FTP
Once you've signed up with a hosting provider, you will need to upload your
website to the hosting provider's web server. Once it has been uploaded to the
web server, anyone from around the world will be able to visit your website.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
The most common method for updating websites is via FTP. FTP stands for File
Transfer Protocol and is the standard protocol for transferring files from one
computer to another. To use FTP, you need an FTP client. An FTP client is
simply a piece of software that enables you to transfer files from one computer
to another (in this case, from your computer to the hosting provider's server).
If you need an FTP client you can download
FileZilla for free.
Another option is SmartFTP, which is free
for non-commercial use. To follow the instructions on this page, you'll need
FileZilla.
Setting up your FTP Connection
Once you've downloaded and installed an FTP client, you can configure a
connection for your website. In FileZilla, you do this via the Site Manager as
follows:
- Open the Site Manager (File > Site Manager)
- Click New (a new site will appear)
- Give the new site a name (i.e. the name of your website)
- In the right hand pane (Site Details), enter your hostname,
username, password and any other details your hosting provider has given
you.
- Check Don't save password
- Click Save
Note that your FTP client may have a slight variation on these steps, but
most FTP clients have a similar method for configuring new connections.
Connecting to your Website
The above steps simply configure your FTP client to remember the details of
your site so that you don't have to enter these details in every time you need
to update your website.
You'll notice in step 5 we selected the "Don't save password" option. For
security reasons, you should not let the program remember your password -
you should enter this every time you connect. Otherwise, imagine what could
happen to your website if your computer got stolen...
To connect to your website, either:
- Open the Site Manager (File > Site Manager)
- Select your website (by clicking on it)
- Click Connect
Uploading your Files
Once you connect to your website, you will see your local drive on the left
pane, and your remote website on the right pane. The first time you connect you
will need to upload your whole website into one of the directories on the remote
site.
In most cases, this is all you need to do. Your website will appear as soon
as you type its URL into your browser's address bar.
Some web hosting providers may require that you perform another step before
the changes go live. For example, they might require that you run a
replication process via their online control panel. This would be the case
if the FTP server was on a different computer to your physical website. This
provides an extra layer of security to your website.
|
