File transfer Protocol

Ok, just about everyone who starts a website will have that kind of reaction to FTP. After you get the hang of it, it becomes extremely simple and you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. The requirements for using FTP is simple: you need host that enables FTP. Most hosts do, with the exception of some free hosts that only support web-based file management.

Once you have sorted out your host, prepare for the downloading to begin. You can download a free FTP, or you can pruchase one from a shop or online. The one I recommend is SmartFTP. It's free, easy and safe. You can get ones like CuteFTP, which costs money, but you can use it for an unlimited time frame, whereas SmartFTP is only a trial for a few months. To download SmartFTP, click here.

Once you have downloaded SmartFTP, finish the installation and your FTP will open. This window will have heaps of sub-windows, but only a few is necessary. Close everything and then go to view and click Status. Then go back to View and hover over Toolbars. Check History, Login, Standard, Quick Transfer, Toolbar and Navigation. This should now look like this:

Then go up to the very top and fill in the field that says Address with the FTP address of your host. Please note that this is not the normal address of your host, this is usually a link that looks like "ftp.myhost.com" or is an IP number. Then go to the field that says Login and fill in your username, and then go to the field that says Password and fill in your password. The part where is says Port should remain as 21 unless your host specifically asks for another number.

After all your fields have been completed, click the green arrow next to the Address field and you should start to be logged in (it will say at that the bottom). Then a list of folders should appear and they should match to the folders you have already created in your account.

Then all you have to do is to click the folder you want to modify and voila! To upload, click the folder you want to upload into, then go to Commands >> Upload >> Direct >> Add Files OR Add Folders. To download something back into your computer (handy for making a backup copy), just click on the folder you want to download, go to Coomands >> Download >> Direct >> select Folders.

Simple isn't it? To delete a file/folder, just click on it, go to the big red cross in the toolbar and it will be deleted. If this is your very first time using FTP and you are still a little confused, I suggest making useless images and/or files and experimenting with your FTP. If worse comes to worse, you will just have to download it again, and there's no harm in doing that.

~Jen