What is FTP?

We all have to start somewhere, and I recognize that - so if you’re a seasoned web developer you may not need this article (but it always helps to review the basics), but for all of you who are just starting out, I’ve got you covered. This article is a complete guide to FTP in plain English.

You’re probably here because you read somewhere that you need to “FTP something to your server” - but what does that mean? FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. That’s about as much geek speak that your going to get in this article (and even that isn’t too bad). The key terms there are file and transfer, and that’s exactly what FTP software is used for. If you have software that you need to get onto your server with your web host (like a content management system, forum, or even just some HTML), your going to use FTP software to get it there.

Let’s take a look at the process. First up, we need to get us some FTP love, and there is a lot of free FTP software out there. If your on a PC, I’ve used FileZilla before, and liked it. If you’re on a Mac, you can grab CyberDuck for free as well. I use Transmit, which is a paid FTP program from Panic! (an awesome Mac dev house).

Up next, is connecting it to your host. To do this you’ll likely need some credentials provided by your host, so let’s break those down.

Protocol: This is the required connection method (usually FTP or SFTP)
Server: This is the address where your server lives (usually something like ftp.yourdomain.com)
Username: Provided by your host
Password: Provided by your host

Let’s take a closer look at that stuff up there. You know what FTP means - SFTP means Secure File Transfer Protocol. Some hosts require a secure connection, no biggie. Server denotes where your FTP software is going to place all of your stuff that you’re transferring from your computer. It needs this address to get everything to the right place, just like a postal worker needs your street address to get mail to you. Username and password are straight up, just make sure you get this info from your host. If you log into a control panel with them, chances are you’ll find these credentials there. If your hosting solution is fully-managed, you might have to fire off a quick email (but they should have given all of this info to you when you first signed up).

Ok, let’s connect and transfer files! So you put in all of the credentials and connected, now what? Well here’s a breakdown of the interface, and thankfully it’s very, very simple. You have all of your local files on one side, and all of the files on your server on the other. If you want to get a file off of your computer and onto your web server, how do you think you do it? Yep, you’re right - you drag and drop. It’s that easy.