SLOAN RANGER
If you need to move files around the Internet, you'll need one of these FTP utilities
WANDA SLOAN
FTP is so old. (How old is it?) (Over 30 years old - Ed.) It's so old it doesn't have a spiffy new-age name such as Fred's Transport Place.
No way. FTP stands for file transfer protocol. That is geekspeak for "old Internet system used by Net pioneer Al Gore to send WordStar documents."
The basic idea: You have a file here, on your computer. But you want it there - on your web site or your employer's desktop. Or the reverse: A friend or a colleague or your employer has a file you really need to get to your computer.
In the real world: You want to update your website. FTP is almost always the fastest way to do it. These days there are lovely, automatic tools like Blogger and Wordpress and the brilliant Microsoft Windows Live Writer, which build in FTP automatically.
I use FTP several times a week to send this column, screen shots and other material to Database. At the other end, while browsers have a crude, slow FTP capability built in, people use a dedicated FTP client or program to move my material to their machine and within the newspaper's network.
If you want to see how old FTP really is, here is how. Open a command window (Start, Run, "cmd") and at the prompt just type "ftp" and hit Enter. You get another prompt, "ftp>". Type help and hit Enter. Now you see why there are third-party FTP software. Oh sorry; type "quit" and hit Enter to end that unpleasant interlude.
Despite all the information it displays, including a directory of sites (top right) FileZilla is clean and simple to understand and use. |
The way I see it, FTP clients come in two packages, big and small. There are also FTP servers, but few individuals need to get into that complexity.
Also, the way I see it, you need a small and handy FTP program if you are sending files continuously to the same place day after day - if you are a webmaster, for example. But while a nearly invisible FTP program is great for repetitive work, most people interested enough to read this newspaper are savvy enough to be helped from bigger programs. Here is the best of what I have recently found.
Rightload is a program that I use pretty much constantly. It is literally custom-made for people who frequently upload to sites like web pages or ImageShack. In fact it is optimised for use with photos, although I use it mostly for text and archive (.ZIP-type) files.
It is not a desktop program, but rather works with a right click of the mouse. Here's the deal.
Once you have installed Rightload, you can simply right click on any file on your computer - in Windows Explorer, on the desktop or whatever. Choose "Send To" from the menu, and you will spot Rightload as one of the choices.
The first time you do this, Rightload will ask you for details about where to send the file. You will need the login and password of the target site (probably), as well as the path and actually directory (folder) where you want the file to land.
Rightload remembers this, and the second time you will not have to do much but click the big, green Upload button to send a file to the same place. You can add other sites and targets, and the program will remember them as well.
This is totally no-frills, speed-is-everything software that gets one or many files to a few familiar and frequent destinations over and over. A webmaster or ImageShack (say) freak will probably love it.
Rightload allows you to right-click on any file on your computer and send it quickly to another site. |
It is also one-way. Rightload gets the job done efficiently but in a limited way, for some people. But I think everyone also needs a full-featured FTP client which you can run from the desktop, and which downloads and manipulates remote files, as well as simply uploading them to a single destination.
FileZilla is currently an FTP client of choice, rated at five stars (or better) by almost every reviewer and download site. It is an open source program, meaning it is trustworthy and approved for use in many workplaces. It also means it is available in Linux and Mac versions, both of which are currently right up to date with the Windows version - Ver 3.1.1.1 at this writing.
FileZilla has about every bell, whistle and safety feature that you can get these days. But at its heart it is a pretty logical program.
When it connects to a remote (Internet) computer, FileZilla shows an interface of six windows - but any Windows user can quickly figure them out. The connection details are at the top. Your own computer is on the left, the folder structure of the remote machine on the right.
This makes it super-easy to do the main FTP job, which is transfer files. Generally, you can simply drag a file, a number of files or a folder from one side of FileZilla to the other. FileZilla does the rest. For those who have not seen FTP before, prepare to be impressed by the speed.
Provided you have the proper authorisation on the remote site, FileZilla also serves as an Explorer. That means you can copy, move and delete files on the remote, Internet computer pretty much like you do it on your own. You can even edit text files.
The program has an unusual ability resume uploads or downloads if something happens in the middle of your 700MB operation, and lets you set an upload or download program queue and then walk away while it works.
Beyond that, for the technically gifted, it has a keep-alive, firewall support, Socks 4 and 5 support, as well as SSL secured connections and SFTP support. It speaks Thai.
The home page for FileZilla is filezilla-project.org, and yes, there is a hyphen between the two words.
Rightload is by Nils Koelling of Bremen, Germany, who lives virtually at Rightload.org.
Email: wandasloan@gmail.com.
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