Uploading Your Site

FTP Clients
FTP Login
FTP Uploading
FTP FAQ

FTP Clients

The process by which files are transferred to the web server is called "FTP" (File Transfer Protocol). You have unlimited access via FTP 24-hours a day. As such, you can create and maintain your web pages on your own computer and upload the files to your web site at leisure using our servers. For non-Microsoft® FrontPage® 98 users an FTP client is the most common method of transferring your files to the server. The following steps will ensure that your web site is uploaded and visible on our servers, and allow viewers from the outside to visit your site easily.

Once the account is created on the server (generally one to two hours after sign-up), you should be ready to upload any files you have created for your web site. You can start by installing and running an FTP client, such as WS-FTP (for Windows 95/3.x users), or Fetch (for Macintosh users).

Microsoft FrontPage Users
Customers with Microsoft FrontPage extensions installed on their sites should use only the FrontPage publishing feature to transfer files. Using regular FTP can corrupt the extensions, disabling the functionality of the FrontPage web and requiring that the site be deleted to reinstall the extensions.

FTP Login

If your domain name is registered and fully functioning you can use ftp.yourdomain.com as the 'Host Name' to access your account with the FTP client. If this does not work, please try using the IP address, provided with the account confirmation e-mail for your account instead. In any case you will be required to log into the server with your User Name and Password, also provided in the account confirmation. Also note that logging in with a Web Browser, such as Netscape or Internet Explorer will NOT give you access to the entire account. Only an FTP program will allow you total access to your account space.

FTP Uploads

You will find some files and subdirectories already present in your account space. We recommend not altering the sub-directories in any way (other than depositing files into them, or changing permissions). You will find a file called index.html. This is the default page for the account, and begins as a 'Welcome' page. You should replace this file with your own 'Home' page, so that any viewer who visits the site will see this file initially when entering your domain name on their browser. Now you can begin transferring files to the server, but please keep these points in mind when uploading files:

UNIX systems are case-sensitive. Thus, a file named foobar.txt would be a separate file from one named FOOBAR.txt. If you can't seem to find a file on the server that you just uploaded, check to see that you are using the right case.
UNIX filenames also may contain almost any type of character, and sometimes this may confuse FTP clients. If you have trouble retrieving or linking to a file, try using wildcards (*) in FTP to delete it, and replace it with a file that doesn't have spaces or other special characters in its name.
Our web server recognizes file formats by extension. This means a client retrieving a file named .htm or .Html will be told it is in HTML format. Make sure that you use the proper extensions when uploading your files.
CGI scripts must be in the /cgi-bin subdirectory and have file permissions set to 'executable', otherwise they will not run correctly.
You should upload graphic files (such as .jpg or .gif files) in 'Binary' mode with FTP, and HTML or scripts in 'ASCII' mode in order to ensure that there are no extraneous 'control' characters in your scripts or pages.
You may create an unlimited number of subdirectories (folders) within your account space to organize your site using the FTP command 'mkdir'. To have a page automatically load up when a browser goes to a directory, name a file index.html (make sure its lowercase) and place it in that directory. If an index.html file is not present, the web browser will default to a list of all the files in that directory. This applies to the root directory as well.

FTP F.A.Q.

Where can I obtain an FTP client?

There are many different FTP clients available that are shareware or freeware that you can download. We recommend using WS_FTP if you are not familiar with FTP clients. You can download it from www.ipswitch.com.

Macintosh users can find out about the latest version of Fetch from:

This Link

I use AOL and files I upload via FTP seem to get chopped off after a certain length. Why does this happen?

According to some of our customers AOL has supposedly decided to limit the size of files that can be transferred via FTP. If you were unable to resume transfers or compress files to fit within AOL's limit, we would recommend using another provider that does not limit the amount of data you could upload.

I have uploaded my files, but when I view the site with my Web Browser, I still see the 'Welcome' page. Why aren't my files showing up?

In order to see your home page, you should make sure that the page is in the root directory of your account space, and name it 'index.html'. Otherwise it may not show up when you visit the site.

Why do my pictures show up as broken picture icons on my pages?

There are a few possibilities for this one.

First, you need to make sure you upload any images in 'Binary' format with your FTP client.
Secondly, you need to make sure you refer to the file with the correct extension. For instance, if the graphic file ends in .jpg, then you need to refer to it as .jpg in your HTML code, not as .JPG or. Jpeg. The file name must match the reference to the file in your HTML exactly, including case-sensitivity.
Also, make sure that you refer to the file in its proper location. For example, if the file is in the images subdirectory on the server, then you would need to refer to it in http://www.domain.comimages/file.gif, or similar, in your HTML. You must refer to the file in its correct location in order for the web browser to load it when someone visits the site.

Why can't I see my web site after uploading?

You most likely uploaded your site to the root directory and not public_html. You must include in the path /public_html so that your FTP client or web publishing software knows where to upload your folders and files to.

I've deleted or modified some of the system files on my account, and now my site does not work properly. Can you repair my account?

Please refrain from deleting any system files located inside your directory. If your account ceases to work due to actions on your part, administrative assistance is available for an hourly rate. There is a one-hour minimum for administrative debugging. If you accidentally removed a file that is a part of Frontpage extensions, we will reinstall Frontpage extensions for free.