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FTP Client Connection

• Connect to the Internet
• Complete the session setup
• Connect to the server
• Choose the transfer mode
• Transfer the files
• Check the pages

Connect to the Internet

Connect to the Internet in your normal way - you must be connected to continue.

Complete the session setup

Most FTP Client software has a "session" or "host" profile or other setup to be completed before connection. This will probably only need to be performed once, as it is usually retained between connections. The sort of details required will be:

Session/Profile Name This is just the name that will be associated with connecting to this particular FTP server (in menus or on icons etc). You could call it "My Homepage" if you really want to.

Host Name The machine name you are connecting to. In this case it is the server that hosts Demon's Customer's Homepages, homepages.demon.co.uk

Host Type This should be set to "UNIX", as that is the type of machine you are connecting to. Login Name or User ID This must be your hostname.

Password This must be the password you set up on your account. You will have chosen this the first time you connected.

Remote (Initial) Directory Leave this blank - you will be connected to your directory automatically.

Local (Initial) Directory You will usually want this set to the directory where you have your Homepage's files stored on your own machine.

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Connect to the server

This is simple in FTP Client software, just hit the "Connect" button. If all goes well you will usually see a welcome message or at least a directory listing for the server. If you get an error message returned, or are thrown out with "bad password", check the information listed above has been entered correctly. Continue only if you have a successful connection.

Choose the transfer mode

The HTML files your Web pages are written in, or any other text based files, should be transferred as ASCII text. Graphics files such as JPEGs and GIFs, should be transferred as Binary or Raw. Similarly ZIP or Stuffit compressed files should be transferred as binary.

Transfer the files

This is usually simply a matter of highlighting the files you want to transfer and clicking on the "Copy" button to transfer from your hard disk to the server. Some FTP software even supports drag-and-drop.

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Check the pages

Most software will automatically refresh the directory listing to show the new files on the server. In some you may need to force a directory "Refresh". Make sure the files are there before disconnecting. You can also check that the pages work using your Web Browser: just type in the page’s address http://www.hostname.demon.co.uk/filename.shtml to view the page. Disconnect by closing the software or hitting the "Exit" button if all looks well.

NB: Your Web site is not created until some time after your first login, so do not be alarmed if your Web Browser cannot find it the first time. The site should be visible with your Browser within about 12 hours of your first FTP access, and updates will be immediately accessible thereafter.

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