Using FTP
There are several ways to use FTP: you can use an FTP application, you can use Netscape as FTP client and you can use line command FTP.

Using an FTP application
f you want to use an FTP application, the answer to question 9 of the Uploading FAQ contains information that you're going to need. For an FTP Tutorial, click here. At this address you'll also find a link where you can download a free FTP application.

Using your browser for FTP
If you have Netscape 2 or above (I used to have Netscape 3 and it worked for me), you're able to use FTP without needing an FTP application.

Using your browser for FTP - the easiest way
This is (as far as I know) the easiest way of using your browser for FTP.

1. Start with entering the following address in Netscape's 'location' box:
   ftp://user:[email protected]/
   For example, what I enter (except that mypassword is not really my password) is:
   ftp://Ritona:[email protected]/
2. Near the top of your screen you'll find a number of options, like 'File', 'Edit', 'View', 'Go', 'Bookmarks', etc. The exact layout may depend on the Netscape version that you're using. Click 'File'.
3. Clicking 'File' will open a pull-down menu, with 'Upload File...' as one of the options. Click 'Upload File...'.
4. Clicking 'Upload File...' will open a window where you can browse your hard-disk you want to upload. Select the files you want to upload by right- clicking. The only drawback of this method is that you can only upload one file at a time. If you have a large number of files to upload the 'less easy way' may be better.

Using your browser for FTP - the less easy way
If the easy way doesn't work, for whatever reason, here's an alternative.

1. Start with entering the following address in Netscape's 'location' box:
   ftp://user:[email protected]/
   For example, what I enter (except that mypassword is not really my password) is:
   ftp://Ritona:[email protected]/
2. Open Windows Explorer to browse the files on your hard disk. Make sure that the application doesn't use your entire screen, and you can still see Netscape's location box.
3. Use Windows Explorer to find the directory where the files are that you want to upload. Left-click on the first file you want to upload, and shift-left-click on the last file. You will see that these files and all between them are 'marked' now.
4. Use the mouse to drag the 'marked' files to Netscape's location box. Once you're there, you'll see a little + appearing beside your mouse pointer. Let go of the mouse button. If necessary, click the 'Netscape' button at the bottom of your screen to get the Netscape window to the foreground.
5. At this stage you get a little pop-up box asking you 'Do you want to upload the dragged files to the FTP server?' Hit 'OK'. Do not hit 'Cancel', as this may result in possible damage to existing files on Fortune City's server (see below).
6. Subsequently the system will tell you that it's uploading your files, and, eventually, that the job was completed successfully.

Line command FTP
This is not terribly user-friendly. Don't say I didn't warn you...

1. click the 'start' button at the bottom left corner of your screen (I'm assuming that you use Windows). Select 'programs'. Select 'MS-DOS' prompt. This will blank out your screen, except for a directory name at the bottom of the screen (usually C:\Windows) followed by a >. This is the so-called command line. You can't use your mouse here. Anything you want to do here needs to be accomplished by typing commands at the command line and hitting 'Enter'
2. when you start up MS-DOS, you will probably be in a directory called C:\Windows. Your command line prompt will show you your current directory. To upload, you need to go to the directory where your files are. For this purpose, you can use the following commands. The commands are not case-sensitive.
   cd .. will take you one level upwards in the directory structure;
   cd directoryname will take you one level downwards in the directory structure, to the directory with the specified name;
   dir will show you a list of subdirectories and files in your current directory.
   
3. start FTP by typing ftp servername.com at the command line and hitting enter, replacing servername by, for instance, fortunecity
4. enter your username and password when you're asked to do so
5. if you haven't done so already, you need to go to the directory on your local drive where your files are. You can use lcd .. and lcd directoryname to navigate to the right directory. Not that these commands are different from the ones you used in MS-DOS
6. on the server you'll need to navigate to the directory where your files have to go. You can do that by entering cd .. and cd directory name. To see your current directory on the server, enter pwd
7. enter ascii before uploading one or more text or HTML files. Enter binary before uploading graphics
8. enter put filename.extension to upload one file. Enter mput *.* to upload all files in your current directory
9. when you're finished, enter quit to end your FTP session
10. enter exit to leave MS-DOS and return to Windows

A word of warning, though...
If you use Netscape FTP to replace an existing page on Fortune City's server by a new version, and somehow the transfer is interrupted (either you decide to cancel in stead of to upload, or Netscape gets an abend), it's possible that the existing version of your page on Fortune City's server is 'emptied' and set to 0 bytes, which will result in a 'document contains no data' error message when you try to access it through your browser. Retrying the upload will generally solve the problem.

...and...
If you upload a new version of a file using FTP this new version will replace the old version on Fortune City's server. If, after uploading, it seems like the old version is still there, try hitting 'reload' or 'refresh' in your browser. What you're seeing is possibly the cached copy of the old version of your page.

...and finally...
Always make sure you have a backup copy of your site.

Last update: May 15th, 2000