Using FTP to Upload your web site

• The Web Space FTP address.
• Your account USERNAME.
• Your account PASSWORD.

The automatic uploads will need some more specific information, that being the name of the folder or directory in which your files will be stored at the FTP address.
The default folder for personal web sites on regular ISP is generally public_html but can also reside in a folder called www, or httdocs, but whichever, this is the root folder on the web server.

This information will be made available to you by your ISP or from your web hosting company.

This is normally sufficient for your automatic upload as the software will know what to do with the files once it has a definite target in which to store them while retaining the directory structure as it is on your computer. This ensures the links will work correctly after the upload.

If you would rather upload your files manually you will need an FTP package.
WS_FTP Light Edition is free to academic establishments. There are other FTP packages available, most notably CuteFTP.

The following are step by step directions on how to upload files using WS_FTP LE.

• Launching the Programme
• Connecting to the Web Server
• Uploading your Files
• Managing Files and Folders on the Server

Launching the Programme

On the Start menu select Programs-WS_FTP

The Session Properties dialogue box opens on top of the WS_FTP window.
The Session Properties default to the Ipswitch Company settings on first use.

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Connecting to the Web Server

Change the following settings to suit your needs.

• Change the Profile Name to My Site. This can be any word or phrase to describe the connection, it will not appear on your web site.
• The Host Name/Address will be the FTP address as already discussed.
  www.mysite.net for this example.
• Leave the Host Type at Automatic Detect.
• Enter your User ID and Password as you would when connecting to the Internet.
• To the right of User ID and Password are two options, Anonymous and Save Pwd.
  Deselect Anonymous by clicking in the box and select Save Pwd in the same way. You will notice that the password appears as a series of asterisks for security purposes.
• If you choose not to save your password you will be prompted for the password at each attempt to log on to your web space. Some find this to be more secure if the computer used to access the server has more than one user.
• The remaining boxes can be left blank.
  Click Apply to save the settings and then click OK to connect to the web server.

The Session Properties widow closes and the FTP programme will now open your dial up connection to the Internet.
While this is happening you can search for your files in the Local System pane of the WS_FTP window.

Notice that the program defaults to its own folder.
This is indicated by the file path indicator just under the words Local System.

To change the directory double click on the green arrow in the top left hand corner of the Local System panel on the left.

Each double click move up one folder at a time. Once you have reached the root directory, the C:\ folder, look for the folder in the list which contains the local copy of your web site.




The folder My Site is now listed.
On opening the My Site folder the files to be transferred will appear.

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Uploading your Files

In the meantime the Remote Site will have accessed your web space on the web server.
It may display a number of folders or directories, select the folder into which your files will be uploaded.
Open this folder by double clicking.

Select the file to be uploaded to the Remote Site by single clicking on the file name.
To make a multiple select of files in sequence, press the Shift button and while keeping it pressed click on the files to be uploaded.
To select files not in sequence, press the Ctrl button and while keeping it pressed click on the files to be uploaded.

Selected files in sequence

Selected files not in sequence

To transfer the file or files click on the arrow button pointing to the Remote Site panel as indicated above.

A Transfer Status indicator shows the progress of the upload.
Smaller files will transfer quickly and the Transfer Status box will only appear for an instant.
A musical tone indicates that the file has been transferred.
The time it takes to transfer will depend on the number and size of the files.

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Managing Files and Folders on the Web Server

When uploading files, ensure that the destination folder has the same name as the folder in which it is stored on your computer.
Creating folders on the server is a simple process using the FTP client.

To create a new folder/directory on the web server:

Click the MkDir button on the top right of the WsFTP_LE programme window. Type the name of the new directory in the dialogue box remembering to use exactly the same names as on your computer Click OK The listing on the right will disappear momentarily while being refreshed to include the new folder. The folder is now ready, double click to open it and copy across the relevant files.

Moving between folders in WS_FTP LE is managed using the up arrow. Closing a folder equates with moving up one level, double click the small green arrow.
Continue the process until the folder required is visible.
Opening folders is simply a case of double clicking on the folder name.

To Rename a file or folder on the web server:

Highlight the file or folder to be renamed. Click on the Rename button. Enter the new name, remembering to type it exactly as it appears on your computer. Click OK The listing on the right will disappear momentarily while being refreshed to display the new file/folder name.

To Delete a file on the web server:

As with uploading files where copies of files are sent to the web server, the download of files from the server works in exactly the same way. To remove files from the server they must be deleted. Highlight the file or files to be deleted. Click on the Delete button. Click Yes on the confirmation dialogue box. The listing on the right will disappear momentarily while being refreshed to display the revised file listing

Note: When uploading a page that already exists on the server, when updating you site, it is not necessary to delete the original file on the server. The upload will automatically overwrite the older page. This can lead to problems if you mistakenly give a new page the same name as an existing file in another folder and then upload it to the wrong folder on the server.

Remember your index.html file must be stored in the root folder or else your web site will not be accessible.

Check your new web site in your web browser.
Type your address which will begin with..

htp://www.mysite.net/

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