IN THIS SECTION:
Introduction
To FTP | WS_FTP
(for PC Users) | Fetch (for MAC Users)
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Introduction
To FTP
All of your files and subdirectories go into your www directory
(the plain www directory). Refer to Chapter 1 to learn about
all the different directories in your account. DO NOT DELETE
ANY DIRECTORIES OR FILES IN YOUR ACCOUNT. The files pertaining
to your web site that you design should be uploaded to your
www directory and should be the only files you ever replace.
Now that we've distinguished where your files go, there are
several ways depending on your computer system, that you can
transfer files to your account directory. The process by which
files are transferred to the web server is called "FTP"
(File Transfer Protocol). You have unlimited access via FTP
24 hours a day. As such, you can create and maintain your web
pages on your own computer and upload files to your web site
at your leisure.
Online services which offer an Internet gateway, such as AOL,
CompuServe, and Prodigy may have a built-in FTP interface. If
you have a PPP Internet account, you need an FTP program. Visit
http://www.wsftp.com/ to download the newest version of WS_FTP
for the PC, one of the most popular FTP programs on the web.
For the Macintosh, a program called "Fetch" is used,
and for Microsoft Windows systems a program called "WS_FTP"
is used. You can also connect to your account via Telnet, all
of these are described below.
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(WS_FTP) For
PC Users
The following information is contained within your account activation
notice and is needed to connect you to your web site via FTP:
USERID
PASSWORD
FTP HOSTNAME
Each time you run WS_FTP the Session Profile window will be
displayed. A profile contains the information needed to connect
to your web site. Creating a profile now will eliminate the
need for you to configure the software each time you wish to
connect to the web server via FTP. To create a profile, click
the "New" button and enter a generic profile name
at the top of the Session Profile window, such as "My Web
site." Next, enter your Host Name/Address (yourdomain.com),
User ID (yourdomain), and Password for your web site as illustrated
below.
Next you need to click "OK" to continue. This will
connect you to the web server, where you will connect directly
to the root ("home") directory of your account.
WS_FTP will display a split screen where files on the left-hand
side are within your own computer. You will see several folders
on the right-hand side such as www, and infobots which are
landmarks suggesting a successful connection to your web site,
as illustrated below.
You need to double click on www to get to your web directory.
This is where all your files will be downloaded, and/or you
will create sub-directories. The only system directory that
you may need to use is cgi-bin; this directory is reserved for
custom scripts. To make your home page load automatically, name
the HTML document "index.htm" in lowercase and upload
it to the www directory of your account. To upload a file or
files, simply highlight the file(s) on the left and click the
right arrow button (->) in the center of the window. Be sure
to upload HTML documents and scripts in ASCII mode and images
in Binary mode. To transfer a file to a subdirectory, double-click
the appropriate subdirectory to open it before transferring
the desired file(s). To create a new directory, click on the
MkDir button when you are inside the www directory or subdirectory.
As soon as a file is uploaded to the web server, it is available
for all to see. If, after uploading a file, you are still unable
to see the updated file via Netscape, try hitting the "Refresh"
or "Reload" button. If that fails, you need to clear
both disk and browser cache. This function can be found by selecting
Options>Network Preferences in Netscape. Remember that you
must first be connected to the Internet through your local Internet
service provider in order to connect to the web server.
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Fetch For MAC
Users
The following information is contained within your account activation
notice and is needed to connect to your web site via FTP:
USERID
PASSWORD
FTP HOSTNAME
The hostname tells your FTP software to connect to the web server
upon which your web site resides.
Each time you run Fetch, the New Connection window will be displayed.
A profile contains the information needed to connect to your
web site. Creating a profile now will eliminate the need for
you to configure the software each time you wish to connect
to the web server via FTP. To create a new profile, select "New
Connection..." from the File menu. Next, enter the Host
(yourdomain.com), User ID (yourdomain), and password for your
web site as illustrated below.
Don't worry about the Directory option right now. When you
have your Host, User ID, and Password entered, click on the
OK button.
The next window which will pop up will look virtually the
same as below, except that yourdomain will be in the pop-up
window.
Bookmarking the Connection
You should take the time, now that you have established your
connection, to make it easier for you to get here next time.
Under the Customize menu, select New Shortcut. A window will
pop up called Bookmark Editor, as below. It will already have
your name, Host, and User ID filled in. Under Type, choose
File from the pop-up menu. If you would like Fetch to remember
your password so you won't have to type it in each time, type
in your password in the Password field. Now, under the same
Customize menu, choose Preferences, and under the General
tab, make sure the connection you just entered is selected
as the default shortcut. Next time you open up Fetch, your
shortcut will be opened automatically and all you'll have
to do is click the OK button!
How to Transfer Files
Refer again to the sample window above. You need to double-click
on www to get to your web directory. This is where all your
files will be downloaded, and/or you will create sub-directories.
The only system directory that you may need to use is cgi-bin;
this directory is reserved for custom scripts. To make your
home page load automatically, name the HTML document "index.htm"
in lowercase and upload it to the www directory of your account.
To upload a file or files, simply drag them from your hard
drive onto the Fetch window when you are in the appropriate
directory or subdirectory. Be sure to upload HTML documents
and scripts in Text mode and images in BINARY mode. Or to
make life easier, click on the Automatic button as shown in
the sample window above, and Fetch will decide the proper
format. To transfer a file to a subdirectory, double-click
the appropriate subdirectory to open it before transferring
the desired file(s).
To insure that the Automatic selection works properly, make
sure the selections under the Upload tab in the Preferences
window looks the same as below.
As soon as a file is uploaded to the web server, it is available
for all to see. If, after uploading a file, you are still
unable to see the updated file via Netscape, you need to hit
the Reload button in the Netscape button bar. Remember that
you must first be connected to the Internet through your local
Internet service provider in order to connect to the web server.
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