WS FTP Tutorial

This WS FTP Tutorial will assist you in learning how to use WS Ftp.

File Transfer Protocol, better known as FTP, is a procedure used to upload and download files to and from your web server.

In order to use FTP, you will need to download and install a software program on your computer. The most widely used FTP program is WS FTP.

When you first launch the FTP program, you will want to click on the ‘Connection Wizard’ button on the toolbar at the top. The following window will load and enable you to enter your website information, so that you can connect to your server.

Connection Wizard

Step One:

Enter your website name within the ‘Site Name’ section where indicated.

Step Two:

Enter your connection type. This is normally FTP.

Step Three:

Enter your server address.

Step Four:

Enter your user name and password. You should have received this information within your ‘Welcome’ message from your Web Host when you signed up. If you didn’t, contact your Web Host for assistance.

Step Five:

This is the confirmation screen. If everything is correct, click on ‘Finish’ and the software will connect to your web server.

As soon as the software receives a connection, the following screen will load:

Note: The next time you want to connect to your server, you can simply click on the ‘Connect’ button on the left side of the toolbar at the top.

The files on your computer are displayed within the left window and the files on your web server are displayed on the right.

To upload your files on a Host4Profit server, your first step will be to locate the files you would like to upload from your computer, which is within the left window. Your next step will be to click on the masteri5-www folder, within the right window, to place your files on your server.

However, the masteri5 text would actually be your username. It’s normally the first eight characters within your domain name. However, if there are other domains with a similar domain name, your username will most likely be the first seven characters of your domain name, followed by a number.

Note: If you’re using a different hosting company, this may be different.

Transferring Files

Prior to uploading your files to your server, you may want to set your transfer mode to auto. That way you won’t have to select ASCII OR Binary each time you upload a file.

To set this up, click on the ‘Transfer Mode’ button at the top of the server window on the right. Next, click on ‘Auto (Based on File Ext).’

Here’s what the button will look like:

To maneuver through your folders, simply double-click on them.

To transfer your files, click on the file once to highlight it and then click on the transfer files arrow button, which is in the center of the two windows.

Here’s what the button will look like:

The top button is the ‘download’ button, which will transfer files from your web server to your computer. The bottom button is the ‘upload’ button, which will transfer files from your computer to your web server.

To select more than one file at a time, click on each file you’d like to transfer while holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard. Keep in mind, unless you are using the ‘Auto’ transfer mode, all of the files you select must be uploaded in the same mode. In other words, you could upload all of your HTML files at the same time, or all of your images.

If all of the files you’d like to upload are all together, you can click on the first file while holding down your Shift key and use the down arrow on your keyboard to highlight all of your files.

Transfer Modes

Files, such as text, HTML, and most scripts, should be uploaded to your server in ASCII mode. Any file that isn’t ASCII text, such as programs (EXE, ZIP), graphics, ebooks, sounds (WAV, MID) and movies should be uploaded to your server in Binary mode.

File Permissions

When using scripts on your web site, you will be required to set file permissions in order for your scripts to run properly on a Unix server. The most common setting for CGI/Perl scripts is 755. When working with scripts, you may receive an Internal Server Error when you try to run it. Many times, this error is caused by improperly set file permissions.

Permissions:

Read	4	r
Write	2	w
Execute	1	x
None	0	-

 

Read permissions are enabled with the number 4 or the letter r.

Write permissions are enabled with the number 2 or the letter w.

Execute permissions are enabled with the number 1 or the letter x.

No permissions are enabled with the number 0 or a dash (-).

Each of these permissions will be set for each of the following:

• Owner
• Group
• Other

To give you a better idea of how permissions are set, below is an example of a script that requires the permissions to be set to 755 — it breaks down like this:

7 – Represents the permissions for the Owner (you). The owner has been given Read, Write and Execute permissions. 4+2+1=7. This can also be written like this: rwx

5 – Represents the permissions for the Group (individuals with access to your server). The Group has been given Read and Execute permissions. 4+1=5. This can also be written like this: rx

5 – Represents the permissions for the Others (website visitors). The Others have been given Read and Execute permissions. 4+1=5. This can also be written like this: rx

755 is equal to rwxrxrx

Changing File Permissions

If you would like to set your file permissions through your FTP program, you can do so like this:

1. Log into your server and locate the directory that contains your file.
2. Click once on the file that you would like to change permissions – just to highlight.
3. Place your mouse pointer over the file and right click to launch a menu. Or, go to ‘File’ – ‘Properties’ on the main toolbar at the top of the software.

Click on ‘Properties’ to launch the ‘Properties’ window.

The ‘Properties’ window will look like this:

Set your permissions and click on OK. You can type in the numbers within the ‘Numeric Value’ section, or place the appropriate checks within the Owner, Group and World sections.

In addition to setting permissions within your FTP program, most web hosts will enable you to set permissions through your web page control panel.

If you’re managing your own web site, having a good FTP program is an absolute must. Not only will it provide you with some independence, but it will also enable you to have complete control over your files. This WS FTP Tutorial has shown you how easy using WS FTP really is.