How To Use FTP – The Basic

by Yan Susanto

If you are wondering what FTP is, it is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol. It is the simplest and most secure way to transfer files from one computer to another over the internet. In simple term, it is how you send one file from your computer to your web hosting server.

If you hold off the thought of getting your own domain and installing WordPress on your web hosting server, in this article I hope I could help you to change your perception of using FTP. Uploading those WordPress Installation files or any other files is not difficult or scary, if you know how to use a FTP client.

What is a FTP Client?

It is a program or software commonly used to upload and download files from your computer to your hosting server. You need first to setup your FTP client and for that you need to know your FTP host address, your login ID and password which usually will be sent to your email upon sign up with the hosting provider. Basically, your FTP host address looks something like this ftp.yourdomain.com

Once properly setup, you can download the files from WordPress.org and upload those files to your directory /public_html or /www. If you plan to install your WordPress on a subdirectory i.e www.yourdomain.com/blog, you have to create a folder named ‘blog’ on the server and upload those files to /public_html/blog or /www/blog. For the sake of simplicity, I would walk you through the process of WordPress Installation in my next article.

Apart from uploading those WordPress Installation files, you could use FTP to upload WordPress plugins and themes. Just make sure that you drop them at the correct folders. Usually /wp-content/plugins and /wp-content/themes respectively.

Popular FTP clients

1. FileZilla
2. SmartFTP
3. FireFTP

For Mac OSX users, Transmit and Cyberduck are two of the most commonly used FTP clients. Personally I use FireFTP’s Firefox Addon to do any FTP task. With it I could use it right at my browser without opening any program at all.

I hope by now you would take the first step to download any of the FTP client recommended above and start experimenting with the process of file transfer via FTP. Happy FTP-ing.

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Tagged as: Firefox, FTP, WordPress installation

{ 2 comments }

Amy April 27, 2009 at 8:58 pm: Yan, great intro. Besides uploading website files, I would add that an ftp site is essential if you need to exchange files with clients or vendors. Most hosting companies give you the ability to setup additional ftp logins and private folders. If you run your own server, most of them come with an ftp server — vsftpd on linux and iis on windows. Also there are free ones such as filezilla (http://filezilla-project.org/). For linux and vsftpd setup, check out http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/wiki/index.php/Quick_HOWTO_:_Ch15_:_Linux_FTP_Server_Setup. The windows iis ftp server can be tricky, so I highly recommend the 3-part guide starting at https://www.orcsweb.com/articles/mastering_iis_ftp.aspx. Also there are some affordable third party solutions now that handle all the technical issues of setting up an ftp site for you and give you a nice web-based solution with your own custom branding. Try http://www.sharefile.com/ftp/ftp-site.aspx if you want to read up on ftp site alternatives.
Sarah March 23, 2010 at 2:56 am: Can I just say that this article has been–hands down–the most helpful article on ftp basics that I’ve found? Most places don’t break it down like this for noobs, so I appreciate the details and simple steps. Thank you, thank you very much.