This article will teach Web site owners with Microsoft Windows how to use FTP to transfer files to and from their Web site. It is intended as a tutorial for people who have never used FTP. You should be comfortable using an Explorer window to move or copy a file from one folder to another before attempting this tutorial.

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. A protocol is a language that computers use to perform a particular task. Files can be transferred from one computer to another in various ways, but File Transfer Protocol, as the name implies, is particularly well suited to this task.

Installing an FTP client

Since FTP is only a protocol, we need to find a program that implements that protocol. More precisely, we want an FTP client which can then communicate with any FTP server. You can think of the client as the equivalent of your Web browser and the server as the equivalent of a Web site.

The program I'm going to recommend is called FTP Surfer. It is free, courtesy of Whisper Technology Limited. You can download it from their site. Despite its age, it works well and is extremely easy to use. If you find something even easier, please let me know.

Click on the download link and select a place to store the downloaded file. When the download completes, locate the file and double-click on it to begin the installation. Click Next to reach the license agreement. Accept the terms and click Next again. Choose to let it install in the default location by clicking Next and the program will be installed. Click Finish to exit the installation program.

Since we want to transfer files to and from our Web site, we will need the address of the FTP server associated with our site, as well as a few other pieces of information. You will usually need to talk to your Webmaster or hosting provider to get the information you need.

The following data should be sufficient:

• The name of the FTP server.
• The username and password of the FTP account.
• The path to the top of the Web site.

For instance, if our Web site were called www.sample.com and hosted by ICDSoft.com, the answers would be:

• ftp.sample.com
• The same username and password used to access the account's control panel.
• /www/www

Configuring FTP Surfer

With this information, we're ready to start running FTP surfer. Bring up the Start menu, select Programs, then FTP Surfer and FTP Surfer again to start the program. The first thing we'll do is create a profile for our Web site.

In the menu bar, select File, then New and Site Profile. The Profiles dialog will appear. We will enter our data in the tabs on the right. Here is what the dialog will look like when it's filled out for our sample site:

A few notes:

• The Name and Description can be anything you want.
• The Server type should be set to Auto-detect.
• The User profile should be User defined.
• To enter the path, select the Explore from field and then the User defined item from the drop down. Now type in the path given by your Webmaster or hosting provider. If the path is "/", you can also select Login folder.

The remaining tabs can be left at their default values. Press OK to complete the profile creation. Your FTP surfer window should now look like this:

You should leave most of FTP Surfer's settings at their default value. But you should check these values by clicking on the Tools menu and then on Options:

• In theContent tab, uncheck Hide files starting with a period. This allows you to see all files on your Web site.
• In the Connections tab, make sure Always use PASV mode is checked. Most of today's FTP servers seem to work better with the client in "passive" mode. You may want to check with your Webmaster to verify whether passive mode is recommended for your FTP server.

Adding a profile and configuring FTP Surfer is something you only have to do once. From then on, you start the program and can immediately begin transferring files.

Transferring files

What makes FTP Surfer easy-to-use is that it operates much like an Explorer window. Click on the profile name in the Explorer tab on the left-side of the window and FTP Surfer will automatically connect to your Web site and present a file display similar to this:

To upload a file (you go up from a client to a server), open a normal Explorer window containing the file you want to transfer. Drag the file from the Explorer window into the FTP Surfer window. The file will be copied to your Web site (your local copy will not be deleted).

To download a file, drag it from the FTP Surfer window to an Explorer window.

If you are more comfortable using Copy and Paste to copy a file from one location to another, you can also use Copy and Paste to upload or download files with FTP Surfer.

Final words

With great power comes great responsibility. Make sure you understand where to place any files you transfer. Consult with your Webmaster if you have any questions.

Don't delete any file on the FTP site that you are not familiar with—files deleted through FTP Surfer are permanently deleted. They are not placed in the Recycle Bin.

If you have a small Web site and a fast connection, a good safety trick is to copy the entire Web site to a temporary location on your PC before you make any changes. If anything goes wrong, you can copy the files back to restore your site.