Whether you are installing a platform like WordPress or manually creating HTML files, one thing you will have to use eventually (probably sooner than later!) is FTP.
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and is simply a program that lets you copy files to and from your web server (or any other computer). If you are comfortable using Windows Explorer to navigate the hard drive on your computer then you should be able to get around FTP pretty easily.
There are several good FTP programs out there. I prefer to use CuteFTP, which is a paid program (but reasonably prices) but I can also recommend FileZilla FTP Client which is free and full featured.
Okay! So you have y our first HTML files ready to go or you’re ready to manually upload and install WordPress… Now what??
Well, download and install your FTP client of choice and get ready to upload your files!.
If you are setting up a new site, you’re probably going to want to install the files on the root (top level) of your website so that they’ll load when someone just types in your domain name. If you place the files in a folder on a second or lower level then you’ll have to include that folder name in the URL. Instead of typing www.icanmakeawebsite.com your visitors would have to type www.icanmakeawebsite.com/foldername. Keep in mind that some web hosts (including PowWeb) put the root of your website in a folder. When you connect to your website you’ll see one or more folders including one called HTDocs. The HTdocs folder is the top level of your website on PowWeb, so you’ll want to put your files in there. If you put them at the same level as HTDocs, they won’t be accessible from your website.
Let’s do a quick walk through of uploading a file using Filezilla:
First, you’ll need to open Site Manager to set up the connection
In site manager, you’ll click New Site and give it a simply name to remember what the connection is.
On the right side of the window, you’ll put in your connection details like site name and user ID. Often, the site name will be your website preceded by FTP, for example: ftp.icanmakeawebsite.com. Your User ID and password should be given to you by your webhost. If you are a PowWeb customer, you can easily create FTP ID’s in the control panel. After you put in your site and user information, click connect.
Once you’re connected, you’ll see the window below. The left side is the pc you’re typing on and the right side is your web server. Again, notice the htdocs folder which is where my web host puts the root of your website.
When you type in a website address and don’t specify a file name at the end (for example, typing in icanmakeawebsite.com instead of icanmakeawebsite.com/index.html) the web browser automatically looks for a file named index.html or default.htm. This makes allows your visitors to automatically load your main (index) page without having to know the name of the page. If your website root folder is empty then your visitors will get an error message when visiting your site. So your first step will either be to upload an index.html file or upload the installation files for another platform such as WordPress.
In this case, if I want to upload the index.html file that I have created on my PC, I will locate it (I saved it to c:\temp) then simply drag and drop the file from the lower left window to the htdocs folder in the lower right window. As soon as the copy is complete, you will be able to view the file on your website via your web browser.
If you want to copy a lot of files or folders, you can just select all of them on the left side and drage and drop them to the right side.
You can also do this in reverse if you have files and folders on your website (the right side) that you want to download to your pc, you can just drag and drop them from the right window to the left window.
You can also modify files that are on your website directly. Let’s say after you’ve copied the index.html file to your website, you decide you want to rename it. You simply right click on the file and choose rename from the menu that pops up.
That covers the basics of using FTP to upload and download files. FTP is also capable of doing a lot more, like setting permissions on files and it can be run from the command line, which would allow you to set up scripts and automated jobs to upload files and content to your website.
Let me know if you’d like to know more by filling out a comment below!
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