever do that.
Once you have acquired an FTP client, you need to install it and configure it. Installation is pretty much standard, you run an *.exe file, tell it which directory to install into, etc. Then you need to open the program and give it some information. Since you may have more than one account you need to work with (such as having multiple Web sites to administer), most clients will let you configure more than one account. But for each account you configure you will need the three pieces of information mentioned above (server name, login name, password). I will run through a quick example using WS-FTP-LE, but it will be pretty similar for any other client.
When you first open WS-FTP-LE, you have a window for creating a Profile. The name you give here is just something that helps you to remember what this particular account is for. You can give it any name you like. If you click the drop-down arrow on the right of Profile name, you will see that there are a number of profiles already created there. These are for public servers that allow anonymous FTP, and they are already configured for you. You can delete any of them if you wish.
Under that is the host name. This is the name of the server that you get from your Web host.
Under that is Host Type. Generally speaking, you will have the best results by leaving that on Automatic Detect. But in some cases, if automatic detect does not work, you can contact the customer service department at your Web host and find out the specific type of server they use and select that instead. In my case, I have never had a problem with Automatic Detect.
Next is User ID. This is the user name, or login name, that identifies your account.
Next is the password. Note that you can check the box next to it and the password will be stored by WS-FTP-LE so that you do not need to enter it each time you log in.
If you have all the information correctly entered, just click the connect button at the lower left and you should connect to the remote host. If this goes well, you will see something like this:
On the left is the local host, and the hard drive is being displayed. On the right is the directory on the remote host that this account has access rights to. If you need to create additional directories on the remote host, just click the MkDir button and type in the name. You can rename files on the remote host with the Rename button, delete files with the Delete button, etc. To transfer a file from your local host to the remote host, find the file in the left-hand window, click on it once to highlight and select it, click the correct button for file type (images are all binary files, HTML pages are all ASCII files), then click the button that points from the left to the right. Your file will be uploaded, and the view of the remote host will update to show that file. To download a file, just find it in the right-hand window, select and highlight it, select the file type, and click on the button that points from the right to the left.
One last thing. If you want to make sure that this Profile always opens to a certain directory on your hard drive, or to a certain directory on the remote host, first navigate to the appropriate directories in each window. When you have both of them the way you want them, click on the Options button at the bottom, select Session, and click the button that says "Save Current Folders as Connection Folders". From now on, any time you connect to this profile, you will always have these directories appear in your windows.
There are lots of other features to any good FTP program, so feel free to explore some of them. Any other program will operate similarly to WS-FTP-LE, so with a little experimenting you should be up and running in no time. If you have any questions, e-mail me. I'd love to hear from you.