a lot of student problems seems to lie in the FTPing of their pages onto the server. FTPing is the process of transferring your files, off your computer, onto the server, on the internet, so others can view them.
The program I use is called WS_FTP and is no longer offered for free. There is a free download to use for 30 days and then you would have to purchase it for $40.
There are other FTP programs available for free, some of which are listed in lesson 1. These might follow the basic procedures outlined below. I hope to inspect each myself and give some instruction to their use at a later date.
You MUST first dial up and be connected to the internet before you can actually use the WS_FTP program. WS_FTP does not have it's own dialer with it. So, when you press the Connect button on WS_FTP you must actually BE connected first.
Once you have downloaded the file and executed it, you will be able to open the FTP program. Here are some instructions for setting up the program. NOTE: links will take you to actual screen shots...cool!
Once open you will get a Session screen....
Press the OK button on the bottom of the screen and you should connect to the server. It only takes a few seconds. Words will fly by at the bottom of the screen while connecting.
Now your screen is split into two parts.... Screen Shot #2
The LEFT side is your hard drive.
The RIGHT side of the screen is the server at WCNet (or your server).
TRANSFERRING: Once you find your item on the left side of the screen, and you have the right side open in the correct folder, you can either double click on the item you want to upload (homework.htm or whatever file), or just highlight the item and use the arrow pointing to the right, in the center of the screen, to move it to the other side. I usually just double click. Now, you will need to wait for the item to transfer to the other side before doing another. You will see it appear and you should get some sort of noise on your system when it's done. It will also say transfer complete on the bottom of the FTP screen.
Yeah!! That's it, you transferred your file. Keep transferring any files you need to in this manner. You can transfer as many as you need to in the same session.
DELETING FILES: While inside your section of the server (right hand side of the screen) you can delete files you are no longer using. These would usually be graphic files (.jpg or .gif) but could also be a html document that you not longer wish to be up and running. If you delete a document, don't forget to delete the graphics you are using on it. BUT...if the graphics are used on other pages do not delete them.
To delete a file first you select the file, notice that the Delete button has just highlighted (turned black). Now you can press the delete button to get rid of the file. You will be prompted: Are you sure you want to delete this file. Choose Yes (or No, if you choose not to). If you choose Yes, the file will be deleted from the server.
If you want to put the file back onto the server, you should still have it on your hard drive and can upload it again to the server.
SETTING UP YOUR DIRECTORIES TO WORK AUTOMATICALLY: I would always have to find my files on my hard drive, then find the public folder on the WCNet side of the screen, every time I uploaded something to the server. Well, guess what, I found an easier way, helps to read about the program a little. Here is how you can set your connection to open the directories on both sides of the screen for you:
QUITTING FTP: To quit the program press the Close button on the bottom of the FTP screen. Then choose the Exit button to close the program.
The next time you go to use the program just choose the Profile Name you created above and press the OK button on the bottom of the FTP screen. You will log on automatically. Remember to open up the public_html folder on the right side of your screen before transferring your files.
If you should accidently transfer a file to the server and it is not in your public_html folder, don't panic! You can delete it, just be very careful and SURE of what you are deleting. Say, you upload your homework.htm file and it goes onto the first screen. It will show up there as homework.htm. Highlight the file and choose the delete option on the right side of the FTP screen. It will ask you if you are sure you want to delete this file...choose Yes. It's gone, again be careful of what you delete because you can delete some of WCNet's files, and you don't want to do that.
Double click on the two/three dots (...) at the top of the screen to get to your C drive (you may have to do this two times), now you should see all the folders on your hard drive listed. Double click on the folder you have your htm documents and files in (you might have to double click on several folders to get there). Once you get to that folder you should see all the items listed. At the top of the screen on the left side you will see the words Local System and then the C: will be there and what ever folders you went into. Don't do anything yet.....
FIRST you MUST double click on the public_html folder, this will take you to the spot where you can upload your files to WCNet. (This does not show on the screen shot, the screen shots right side is empty, but files and folders will appear on that side when you are on line.) Right now your public_html folder should be empty, until you upload something into it. On the top of the screen on the right side you will see the words Remote System, the name of your folder on WCNet is portrayed here. You don't need this for anything, but it's kinda neat to see it.
If you are using another server, please follow their instructions on where to put your files.
Next time you connect to this Profile Name it will open to the correct directories. Don't be afraid to create more profile names for each set of pages you create. I have many created for my web sites.
