Publishing

Uploading Files

Section 1 - Introduction
Section 2 - Basics
Section 3 - Next Level
Section 4 - Advanced
Section 5 - Publishing
      Local directory
      Clean your code
      Web Hosts
      Uploading files
      You try it
Section 6 - Extras
Appendices

There are a couple different ways to get your pages, pictures and files onto the internet. In all cases, you need to up-load them, or put your files on the server. There are two main ways to do that. The first is a browser connection (also known as an easy upload) and the FTP connection. Here are a few things to know about uploading.

"Easy upload"

Easy uploading is also known as web or browser uploading. This uses internet pages to transfer information from one place to another. Often there are simple directions and easy buttons to use when using a web-based upload.

The picture at the right is a snap-shot of Geocities' easy upload. To upload a file, whether html, or sournd or picture, you would click on the "browse" button. A little window pops open which allows you to choose one of the files on your computer. On this particular screen, you can choose five files at a time, but Geocities allows for as many as twenty uploads at once. You then have the option to upload more.

Easy uploads have one huge advantage over other upload types; they're easy. One or two button clicks and the pages are loaded. These are better for beginners than other file transfer types. They're practically stress-free.

There are noteable disadvantages of web browser uploads though. They tend to be somewhat slow and only a limited number of files can be uploaded at once. Some servers don't have this feature as well. Because of these reasons, it may also be useful to know how to use FTP programs.

FTP
There are specialized programs which allow a user to upload files. These are known as File Transfer Protocols or FTP programs for short. Some hosts will only accept files through a FTP.

Many hosts will provide their own FTP service. Also, several free FTP programs are available to download. Here are the suggestions:

Platform	Program	Link(s)
Windows	WS FTP	www.ipswitch.com/downloads www.download.com/3000-2160-10018456.html www.webmasterfree.com/wsftp.html
Mac	Fetch or Transmit	fetchsoftworks.com www.download.com/Transmit/3003-2151_4-10427726.html
Other/Mix	Misc.	www.tucows.com/preview/195147 www.thefreecountry.com/webmaster/freeftpclients.shtml

After you download the program, the challenge begins. Some programs are as simple as dragging and dropping information, while other require knowing the old FTP codes. If you download an FTP server that requires codes, you can find a list of those several places online, such as

Two commands that are critical to know are ascii and bin. Ascii refers to letters and numbers only. This is used for files that are text only (such as html pages). Bin stands for binary and is used for pictures and all other media files. You can send text through Bin files, but no media through ascii files.

Advantages of FTP uploads are important. It can upload a whole site at once. Disadvantages include complications and the possibility that the transfer could crash.

Other
There are a couple other methods of transferring data to web hosts. The first is called Telnet. This is a method of connecting to remote computers. Some web hosts allow you to tap into their systems directly and upload your files. To do this you'll need to log onto the remote host and they transfer your files over.

Another option for transfering files is available to those who create mirror sites. A mirror site is an exact copy of a website at a different location. People do this when there is too much traffic (too many visitors) to one site, or it could be used when moving from one host to another. When doing this, a function like SiteCopy from Linux is useful. It automatically copies all of your files (via FTP) from one location to another.

Conclusion:
If you feel flustered with FTP files, start slowly. You may want to find a host which has browser-upload (the easy one) instead. But if you aren't afraid to try something new, FTP is fast and efficient. Good luck with your files.

Other useful sites: