1.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP), is the standard protocol used for transferring files remotely
between two computers (i.e from a PC to a web server, or from a web server to a PC). By using a FTP program, you can
upload/download files in ASCII or binary format, depending on the type of files you are transferring.
Like other services in the web server, FTP service is available 24/7 for your use and each domain hosting account
has its own FTP web space.
2.
You can easily FTP login to your hosting account by using either the IP address of your website or by
using the subdomain format (i.e ftp.yourdomain.com). Please note that your hosting account IP address was assigned when you your hosting
account was initially setup during the signup process, and can be found in the login info email you received, or you can login to your hosting account control
panel (http://www.yourdomain.com/cpanel) to check for it. When you connect
to your website, you are required to provide your username and password, for
security purposes.
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3.
Anonymous FTP (i.e. guest login without password) allows anyone to upload to your public FTP web space but disallowing them
access to the private web space. By default, each domain hosting account
comes with anonymous FTP capabilities, this option is
not turned on by default for security concern. To enable Anonymous FTP for your domain, login to your hosting account control panel
at (http://www.yourdomain.com/cpanel), Click on FTP Manager and then Anonymous FTP option and click Install
AnonFTP. Your users can then FTP into your domain hosting account using a username of 'anonymous'
and their email address, users can then upload or download files freely after login to the public FTP web space.
4.
There are many FTP programs available, here are two commonly used FTP clients: WS_FTP (either the Light Edition,
which is free for non-commercial use or the Pro version) or CuteFTP. WS_FTP
is available from Ipswitch, and CuteFTP
can be downloaded at Tucows, where
you can also find other FTP clients.
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5.
When using an FTP program to upload files to your hosting account, you should upload files into the folder
'public_html' or the 'www' folder, both the folders will be
the same no matter which you choose as they are both pointing to the same area in your hosting account. You can create subfolders under the
main folder (public_html) if you wish to have a more organized website structure.
6.
There are some system related folders created when your hosting account is setup or when you enable
Anonymous FTP. These include mail, public_ftp, etc
and the tmp, there is also a cgi-bin folders in the public_html. These system related folders contain
other files and programs that are needed by the web server to function properly, please do remember to leave them as they are in your domain hosting account.
If you are unsure what a particular file or folder is needed for, please contact support at
http://helpdesk.dotservant.com/.
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7.
For security purposes, you cannot move out of the root folder of your own
domain, as there are many users in the same web server and each of them will have their own private web space, only web server administrator will be able to move freely in the web server.
