VR Barnett Webs - Web Site Hosting, Design & Domain Registration
Help for the Small Business; By a Small Business

WSFTP-LE Tutor

If you have not already installed WS_FTP on your own computer you may download a copy of the LE (Limited Edition) <here>. You can download either the Pro Edition which is not free or the LE edition that is FREE. Our instructions are designed for the LE Edition.

Once you have downloaded it you can check <here> for instructions on how to install it on your computer. This link also contains tutorials that may be useful to you if you are new to ftp.

Following are specific instructions on how to use WS_FTP to upload and download files to and from your website hosted with vrbwebs.com.

1. After requesting an FTP account setup, you will receive a 'welcome' e-mail from vrbwebs.com with a subject of "NEW DOMAIN INFORMATION". This e-mail will include your "Domain Name or (IP #)", "Login Name", and "Password" . Print of copy of this e-mail and keep for a record of your information.

2. Once you have dowloaded and installed WS_FTP, you will need to start up WS_FTP from either the Start Menu or your Desktop. You should first be prompted with a "Session" dialog box. If not, click on "connect" which will bring up the "Session Properties" Window. Click on "New" to create a new connection.

3. Then configure WS_FTP in the following manner:

Profile Name: This is any name that you choose to identify your ftp connection. (informational only)

Host Name: Your domain name or ("IP #" if this was provided in your welcome e-mail) eg:) mydomain.com, or mydomain.net or (IP#) 999.99.999.00.

Host Type: Automatic Detect

User ID: Your FTP login name ("Login" in your welcome e-mail)

Password: Password (BE SURE to put a check in the Save Password box & remember that the password is case sensitive)

Leave the remaining entries blank.

4. Click the "OK" button and WS_FTP should start logging you into your FTP site. If you have sound on your computer, you will hear a number of different sound effects indicating that a task is completed. You will also see a series of ftp command scrolling in the lower left corner of the FTP window. If there are any errors, you will here a sound effect that sounds like "uh oh". You will see the login error messages appear in the message box in the lower part of the WS_FTP screen. Be sure to check your IP # or domain name, FTP Login Name, and Password (the password is CASE sensitive, meaning 'YOURPASSWORD' is different from 'yourpassword', we suggest that you cut-n-paste your password DIRECTLY from the welcome e-mail we sent you ["NEW DOMAIN INFORMATION"] into the WS_FTP password area).

5. Once you have successfully connected to your server, you will see your server directories in the right-hand window. Your local machine is on the left hand side. To access your "Document Root" or where browsers can read from, use the following directions:

You should be automatically placed in your 'home' or top-level directory. You can ensure this is where you are at by looking in the upper right corner of your ftp screen labeled Remote Site. You should see a ' / ' only in the drop down box.

This is where you will ftp your files. It is important to upload your 'homepage' (the page that you want people to see when they type in 'www.yourdomainname.com'), into the top-level directory. This file should be named either 'index.htm' or 'index.html'

(Note: Files are case sensitive. If you document says UPPERCASE.HTM then your file must be saved as UPPERCASE.HTM not uppercase.htm. Remember to upload all .htm, .html, .txt, .cgi, .pl and .php files in ascii mode.

Any subdirectories you would like to create may be created from your home directory. Suggestion: Create a directory called 'images' to store all of your image (.gif and .jpg) files in. Remember to upload image files in binary mode.

The 'MkDir' button creates a new directory.
The 'RmDir' button removes a directory.

Double Click on the green up arrow to 'move up' one directory at a time. The arrows work the same on both the left and right sides. Double click the yellow folders (directories) to to change to that directory. The left side is looking at your local computer and the right side is looking at your web server. Move either up or down to the directory on your local computer that contains the files that you want to move to your web server.

Then simply highlight the filename by clicking on it (it will turn dark blue. You can select a block of multiple files by using the shift key or selected multiple files by using the Ctrl keys while right clicking the file names. When you have finished highlighting the file or files that you want to move click the appropriate arrow in the middle of the two boxes. Click the left arrow to move files from your web server to your local computer. Click the right facing arrow to move file from your local computer to the web server. WSFTP takes over from here and you will hear the appropriate sound effect when the transfer has completed. You will alo be able to see the file name listings on the side you transferred to.

HAVE FUN!