NOTE: If you have a FrontPage account: Frontpage does not support the use of FTP for your "website" directory. If you have a FrontPage account, you should Microsoft FrontPage to upload and maintain your website. Please go to our FrontPage Tips page for more information
First, make sure you have FTP software.
When you first order your VIRTUAL SERVER, you are sent an E-mail message like the following:
Your server's IP Address is: ***.***.***.***
REMOTE HOST NAME Host Name is: *******
LOGIN Username is: ******* (This is your User ID)
Password is : ******** (Lower and upper cases need to be exact)
INITIAL DIRECTORY / REMOTE HOST is: website (This is the directory of your web site)
Note: When connecting to your server via FTP you must specify " website " as the remote directory in order to connect to your web server directory. (Use "cd website" command for telnet)
Please SAVE this information in a safe location, because you will need most of it at some point during the FTP process!
You must be online with your Internet Service Provider before you start WS_FTP
1. Start-up WS_FTP and insert your website information if you haven't done so already. (Don't forget about the special upload settings that you might need in the future.
When you're all done filling-in the "Session Profile", your screen should look something like this:
And this:
2. Now press the "OK" button and keep your eye on the status bar below (that's where all the action will be!). If the status bar seems inactive, be patient. (Line noise, INTERNET traffic, and your connection speed can slow things down.) If all went well, the "Local Host" window should show the directory you want to transfer files from, and the "Remote System" window should have connected to the main directory of your web site . This window should look something like this:
3. You can now transfer files between your computer and the server. Recall the two "arrow" buttons located between the host windows. The one pointing to the Remote host window is the "Upload" button. The arrow pointing to the Local host window is the "Download" button.
4. In the "Local" host window, highlight the file (or files) you wish to upload. Make sure that you are transferring in the correct mode.
This should be BINARY for graphics, zipped archives, and executables, and ASCII for most everything else. CGI scripts MUST be uploaded in ASCII mode. Only use the "Auto" function if you are sure you know what you are doing, otherwise leave it unchecked. The "auto" function uploads everything in BINARY unless the extension has been set to ASCII in the WS_FTP Options. It does NOT decide what type of file you have, it only looks at the extension.
Now press the "Upload button" and a copy of this file (or files) will automatically transfer to server. In addition to the information seen in the status bar, a file transfer status box should also appear telling you how much time is left before file transfer is completed. If it's a small file, the status box will appear and disappear extremely quickly, so you may not be able to read it. Larger files take longer, so be patient.
Did everything go okay? Congratulations! You did it! Now you can connect to your account. You can transfer files or even directories this way. Remember, the more files, and the larger they are, the longer it takes. If your connection times out, try transferring fewer files at a time.
If it didn't work, try repeating the steps very carefully.
Most servers that you will encounter on the 'Net will use an operating system called UNIX. It works like DOS/Windows in some ways. Actually, DOS is based on UNIX. The similarities that are important to you will be discussed here.
Unix is a command-line operating system; you type commands at a prompt and the system responds. See our Unix Tutorial for more information.
Notice the set of buttons located on both FTP windows: ChgDir, MkDir, Delete, etc. These are basically Unix commands. The difference is that WS_FTP allows you to click on the command instead of typing it out. Once you click on a button like this, WS_FTP sends the UNIX specific commands to the server for you. So, you don't have to be a UNIX Guru to upload files; all you have to do is press buttons.
The ChgDir Command: This button changes directories. If you have a directory highlighted (i.e. you've single-clicked on it), pressing this button will open that directory. Otherwise, this button brings up a window where you can type the full path of the directory you want to go to. Paths in Unix start with a '/' which is the root directory. For example, your website directory is /drv1/web/sites/UserID
The MkDir Command: This button creates a new directory, either on the local or remote servers, depending on which button you press. The new directory will be a sub-directory of whatever directory you're currently in.
The View Command: This just views a file. It will probably open a text editor like NotePad to view the file. If you click "view" on a graphic file you'll view the source code, so don't bother. Use the Exec button for graphics files.
The Exec Command: Executes a file. i.e. if you click Exec for a graphic file, it will launch your image viewer. The Rename Command: This renames a directory or file.
The Delete Command: This deletes a file or a directory. Directories must be empty to delete them. NOTE: There is no "undelete" in Unix. Once you delete something, it is gone forever!
The Refresh Command: Just updates the contents of the directory. The DirInfo Command: In effect the ls -al command in Unix. It will launch a text editor to provide you with a complete directory listing.
See our Unix Tutorial for more information on Unix commands.