Uploading Files to Your Web Site

• General Information
• ...with basic FTP software
• ...with a Web browser

General Information

You upload your Web site with FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

There are basic FTP services, which will let you type FTP instructions on a command line, built into both Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and all versions of UNIX (Linux, etc.). You can also use many Web browsers to transfer files, however some Web browsers may let you view files but not upload them.

There are also a number of shareware and professional software programs which provide an easier or more graphical interface. If you are using Windows, LeechFTP is available as a free download. There are a number of good packages, including WS-FTP and CuteFTP which might also meet your needs. A free secure FTP package called Fugu is now available for Macintosh. Many Web development packages, like MacroMedia's Dreamweaver, include an FTP component.

You need three pieces of information in order to use any FTP software:

• The host address of the computer that stores your Web site documents. If you have registered a domain name, this will be your domain name, e.g., www.mydomain.com. If you do not have a registered domain name, your welcome email will specify the appropriate host address.
• Your login name. Refer to your "welcome email" for this information.
• Your password. Refer to your "security email" for this information. Just as ATM cards are mailed separately from PIN numbers, your password will never be included in the same email as your login name.

Uploading with basic FTP software

1. Open a terminal or DOS command session.
2. Type ftp then press the Enter key. You should see the system prompt change to something like ftp>.
3. Type open followed by your host address, e.g. open www.mydomain.com, then press the Enter key.
4. Type your login name at the prompt, then press the Enter key.
5. Type your password at the prompt, then press the Enter key.
6. Type cd html, then press the Enter key. This places you into the correct directory (folder) for your Web site files.
7. Type ftp commands. Press the Enter key after each.
   • Type ? or help for a list of commands.
   • Type ascii for text mode -- use this for HTML files.
   • Type bin for binary mode -- use this for graphic files.
   • Type put followed by a filename to upload a single file.
   • Type mput followed by a file expression (e.g., mput *.html) to upload all matching files.
   • Type help followed by a command (e.g., help mput) for help on that command.
8. When you are finished, type close, then press the Enter key.

Uploading with a web browser

1. Type ftp:// followed by your login name, the @ character and your host address (e.g., ftp://name@www.mydomain.com) into the location bar.
2. You should see a dialog box with a space for a password. Enter your password and click OK.
3. Open the html directory (may be a single or double-click depending on your software). This places you into the correct directory (folder) for your Web site files.
   • If your Web browser opens the files instead of displaying them added to the list of files, you can not use that Web browser to upload files.
4. Drag and drop files (and folders) from your computer to the Web site folder.
5. Important! For security, you should close the browser window when you are finished.

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