One of the scarier elements for beginning webmasters is being faced with the dreaded acronym FTP in regards to their web hosting accounts. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, which simply means the method by which files are transmitted over the Web. It involves the transfer of files over a TCP/IP based network, such as the Internet.
The actual transfer is not nearly as fearsome as you may think, and in fact may be mastered in a day. Let’s look at some of what’s involved with using FTP to upload files from your computer to your web hosting account.
The primary reason FTP exists is to aid in the transfer of this content a great deal more swiftly than you would be able to do manually. Especially with today’s heavy graphic and multimedia content, it would take roughly forever. Enter the FTP client!
The good news is that it doesn’t even have to cost you anything. There are several good free FTP solutions, such as the popular FileZilla, which do just as good a job as many of the paid applications. There are some extra bells and whistles on the paid tools, but for the most part you won’t need them.
Using the FTP client is relatively straightforward. The interface opens with basically two windows, the left one open to your computer’s files, and the right one connects to your web hosting account where it accesses the web site’s folders and files. There are usually a top and a bottom screen for each location, the top one containing only folders, and when highlighted, the bottom screen shows the folders within, thus making it possible to put files and folders exactly where you need them to be for your site to operate properly.
To transfer a folder or file, you simply highlight it, and use one of the transfer controls to move it to the highlighted location on your web host. You can also move files in bulk by holding down your control key to select more than one file or folder. You can also drag and drop these folders or files into the appropriate location, though this can be a bit tricky at times, and you may end up having to go in and fix things afterward.
This upload process also works well in reverse. This means that it is entirely possible (and recommended!) to back up your site onto your home or office computer. How many times have we heard the horror story from a web hosting company after a crash, saying that the backups were not done or are corrupted? It’s always a good idea to download your site’s important files to your computer to have a physical backup in your possession.
FTP is neither to be dreaded nor avoided. It is a useful time saving tool that makes the transfer of files a simple and easy to do procedure. Fear not!
