If you have an account with an ISP chances are you may have some 'web' space set aside for your own 'web page.'
This space does not HAVE to contain a web page, nor would a web page necessarily fill it. You can however use it to store your graphics for remote linking to your messages on a forum.
FTP stands for File transfer protocol. In plain English it's a 'way of sending files from one place to another.'
Some of the free storage or web page sites (like Angelfire (which doesn't allow remote linking) allow you to upload files using FTP. It is generally easier, faster and in my opinion much easier to manage than sending by email or uploading via a web page.
FTPing files is really easy. First you need an FTP program. There are several around, check www.tucows.com for reviews and downloads.
For the purposes of this tutorial I'm going to refer to WS_FTP LE (LE=Light Edition). Firstly because it's good, secondly, it's free, and mostly because it's what I use ;-)
Note: Upload merely means sending a file "up' to the server. If you get a file from a server then it's referred to as a download.
You'll
need the ftp address of the server you are sending to. If you belong to Reallyslow
ISP and your email address is youtoo@reallyslow.com then your ftp address will
probably be something like ftp.reallyslow.com. Your ISP home page or tech support
will be able to tell you this.
You'll
need your user name and password. This may be the same as you use to get your
email or it may be different. Check the home page about this too.
You also
need to know the web address of your files.
If you upload a file to ftp.reallyslow.com it goes into your personal folder,
or a folder that you have created in that personal folder. Now to see those
files on the web you need to be able to tell your browser where to look.
For example, if I upload a file called cow.jpg to ftp.reallyslow.com
under the username 'youtoo' and then put it in the images folder,
then I'd need to go to the web URL (address) of /images/cow.jpg in order
to see the image in my browser. This is also the URL I'd use to link the graphic
in a message. (If I uploaded html files to make a home page to this ftp address
then my homepage address would be www.reallyslow.com/youtoo - this is
not important, just thought I should let you know :)
Check the web address of your homepage/server space with your ISP home page
or tech support.
You'll
need an FTP program.
Luckily you only need to do this once (Although once you get it right I suggest you make a note of the correct settings in the notebook of computer information that you keep near the computer just incase of crashes etc.)
Open your FTP program.
Different programs look different, but basically the information needed is the same. If in doubt about a setting leave the defaults that are in place and see if it works.
Click "NEW"
Profile/Site name is simply your name for the settings (This helps if you have more than one site to ftp to). If you are stuck call it My Page :)
Host name/address - this is where you enter the ftp address of your server.
Host type - unless you are told otherwise leave this on automatic.
User ID - usually your username - e.g.. youtoo
Password - if you don't know what a password is by now please quit now *grin*
Account - no idea what this is - leave it blank unless instructed otherwise.
Click
the second Tab - STARTUP.
If you know these you can fill them in now, if not you can always come back and edit them later.
The initial remote folder is where you open up when you connect. This can sometimes be complicated, so if in doubt ask the tech support. A lot of servers initially open up in your directory (e.g.. ftp.reallyslow.com/youtoo) and you will see another directory already set up possibly public_html. It is in this folder that you need to put your files for them to appear on the web. By setting it as the initial remote folder it means your ftp will open up in that folder instead of waiting while you click to open it.
The initial local folder is where on YOUR computer you want to start to gather the files to transfer. For example if you have all your graphics in C:\images then setting this as your initial folder will make uploading images that much quicker.
Please
note - in ftp server and web addresses the / is used in file directories on
YOUR computer make sure you use \.
Click APPLY
Now click OK. It should start to connect, the information appearing in the bottom box of the window. You can scroll up (on the right) to read what is said there - sometimes it disappears very quickly.
Once it has connected you should see a screen like below. (If it doesn't connect then try again (connect/close button on the bottom left). Then make sure you are connected to the internet. Then close and reopen the program and try again. Reboot and start the program again ad try. If it is still not connecting, and you've got the right username password, checked all the / and \ are correct and can't see an error then ring tech support and get them to talk you through it.)
On the left - that's YOUR computer
On the right - that's your server space. Probably hasn't got much in it yet.
Make sure you are in the right directory (e.g.. public_html)
To make a new folder (directory) on your server click the MkDir button. Double
click a folder to enter it. Click the green arrow at the top to go back a level.
The drop down menus at the top show recently visited directories.
To upload a file highlight it on your computer (hold shift or control to highlight more than one file) then hit the arrow pointing to the right (server). To get a file from your server highlight the file and click the arrow pointing to the left. This does not delete the file, it copies it. To remove a file from your server highlight it and hit delete.
There. Simple. Just select the files you want online and send them across to your server space.
Using your web address go to your home page, add the directories and the filename and you should see the image on the web.
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