File Transfer Protocol

Though Web sites are developed off-line, eventually the files wind up on a public server somewhere so they can be accessed by a wide audience.

The File Transfer Protocol was created to provide a standardized way of moving files from one computer to another and it is usually the method used to publish a Web site's files to a publicly accessible computer. An FTP client, such as FileZilla, is a front-end tool for using the File Transfer Protocol.

Though there are many FTP clients available, FileZilla is discussed here because:

• It's free.
• It's available for both Mac and Windows computers.

To use FileZilla, launch it and log in using your hosting credentials:

• Host: somewhere.com
• Username: yourusername
• Password: yourpassword

You should wind up with a window that looks like the one below.

• At the top, where it says Response and Command, is a log of the communications with the remote machine.
• Below that on the left is a two-part window that lists the contents of the computer your are using, the Local site.
• On the right is another two-part window that lists the contents of the server, the Remote site.
• You navigate through the hierarchies by clicking the listed items.
• You can add items to the remote server either by dragging them from your computer desktop to the remote site window or by dragging them from the left/local window to the right/remote window.

Columbia College AIM students: click here for a Columbia-specific version of this page.