Internet providers such as AOL, Compuserve, and Prodigy may have a built-in FTP interface. If you have a PPP internet account and need an FTP program, you can download software for for either the PC or Mac below. PC users should download WinZip if you do not already have a program to extract .zip files.

For the PC, WS_FTP is available for download on a 30-day trial/demo period. Users will be asked to purchase the product after that time.

• WS_FTP

For the Mac, "Fetch" is available:

• Fetch
• Fetch documentation

Microsoft FrontPage Users
Customers with Microsoft FrontPage extensions installed on their sites should use only the FrontPage publishing feature to transfer files. Using regular FTP can corrupt the extensions, disabling the functionality of the FrontPage web and requiring that the site be deleted to reinstall the extensions.

Configuring Your FTP Software

The following information is contained within your account activation notice and is needed to connect to your web site via FTP:

• USERID
• TEMP PASSWORD
• FTP HOSTNAME

The hostname tells your FTP software to connect to the web server upon which your web site resides. In general, the process of configuring the various FTP software programs is the same. We recommend WS_FTP for PC computer users and will be using it in the upcoming examples.

Each time you run WS_FTP the Session Profile window will be displayed. A profile contains the information needed to connect to your web site. Creating a profile now will eliminate the need for you to configure the software each time you wish to connect to the web server via FTP. To create a new profile, click the "New" button and enter a generic profile name at the top of the Session Profile window. Next, enter the userid, password and hostname for your web site as illustrated below.

Fig.1

Be sure to select "Auto detect" for the Host Type. (see Fig.1) It is best to select "Save Password" and "Auto Save Config" to maintain these settings for future use. All other fields can be left blank. You are now ready to connect to the web server. Click "Ok" to continue.

How to Transfer Files

When you connect to the web server, you will connect directly to the root ("home") directory of your account. WS_FTP will display a split screen where files on the left-hand side are within your own computer. (see Fig.2) You will see several folders on the right-hand side such as bin, cgi-cgin, dev, etc, lib, and stats which are landmarks suggesting a successful connection to your web site, this always depends on what server/control panel you are running on.

Fig.2

You can transfer files directly to the root level and/or create subdirectories. The only system directory that you may need to use is cgi-bin or mainwebsite_cgi which is where you should upload your own custom CGI scripts.

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Be sure to upload HTML documents and scripts in ASCII mode and images in BINARY mode. To transfer a file to a subdirectory, double-click the appropriate subdirectory to open it before transferring the desired file(s).

As soon as a file is uploaded to the web server, it is available for all to see. If, after uploading a file, you are still unable to see the updated file via Netscape, you need to clear both disk and browser cache. This function can be found by selecting Options > Network Preferences in Netscape. Remember that you must first be connected to the internet through your local internet service provider in order to connect to the web server.

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To prevent errors, we suggest naming all files in lowercase. Spaces and and special control characters are generally not a good idea. The underscore character ("_") is acceptable. You should avoid special characters ( ! @ # $ % ^ & * : ' ) in file names. We suggest that you keep the length of file names to a minimum. The tilde (~) cannot be used in directory or file names.

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