What is FTP?
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is the most common method of uploading files to your server. Unless you intend to use Microsoft Front Page to manage your files, you will need to know how to use FTP.
This page gives you the basic information you need to get started uploading your files to your new website.
What do I need to use FTP?
You will only need one thing to FTP into your site: an FTP client.
An FTP client is a program that will allow you to select files from your computer, and upload them to your web server.
There are several FTP clients to choose from. One of the more common FTP clients is WS_FTP. A freeware version is available for download from Download.com: WS_FTP LE (Windows 95, 98, ME, XP)
"Fetch" is commonly used for Macintosh operating systems.
Connecting to your FTP server
You will need to know three things to connect to your site through FTP:
1. Your domain name or IP address (this is your FTP server address)
2. Your account username (this is your FTP login)
3. Your account password (this is your FTP password)
For detailed information in connecting to your site and using WS_FTP to upload your files, see the following tips.
FTP Tips
There are some tips and tricks you should know when using FTP to manage your site.
• All of your website files should be put into the "public_html" directory in your document root. If you put them outside of this directory, the web server will not be able to see them, and will not display them to your visitors.
• When uploading CGI scripts, you should always upload in ASCII mode. If you cant get your scripts to work, chances are, you've uploaded them in binary mode.
• A lot of CGI scripts mention something called 'chmod'. You can chmod a file through your FTP client by right clicking on that file on the server, and selecting the chmod option from the drop-down menu.
• If your session is inactive for more than 300 seconds, the server will automatically log you out. This is for security reasons.
What are the anonymous, logs and FTP user accounts on my FTP accounts listing? Do they count toward my total allowed?
The anonymous FTP account allows you to put files in your public_ftp directory (located in your account's parent directory) to allow people to download files via FTP. This doesn't use authentication and anyone can download a file in that directory.
As FTP is more efficient for file transfers/downloads than http is, this is a better alternative over web downloads. Be aware that you don't need to use this feature or allow files to be downloaded. This only relates to files you put into the public_ftp folder only and no one can connect to or download files from anywhere else on your site/account.
Finally, anonymous FTP upload is disabled, so people can only download files you put up, they can not upload/store files on your account. The ftp user is the same idea, and works the same as anonymous FTP, but as a different, common username.
The FTP Logs user is authenticated against your password, as the master FTP account is. This works the same way as your account's FTP and uses the same password, but allows you to download the raw web access logs for your domains owned by your account.
This is not a user anyone can log into as they can with anonymous FTP access, as it requires your master account password, along with the logs username displayed in your FTP accounts area. No one else can access that data other than you. The total FTP user limit is not affected. These user's are the default FTP users set up with your account on cpanel servers. These can not be removed nor disabled. They do not count toward your total maximum allowed FTP accounts you can create. |
