Welcome to Tutorial Tuesday!

I’ve decided to post a tutorial every Tuesday based on questions I get asked via my contact form or email. I’ve already received quite a few (thank you all!) and three of them asked about using ftp to upload files to their server. It’s quite easy to do, I’m sure you will be glad to know.

If you already know  how to use FTP (File Transfer Protocol software) feel free to add any tips that you have in the comments. I love it when you add to the conversation!

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial that will guide you through the process of setting up and using the free Firefox addon called “FireFTP.”  

How to Install the Extension

Go here >> and click the Add to Firefox button.

Verify you want the extension installed by clicking on the name and then “Install Now”.

Restart Firefox to complete the installation.

Configuring the Extension

Once Firefox restarts, it will open a pop-up showing all of your extensions. Locate & click Firebug in the list and then click the options button.

Once you click that, you will be able to modify any general and more advanced settings that you’d like including remembering passwords, timeout time, transfer file mode and more. We are going to proceed with the default settings of FireFTP.

Using FireFTP

To use FireFTP, go to “Tools -> FireFTP” and the program will open in your browser. On the top left of the program, click “Create an account”.

A window will pop-up open and you can create your account details. By default, FireFTP will remember this information, including the password. If you don’t want it to remember your passwords, you can change that in your “Options”.

Enter your new site information & click OK

  • Account Name: Something you will recognize or use the domain name.
  • Category: If you have multiple sites you can add categories to keep things organized. Just type it in the Category box if you haven’t added the category yet.
  • Host: Usually ftp.your-site.com or it may be a set of numbers in front of it
  • Login: Username provided by your web host or that you chose when setting up the site
  • Password: Password you chose when setting up the site
  • Anonymous: Unless your web host requires it, do not check this box.

Once you click, “OK”, go to “Connect” in the top left of the program:

This will open up your site and you will see the site files on the right side of your screen.

 

Your local files (the files on your computer) appear on the left. You can navigate to the folder you want to use.

Now you’re ready to either upload files to your website or download them back to your computer. To do this, you can simple drag and drop files from the left to right or vice-versa.  In the image below, we are moving the index.html file on our computer to the website.

If you want to copy multiple files, just select the ones you want by left clicking your mouse, while holding down the CTRL key.

Then right click your mouse and select “Download” (or “Upload” if you are moving files from your computer to your website). This will send your files to your computer.

Whether you upload or download, it only copies the file. It doesn’t move them from one place to another. If you want to delete a file, all you have to do is choose “Delete” from the dropdown menu shown above. You can also rename files, cut and paste, view the page on the web and more.

Your Turn…

Any Questions?

Have anything to add?

Want to know about something else?

Looking for a specific tutorial?

Let me know below!

Related posts:

  1. Opt in Forms and Autoresponders and Shopping Carts… Oh My!