Lesson 1: FTP (Yeah, You Know Me!)

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a way of transferring files between computers, namely your computer (the "local machine") and your webiste's computer (the "host"). In order to tranfer files between machines you need a few things:

• FTP client: This is software that allows you to connect two computers and transfer files. I use FileZilla, but there are lots of options out there.
• FTP configuration file: While you can configure your FTP client manually, an FTP configuration file makes the process faster and results in fewer frustrating errors.
• FTP account: This account is configured on your host (usually though a control panel or cPanel).

In this lesson, you will be installing and configuring your FTP client to access a folder in the /learn directory on this site. Once your FTP client is properly configured, you'll send a test file to the directory to make sire everythign works.

Let's Get Started!

We'll begin by downloading a copy of FileZilla. This is a free FTP client that you can download here. Once you have downloaded FileZilla, go ahead and install it on your local machine. So far, so good - right?

Configuring Your FTP Client

Now that Filezilla is installed, let's get you configured. I've already emailed you a configuration file. This file is in xml format and is set up to create a new FileZilla Site Manager entry. To use it:

1. Download the xml file onto your local machine.
2. Click Import in the FileZilla File menu.
3. Navigate to the xml file and click Open.
4. Click OK in the window that appears to acknowledge that the file will create a new Site Manager entry.
5. Click OK again to confirm.

Connecting to the Host

The client is installed and configured - now it's time to see if the connection goes through! To do this:

1. Click Site Manager in the FileZilla File menu.
2. Cick the conntection you want to use in the My Sites list.
3. Click Connect.
4. Type the password for your FTP account in the Password box.
5. Click OK.

When the connection has been made successfully, you'll see the contents of the /learn directory in the window at the bottom right side of the screen. In this directory, you'll also see a folder with your name on it. That's where you'll be uploading your assignments.

Lesson 1: Prove it

Ready to prove that you got it? Let's do it! The last item I included in your email is a simple "Hello World" HTML file. You're going to upload that into the directory with your name.

1. Download hello_world.html onto your local machine.
2. Using the window on the top left side of your FileZilla session, navigate to the directory where you saved the HTML file (for example, the Desktop).
3. Using the window on the bottom left side of your FileZilla session, locate the hello_world.html file.
4. Drag the hello-world.html file across the screen to the directory with your name in the window on the bottom right side of your FileZilla session.
5. Click here.

If you did it right, your browser should open a new tab with a page that says "Hello World!" Congratualations! You did it! See you soon for the next lesson!

Back to the lesson plan.