FTP Options
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Here is an article I wrote some time ago, which explains the reason for using FTP with your WordPress site. [Source: JamesICT.com]
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One of the more frequent issues that comes up when helping people get set up and started with WordPress, is that they often have no concept of what FTP [File Transfer Protocol] actually means. And as much as you don’t have to use an FTP program in order to run a WordPress site, there can be no argument that it is very beneficial if you do. Image upload functionality has greatly improved as each WordPress version has been released, but if you want to work on theme designs and make changes to graphics, headers and backgrounds using images, then FTP is a definite requirement.
FTP also provides much more flexibility in how you choose to keep your file structures on your site. By default, WordPress will upload files to a directory structure such as /wp-content/uploads/year/month/filename which is fine, but if you are like me, you may prefer to keep all of your audio files in one location and all of your images in another. FTP enables this choice – WordPresss does not.
So, if you would like to have more control of how you set up your themes, and upload your files and plugins, then FTP is an obvious need.
And luckily, there are many free FTP clients available for you to choose – even in the form of addons in browsers such as Firefox.
Three free FTP clients that I highly recommend:
FireFTP [a Firefox addon] ~ AL FTP ~ Filezilla
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However, in your cPpanel account you have another method too.
1. Click on the FILE MANAGER icon in the FILES panel [this will open in a new window]
2. The FILE MANAGER is a complete system itself, but for now, notice that there is an UPLOAD and DOWNLOAD option in the top menu.
3. These functions both open in new windows again, and they are not ideal when uploading lots of files, but they can be handy means of uploading/downloading in some instances.
Check out the other functions available in FILE MANAGER too and you will see it is a useful section within cPanel.
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One last section to look at which can help with uploading and downloading files, is the WEB DISK, which is also found in the FILES section. As explained in cPanel itself…
‘The Web Disk allows you to easily drag and drop files to your hosting account. You can create a Web Disk login and access your Web Disk below. Once your Web Disk is configured, you can then drag and drop files to it just like they are part of your home computer. You can also navigate through the files in your hosting account just as you do the files on your local computer.’
Follow the prompts to set this up. A more detailed guide for WEB DISK will be coming soon.
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