Summary:
FTP is a popular method for publishing your files from your computer to your website. In order to use FTP, you will need to obtain a FTP program and then enter your website address, login username, and login password.

Description:
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard Internet method for copying files between your own computer and the web server.

Source:
Standalone FTP programs are available as shareware or commercial software. FTP capability is also included in many programs. (There is a basic FTP function built right into the Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, and Windows 2000 operating systems - but it is a "commandline" utility that is not always easy to use.)

Links:
Windows command line (C>ftp)
PC Shareware (WS_FTP LE)
PC Commercial Software (WS_FTP Pro)
Mac Shareware (Fetch)

Example:
The following account information is used in this example:
website name: www.mywebsite.com
login username: jsmith
login password: redcar

Note: Follow these steps replacing the sample information with your own. DON'T TYPE THE QUOTATION MARKS themselves. They are used here to isolate the information you will be substituting.

1. Turn on your PC and connect to the Internet normally.

2. Run your FTP application. For this example, we are using WS_FTP program.

3. In the "Session Properties" window enter a "Profile Name" to save your settings such as "My Web Site".

4. For "Host Name/Address" enter your website name "www.mywebsite.com"

5. For "User ID" enter your Login username "jsmith"

6. For "Password" enter your Login password "redcar"

7. Click "OK" to continue and login to your website.



8. The main FTP window is now open. It is a split-screen view with your local PC files shown on the left and your website files on the right. Navigate using the green "up-arrow" in the left-hand side window until you find the directory containing your files. In our example, you will see a small website on the local PC with files "index.htm", "aboutus.htm", and "services.htm" ready to be uploaded. The website on the server is empty, so there are not yet any file names listed.

9. At the bottom of the FTP window, select "Auto" for the upload format or manually be sure and choose "Binary" when uploading images and "ASCII" when uploading webpages.

10. Highlight a local file on the left-hand side by clicking once on the file name, then click on the arrow that points to the right indicating the transfer direction is from your local PC to the webserver.

11. After the file is transfered, you will see the message "Transfer Complete" in the bottom of the window. Now just repeat the same process for the rest of your files.