How to Use the Filezilla Client

Ever noticed how disappointing it can get with having to design a whole website only to get stuck at the uploading part? What makes it even worse is the knowledge that you have all the requisite programs for the work; even a file transfer client such as Filezilla but you can’t figure out exactly how to navigate through all the menus and facilities. Further, the quick guide available on Filezilla Wiki may not prove that easy for a starter as it jumps to the technicalities a bit too soon.

Fortunately, or at least I suppose so for the sake of this discussion, a lot of people face the same challenge everyday all over the world. That is the very reason we guys at Omaha Web Hosting decided to compile this step-by-step guide to using the Filezilla client which is among the most popular transfer/browsing tools available. Filezilla is pretty easy to use, reliable and free to download through the developer’s site.

Assuming you have successfully downloaded the program (filename.exe), double-click on the program file and complete installation in the usual manner. Next step, navigate through the start button and start Filezilla, upon which a considerably menu-rich window will be presented to you.

Click on the “File” menu located near the far left corner of the window then on Site Manager in the drop-down menu that appears. Take a few seconds to observe the window that appears, locate “New Site” menu and click on it. Then go on and type the name of your site which could be something like “My site” or “Omaha Web Hosting“. At the Host, write your URL without the “http://”. E.g. you could have mysite.domain.com.

The username and password boxes will only be editable if you check the Logon Type as “Normal” in which case you will need to provide the username which is your subdomain’s name and the password given by your hosting company. Finally click “Ok”.

An even easier way would be to click on “File” followed by “Import” to import a configuration file if your web host provided you with one. This loads all the necessary information for you.

With that, you are done with administration and it’s time to proceed to uploading your files. Navigate back to Site Manager but this time; double-click on the site you created. If the settings and Internet connection are ok, it should connect to the server and present you with any data on the server side such as a “cgi-bin” folder on the box to the right.

The left side of the window shows files on your computer while the right side shows you what is on the server. To upload a file, simply drag it to the right side; you can even select a number of files and drag them over. As the upload continues, the horizontal box extending the entire width at the very bottom of the window indicates the progress of the queued, failed and successful transfers. Once the entire transfer is complete you should get a status message “Upload successful” at the horizontal box extending the entire width just below the top menus.

At times when you attempt an upload, you may get a dialogue asking you what to do in case the file already exists on the server; be sure to check appropriately. Have a pleasant uploading!

AboutTami Atwood

Tami is the co-owner, content editor, and billing expert at Websnoogie. She is passionate about community causes and has four kids. She likes cooking, animals, and the outdoors and is an avid book reader. You can reach her at [email protected].