How to Upload Files to Your Web Host Server

You've grabbed a set of web site building tools and made your own website. Now, all that's left to do is to upload your website and other related files to your web host's server. A lot of newbies find this difficult but it really isn't.

Before you can upload your files to your server, with any tool that you wish to use, you will need to establish a connection to that server. In order to do this, you will need to find out a few things about your hosting account:

• Your FTP server/address: This is usually in the following format, ftp.yourdomain.com. But sometimes, you will need to use your domain's IP address.
• Your user name and password: This should have been sent to you when you first signed up with a web host. Check your welcome email.
• The folder you need to publish your site to: This differs depending on the system your web host use. A popular folder to publish to is public_html
• HTTP address of your homepage: This information is only required by some tools. Ex: http://www.yourdomain.com

If you're not sure, just send your web host a quick support ticket and they should be able to give you the right information.

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Before we continue, you need to know one more thing. There are two common FTP modes of transferring files to your server.

1. ASCII
2. Binary

FTP (file transfer protocol) is just a method of transferring and manipulating files on your server.

Most good web design and FTP software have already been programmed to automatically recognize which modes are for which files. But just in case, you get stuck with one that doesn't, the rule of thumb is that ASCII mode should be used for plain text files and binary for everything else.

Here's just a list of the more common type of files and their transfer mode.

• ASCII: .txt .html .shtml .php .cgi .pl .css
• Binary: .png .jpg .gif .zip .pdf .mov .mp3

Now, we have that out of the way, let's look at several ways you can upload files to your server.

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This is probably the most convenient way to upload your webpages and images in those pages. Most web design software has a built in FTP function. Before you publish your site, you will need to create a connection to your server. Note that the word publish is often used to describe the process of making your site live on the internet.

To look for the FTP feature in your software, look for a "Publish" function or a "Site manager" function. When you click the Publish button or select Publish from the menu, you should be prompted to fill in a form with:

1. A name for this connection: This is for your own reference so that you can look for it again later.
2. FTP server address
3. FTP login details

Sometimes, you are also asked for the folder you need to publish in. Once, you've filled that in, all you need to do is click on the Publish button and you're done.

Most web design software keeps a log of what has been published. So the next time you publish, you will be asked if you want to only publish files that have changed since the last time you publish. This comes in handy.

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Another way to upload files to your server is to use an FTP software. An FTP software is a feature rich full fledged version of a web design software's FTP function.

Why would you want to use an FTP software when your web design software already have an in built FTP function? Well, if you only want to upload your webpages and images, then you may not need an FTP software at all.

An FTP software comes in handy when you want to upload files much more than just your webpages and web images. This would include scripts, audios, ebooks, zip files, executable programs etc. And you usually can do so much faster than if you were to use a web design software.

FTP software also come with more features. You can resume and schedule uploads and downloads. You can change the permission of files. You can upload multiple files at the same time. You can even upload random files from different folders to one folder on your server.

You will need to fill out the same information in order for your FTP software to connect to your server. FTP software usually have two panes. One for the files on your computer and the other for the files on your server. Moving a file from one place to another is as easy as dragging the file from one pane to the other.

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The third way to upload files, that we'll cover here today, is using your web hosting control panel. Every good web host will give you access to a control panel that makes it easier for you to use the many features that come with your hosting account.

One of these features include the ability for you to upload, edit, manipulate and delete files on your server. The exact way of doing this differs depending on what type of control panel your web host uses. But the process is similar.

You click on a File Manager icon, then you navigate to the folder where you want to upload your files to, choose a file from your computer to upload, then click on the upload button. And you're done.

The great thing about uploading files using your web host control panel is that you don't need to install any software. So, if you were away on a holiday, for example, and found something on the net that you simply need to upload to your site, all you need to do is login to your control panel from any web browser.

Other than that though, uploading files from your web host control panel is very cumbersome because:

• you can only upload a limited number of files at one time
• you need to browse to find each file you want to upload to your selected folder
• navigating to different folders to upload files to is very time consuming.
• navigating within folders can get a bit confusing especially when you're switching from folder to folder.

There are only certain times when I use the control panel to upload my files:

• when, for some mysterious reason, I can't seem to do it using my FTP or web design software. The control panel almost always works.
• when I'm using someone else's computer.
• when I need to remove a folder with many subfolders and heaps of files in it. With the control panel, all I need to do is select the folder and click on Delete and the whole folder plus its contents are removed immediately. With the other 2 softwares, when you click delete, it will go through this long process of deleting each file and subfolders in the folder, just the way they would when they upload files. (Okay, this one has nothing to do with uploading files but I thought I'd share this tip).

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Okay, now that you've learned about the three ways to upload your files to your web host server, let's go through some possible reasons why you may have trouble uploading files.

1. You got your login information wrong.
   Please double check that you've used the right username and password. This may seem straightforward but you won't believe how many people I've met that makes this mistake. If you typed in your username and password before, try copying and pasting it from your welcome email instead.
2. You published to the wrong folder.
   Your files will only appear on the net if you published to the right folder. Make sure that you get this one right. Do not assume. Just because I mentioned the public_html folder, it does not mean that your web host uses the same folder. So, do your homework and check.
3. You ran out of server space.
   I don't know how many times this has happened to me. I would upload files with my FTP software and the file won't upload. I use my web design software and same thing. I even try from my web hosting control panel. It simply just won't work. And what did I find out? I had used up all the server space allocated to me. In this case, you will need to remove some files or upgrade your account.
4. Your web host is experiencing server problems.
   Sometimes, you may have problems because your web host is upgrading or maintaining their servers. I normally know this when I see a "Page not found" message when I go to my URL. So, if all else fails, give your web host a hoot and they'll help you out.

There you go. This should be enough to get you started. If you have any questions or more tips you'd like to share, feel free to leave comments below.