Below I have posted links to three of the most widely used FTP clients (software) that is available for free from numerous locations. You can research each from their manufacturer's homepages if you wish, but I have made them available here for ease of access.
I generally use Mozilla's FileZilla as my main FTP client, but choose your own preference; they all do basically the same things.
This can vary, but it's suggested to just use default values throughout this process. It should be straight-forward if you've ever installed software before.
Now, I will demonstrate how to connect to a server and transfer a file although, you will not have access to do this at this time unless 1) you have your own web server, or 2) someone with a server gives you access. This is just for reference at this point.
-- FileZillaWhen FileZilla opens you will see a similar screen as this.
This is showing that you are not connected to server at this time. To connect, look at the following section.
You'll see how you can either put a domain name or IP address in the HOST section. Host is the name of the server (or website) you are connecting to.
Username is based on what access that has been given to you. The server/site administrator will give you your username and your password. Usernames are usually in the format of 'yourname@domainname.com'. Though this can vary depending on the server/site admin preference.
The next section will show you your local file system (your harddrive) on the left, and the server file system on the right.
FileZilla (and any FTP client really) makes uploading of files easy. All I have to do now is find the file I want to upload from the local directories (left side) and then drag and drop the file to the directory I will want the file to exist on the server (right side).
As you see, I am moving a file called 'ftp.html' from my local drive to a directory on the server where there is already a file called 'ftp.html'. I will be prompted by FileZilla asking me what I want to do with the file. I can either overwrite the file on the server depending on various aspects, rename the file, or skip it (which could come in handy if you're moving multiple files at once).
For this example I just choose to overwrite the file on the server with the file from my local drive.
Depending on your connection speed and the size of the file(s) to be transferred to the server, you will see the progress in the very bottom section of the FileZilla window.
Once the file upload is complete, the above window is empty again.
There are many other features of FileZilla not covered here. The basics have been met though. You can also download files from the server to your local drive, which is done in the reverse of how we've gone over how to upload a file.
-- CuteFTPWhen CuteFTP opens you will be prompted to enter a serial number, or continue on. This software is shareware, which is free, but you can pay for it. If you're running a business and you use the software, you should buy it. There is also a "tips" screen that I always chose to Not Show at startup. Your preference. Anyway... when you open CuteFTP you get a screen like the following.
Again, you will need to connect to the server using the hostname, username, and password given to you by the server/site admin.
Once connected, you get directory structure of your local drive in the top left.
You will also see the structure of the server where you've just connected.
When you have selected the file you want to transfer from local (top left window), you can drag and drop to the directory on the server where you want the file to reside (top right window). When the file(s) is moving to or from the server, you will see which file is being accessed in the Transfer Queue across the bottom.
That's basically it. Again, there are more features of CuteFTP, but we've covered uploading a file. You can download a file by dragging the file from the server to your local drive.
-- SmartFTPSmartFTP is another shareware FTP client. The version that can be downloaded from this site has a 30 day trial period. Your choice if you want to buy it or not. This is another reason why I primarily use FileZilla... it's FREE!
When you open SmartFTP it looks like the following screen.
You will notice that you now have to connect to the server using the hostname/domain name, your usernamd and your password given to you from the site/server admin.
For whatever reason the Welcome screen stays open, I click the X to close that out once I've connected.
I now have just the server directory. For some reason, by default SmartFTP does not local the local directory view. You will need to select File -> New Local Browser, to show your local files.
I now can see my local directories in the top right pane of the SmartFTP window, and I have the remote (server) directory list in the top left pane.
I can now drag from the local (right pane) and drop at the server (left pane) where I want the file to reside on the server. You will see the file(s) to be moved to the server in the Transfer queue at the very bottom. Very simple.
Again, there are many more things that can be done with this software, but we've covered the upload of a file from your local computer to the web server. You can reverse the steps to download a file from the server.