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  City of St. Louis

Creating Web Pages:
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

What is It?

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a type of Internet protocol, just like "http" and "telnet". FTP is the moving of files from one location to another.

Using FTP is similar to using File Manager/Windows Explorer to move files between directories or drives (i.e, from a disk to your hard drive). FTP software allows you to establish a connection with a web server so that you can move your web page files out to the Internet for others to be able to view.

Software

There is software specifically (and exclusively) designed to transfer files. Common ones include

  • WS-FTP LE (for Windows, free for personal use)
  • Fetch (for Macs, shareware)
To find out how and where to download this software see Downloading Software.

Required Information

You will need your web site account information before you can transfer your files. For CIN accounts you should have the following:

  • UserID: This will be "aide" followed by a 2 or 3 digit number @stlouis.missouri.org. (For example: aide101@stlouis.missouri.org) It is not your email account.
  • Password: You can change the password the computer generated.
  • Host Name: The server domain name. This is almost always different than your website URL, but can be similar. (For CIN account holders it is: "ftp.stlouis.missouri.org")
  • Web Site URL: Your files will be transferred into this location.

If you need a web site account check to see if you are eligible and print out the forms and mail them in. If you need assistance with an account that has already been created for you contact us via email at userhelp@stlouis.missouri.org or call the Help Desk at 622-3400 x258 and leave a message.

Setting up WS-FTP LE

  1. Download WS-FTP LE and install it.
  2. When you first open WS-FTP LE a "Session Properties" window will pop up. Enter your account information:
    • Click the New button
    • Profile Name: This is a nickname - just something for you to identify which server/account you are connecting to. (for example: St. Louis CIN)
    • Host Name/Address: Enter "stlouis.missouri.org" without the quotes. Do not enter your entire web site address.
    • Host Type: Leave as "Automatic Detect"
    • UserID: Enter your account userID (should be "aide###")
    • Password: Type in your password.
    • Leave the rest blank
    • Click the OK button or hit Enter.
    You will only have to enter your password for future FTP sessions.

At the bottom of the main WS-FTP screen you will see the status of your connection. Hopefully it says "226 Transfer complete" that means you've successfully made the connection to the CIN web server. If it says Logon Failure check to make sure you typed all the information in correctly paying attention to capitalization as well as spelling.

The left side of the window is your "local system" which is your computer's hard drive, disk drive and any network drives you might have. You can change drives by double-clicking on the blue icon next to the drive letter. You can move up the current drive directory by double-clicking on the green arrow.

The right side of the window is the "remote system" which is your folder on the web server. Any files located here are accessible on the web by going to the web site address associated with the account. If there is a file called "index.html" that file will automatically be displayed when someone types in the URL for that directory. If there is not an index page then a yucky listing of all the files will appear instead, leaving the visitor guessing as to which file to click on.

To transfer a file:

  1. Locate the file on the left and click on it once to highlight it.
  2. Click the arrow button in the middle that points to the right.
  3. The file will appear on the server side. You can now view it on the Internet.

The Danger of Double-Clicking: The default double-click setting for WS-FTP causes a file to automatically be transferred. I have seen many people lose work because they accidently double-click on file before they're ready to transfer it. It is strongly recommended that you change this default setting. To do this:

  1. Click on the Options button.
  2. Click the Advanced tab.
  3. In the bottom left corner find "Double Click Action"
  4. Select either "View File" or "Nothing"

Time-Out Feature: WS-FTP times out after a certain amount of time when you haven't used the program. This is a security feature. If you were called away from your computer and left it connected someone could come along and delete all your files. Simply click the "Close" button and then click "Connect" (it's the same button it toggles between Connect and Close depending on your status).

Setting up Sub-Directories: If you have many files that you want to organize in your web site you can set up folders. For example if you have several images you could create an images folder. While you are connected to the server click the "MkDir" button on the Remote System/Server side of the WS-FTP window. When you enter a folder name make sure not to use spaces.

Unfortunately WS-FTP does not allow you to transfer files within the server structure - you must first transfer them to the local system and then into the new folder. Any folder can/should have an "index.html" file as the main page. Just be careful that you don't accidently copy over the wrong files. WS-FTP doesn't ask if you're sure.

Creating Back-Up Files: Often you might want to keep a back-up file before you copy over your updated file. Highlight the file on the server and click the Rename button. Change the file extension to ".bak" or if you'll want to keep more than one use the date ".1999.8.25". Then immediately transfer over the updated file.

CIN Official Web Site of the City of St. Louis
This Page Last Modified: 11/19/07