Mom Tycoons Index
> Website Development
Using CuteFTP to Upload your Website
CuteFTP is a package
designed to facilitate the transmission of files across the
Internet, in particular web pages. You can download a free 30
day trial at
Globalscape. The acronym ‘FTP’ stands for ‘File Transfer
Protocol’, and this method of file transfer has been around
for about as long as the Internet itself!
Originally, to use FTP, you had to be able to operate a
command line – something most computer users in these days of
‘Windows’ and fancy interfaces do not often need to do. So
packages such as CuteFTP have been developed to enable you to
issue your instructions in a more ‘user friendly’ manner. The
command line codes still appear at the top of the screen, and
it is worth finding out a little of what they mean, and
keeping an eye on them when the program is running so that if
something should go wrong you may be able to figure out what
is causing the problem.
Of the available packages, CuteFTP is one of the easiest to
use – if you are confident about moving files around the
directory structure of your own computer, you should be able
to use CuteFTP with little difficulty.
Once you have installed CuteFTP on your computer, you can
run it whenever you want to upload material to your website.
It can also be used to administer the site – for example,
deleting pages you do not want any more, amending the
directory structure and so on. Another use is for downloading
files – many websites with material available for you to
download will give you the option of using FTP (which is often
quicker and less prone to error than downloading from the
webpage).
The first thing that you will need to do is tell CuteFTP
where your website is. When you enter the program, a window
called the ‘Site Manager’ will appear – it looks like this: -
On the left side is a list of folders containing assorted
sites – the ones present will vary depending on where you got
your copy of CuteFTP from. When you select a folder, the sites
listed therein will appear in the right hand window, and you
may select one to connect to or edit the site details. The
folders on the left may be amended as you please – renamed,
deleted, new ones added – in the same way as you manipulate
directories on your computer.
To tell CuteFTP where you want your website uploaded to,
click on the ‘Add site’ button about half way down on the
right side. You will see a window like this:
When you got your website, your ISP (Internet Service
Provider) will have told you where material should be
uploaded, and given you a user name and password to use. These
ensure that nobody else can upload material to your website!
In the ‘Site Label’ text box type anything you like which
is descriptive of your website. It is this that will appear in
the Site Manager, so make sure that it is something that you
will recognize – particularly if you run more than one
website!
The ‘Host Address’ should have been supplied by the ISP.
This is not always the same as your website’s URL (Universal
Resource Locator, or ‘address), so take care! It is often a
general name based on the host site’s name, or sometimes one
with the letters ‘FTP’ added.
Now enter your user name where it asks for ‘User ID’ and
your password – which will be mirrored as a row of stars, so
type carefully!
The other thing you need to set up is the ‘Initial Local
Directory’. In this text box, you should type the location of
the files you wish to upload to your website. If you have set
up a structured website, with subdirectories (e.g. one for
your image files), then the initial local directory should be
the top level of your structure. This is usually where your
‘index.htm’ page lives.
That’s all! Click on ‘OK’ and you are all set.
When you are ready to upload files, you first have to
establish a connection – using the details set up above.
Call up the Site Manager and select the site to which you
wish to upload. Do this by choosing the folder on the left
side of the screen, and then picking the desired site from the
list presented on the right side. Of course this is easy if
you only have the one site set up!
Once you have selected the site you want, you get the
options to Add, Edit, Delete or Connect…. It’s ‘Connect’ that
you want so click on there. An Internet connection will be
established for you, and your password will be automatically
submitted to the website (you’ll see a screen saying something
like “Password accepted”, and you’ll need to click on an ‘OK’
to continue.
You will then see a screen something like this:
On the left side is your computer, looking at the directory
you set up as the ‘Initial Local Directory’. The right side of
the screen shows what is on the host (website) machine to
which you are uploading.
Note the bright blue band – this indicates whether you are
currently doing something on your computer or on the host one.
On either side, you have a range of things which you can do,
including selecting files, deleting files and creating
sub-directories. If you have built your website with a
structure, you need to mirror this structure on the host
computer by creating an identical directory structure in the
initial website directory space reserved for you. Then you can
upload all the files – the individual ***.htm files that are
the actual web pages, plus all the image files and other
material you want to have there. Don’t forget any of them or
your site won’t go!
To upload stuff, just select it (the usual ‘highlight’
method you use when manipulating files on your own computer)
in the left side of the screen. Then you have several methods
of telling the system to upload:
You may ‘drag’n’drop’ it straight across to the right side
of the screen (just like moving files around on your own
computer)
You may ‘right click’ on your mouse and select ‘Upload’
from the pop-up menu which appears
You may ‘double click’ on the file that you have selected
in the left side
You may use the ‘Upload’ icon which is the upwards pointing
arrow.
Tutorial submitted by:
Megan
ROBERTSON |
