Understanding an FTP program
People who are new to subdomains/domains will most likely have a little trouble understanding an FTP program. FTP
stands for "File Transfer Protocol" but all you really need to know about the process is that it transfers files to your
website. Using one of these programs is really very simple once you understand what the different sections do.
Since I use a program called "Filezilla" for my own site, I'll be showing an exmaple of how to use
that. Any other FTP program you have
wont be that much different. So here is a screenshot of what the program window looks like. I'll do my best to break it down and
help you understand it.
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Login
1. This is where you will enter your website's address. For example, since I transfer my files to Rewindd.com, "Rewindd.com"
would go into this first part.
2. This is where your username will go. You might have to do some research to find this, since it's either created by you
or already given. I can't give you your username to put in since it varies from site to site.
3. Password goes here. This part's pretty self-explanatory.
The uploading process
4. This section of the window tells you what actions have been performed, as well as any errors that may have occured
during the uploading process. I wouldn't pay too much attention to this section since it just verifies what actions you've
already done.
5. These are your own files on your
own computer. If you look closely, you'll see it shows the
many folders, images, and programs you may have. You can upload these files to your website through the well known
process of "drag and drop." Just click and hold on the file you want transferred, and drop it into the window right next to it.
In this example, you would drag and drop the file from window 5 to window 6.
6. This section of the window shows you all the files already on your website. Unless you have some knowledge of what you're
doing, I wouldn't mess with these too much. Once you've uploaded a file to your website, it will show up in this section.
You can also create more directories (extra folders) in this section of the program. These "directories" will come in handy in organizing
your website, but again, be careful that you know what you're doing before editing/moving/or creating folders.
7. This is a section of the program that will show you the progress of something being uploaded. When you first drag and drop
an item to be uploaded, you'll see the progress of it pop up in this window.
Remember that this tutorial is simply to get you accquainted with the FTP program. You will have to learn how to use it
properly with time and practice. Since it's such a simple program, you shouldn't have any problems understanding it after
only a few uses.
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