Transloader How-To


This is basically a walk through of how to use the Transloader to grab any of the images from my site that you want. I am not a WebTV user but i have used the Transloader to good effect when i was behind a Firewall on my PC. It served me well then and i hope it continues to server you well. It is definitely a very useful resource for WebTVers.

Ok, below is a picture of what the Transloader looks like on my WebTV Viewer on my PC. I have it on good authority it is very very similar to what you guys on WebTV see.



The important Parts to note here are as follows :

Last Visited URL

This is the URL you were Last at before coming to the Transloader. If you have assigned the Transloader to one of your Function Keys you can use this by clicking the Tear Drop Shape . This will transfer the URL in this field into the Source URL field so you can Transload the URL you were just at. My site has been set up so that the images are linked to the Transloader. Clicking on an image (or the transload button nearby) will take you straight to the Transloader with the Source URL filled in. If you are able to view the item on its own and then hit your function key you have assigned to the Transloader the Last Visited URL field should contain the URL of the item you want to Transload.


Source URL

This is the URL of the item you are trying to Transload. It maybe a gif, jpg ,ZIP, HTML or any other type of file. If it is one of the Images from my site it will look like http://victorian.fortunecity.com/vangogh/443/interludes.gif . This will take the graphics called interludes.gif and transfer it to the FTP account of your choice. At the end of it, you will have the graphics in your account where you can link to it. If my site goes down, you will still have graphic to use.


Rename To

If you want to call the image or file a different name you can put it in here. However be careful, you cant change image.jpg to image.gif in here.


Target FTP Server

This is where you put the FTP name of the server you are Transloading too. For example if its a Geocities page it will be ftp.geocities.com . You should be able to find this out when you sign up to get the web space. If you dont know try replacing the 'www' with 'ftp'. ie www.goecities.com becomes ftp.geocities.com. This doesnt always work and it is better to go to their website and find out for sure.


Target Account Name

This is pretty self explanatory. It is the account name of your site. For example if my Tripod URL was http://members.tripod.com/~Zate/ then my account name would be Zate. This should have been emailed to you or displayed when you signed up.


Target Account Password

This is your FTP password for your Target Account. Without it you cant Transload. It too should have been emailed to you. If you forget it most services provide a reminder option or will email your password to the email address you signed up with.


Upload Directory

You can choose the directory that the file will be put in on your site. Quite a few people put there images in a special directory to keep things tidy. Place the name of a directory on your site here if you want the image put there. Dont forget to include the / at the start and between directory names.


Transfer In ASCII Mode

This option may be used when transfering Text files such as HTML files and the such. Images are Binary files and should be transfered as BINARY, howver if what you are transfering is a text file, setting ASCII mode can automatically strip down some parts of the file and in doing so can saves you a little bit file size. You dont really have to worry with this option, text files transfer just fine in BINARY mode.


Direct to Editor

This optional tool can allow you to Edit your HTML files. It also supports cutting and pasting via its own special tags. It was a useful tool before WebTV could cut & paste. Most online services today have HTML editors that you can use and WebTV can now cut and paste so this is largely redundant. Still useful as a back up option for a quick change before you transload something.


Direct To Image Tool

When transloading either a gif or a jpeg file, setting this option will take you to the ImageTool which will show you the size attributes of the image and allow you to convert the image between formats. There are a few tools out on the web that do this much better now.


Expand Characters

This is an option to provide different 'fonts' for WebTV by using a gif image of each letter. I havent seen it in operation and dont really know how to use it. If someone understands it properly maybe they could write a small explanation to go here.now.


Clip Guest Book Entry

An interesting little tool for removing unwanted Guestbook entries from your Geocities Guest book. Its a little risky to use so if you are thinking of using it i suggest reading the Trouble Shooting Guide.


Transload, Cancel, Save Cookies and Discard Cookies

These buttons can be used to help you if you are Transloading Multiple images or files. The fields with the symbol next to them can have their values set in them by pressing the 'Save Cookies' button. This can allow those fields to be filled automatically every time you come to the transloader without you typing them in each time. An example of this could be to set cookies on the Target FTP, Account Name and Account Password fields so that on multiple Transloads those fields fill themselves in.

These also behave similarly to the FTP Palette. This can be used to store the details for multiple FTP Accounts on different servers, say for different Web Pages. Clicking on the after each one will fill in the Target FTP Fields and Account name and Password.

The Clear Cookies button clears all the fields with a next to them and the reset button resets the entire form, clearing all of the fields.

What Transloader Looks Like For a PC User







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