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FTP Introduction FAQs

How do I upload my web pages onto the server?

There are two options, either through a FTP client software, or through an online FTP application.

How do I upload using a FTP client software:

There are 5 easy steps to this:

1. Check if you have a FTP client installed on your computer. (While the ability to FTP is built into Internet Explorer 6+, it is not user friendly. One of our preferred FTP freeware is AceFTP by Visionmedia.) Install and run the software.
2. Find the appropriate upload directory on your hosting server to upload your web site files. [i.e. where you put your web site files so the public may access it online.] Note that different web hosting providers may use different directories. Two of the most popular directories are "HTML" or "var/www/html". Once the upload directory is determined, you may enter this into your FTP client. This folder will be your "Initial Remote Directory."
3. Setup the "Initial Local Directory" on the FTP client. The "Initial Local Directory" is the directory where your web site files are stored on YOUR computer. We advise you to store all your web files (HTML, images, etc) in the same folder for ease of organization.
4. Determine the transfer mode for your files. There are two modes of transferring (or FTP'ing) files, binary or ASCII. Most FTP clients have an automatic setting, where it will select the appropriate transfer mode. As a rule of thumb, if your file is text-based and in English, or readable by Notepad (or other text editors), use the ASCII transfer mode. If the file is not text-based and requires some type of software to 'read' it, e.g. jpg or gif picture, then use the binary transfer mode.
   Some common file types for ASCII or "Text" transfer mode are:
   • .htm
   • .html
   • .txt
   • .php
   • .cgi
   • .pl
   • .css
   • .shtml
   Some common file types for binary or "Raw Data" transfer mode are picture, audio, video files:
   • .jpg
   • .gif
   • .tif
   • .doc
   • .pdf
   • .zip
   • .rar
   • .class
   • .exe
   • .wav
   • .mp3
5. Determine the appropriate log-in type.The log-in type should be normal, not "Anonymous".
6. There you go! Once you make the appropriate selections for the above, you are ready to FTP files to your web site! Please let me know if there are additional steps or comments about this FAQ.