How do I upload files via FTP?

FTP is used to upload files to MEDIASERVE hosted web sites and media streaming servers.

This article will give you some basic instructions for uploading files from your local computer to your MEDIASERVE web or media server.

If you do not already have an FTP program, you may download the freeware FileZilla software here. (For more information about FileZilla, see the official web site.)

Once you've installed FileZilla, run it, and you'll see the following window:

Notice the fields in the upper right area of the FileZilla main window. Those fields can be used to quickly and easily connect to your ftp server.

Your web site or streaming instructions email contains your ftp server, username and password. Fill out the fields using that information, like this:

Put the ftp server name in the address field, the username in the user field, and the password in the password field. Leave the port field empty, as our ftp servers all use the default port 21.

Click the Quickconnect button, and you will be connected to your ftp server.

Then, use the middle area of the FileZilla window to move files back and forth. That area of the window looks like this:

The left hand side of this area represents files on your local computer. At the top, your directory structure is displayed. Below, files in the currently selected directory are displayed.

You can click on a file or folder with your mouse, (left button), and then drag it to the right area of the window to upload it to your server. If you drag a folder, all of its contents will be uploaded.

When dragging a file or folder, click on it with your left mouse button, and continue holding that button down until your mouse cursor is over the right side of the window. Release the left button, and the file or folder will be uploaded to the server, and will then display in the right area.

To upload multiple folders or files in one operation, hold your keyboard's Shift key down while clicking the first and last file or folder in a list of contiguous files or folders you want to upload. With the list of files or folders highlighted, left click somewhere over the highlighted area, and drag the group to the right hand side, then release the mouse button.

To upload multiple folders or files which are not in a contiquous list, hold your keyboard's Ctrl key down and click each file and/or folder you wish to upload, then drag and drop them in the usual way.

Be sure that you've navigated to the proper location on the remote server before dragging files over. In the sample image above, there is no directly structure on the right hand side, because this is a new account on a media server, where no files have been uploaded. If you're uploading to a Linux web server, you'll want to navigate into your public_html folder before uploading web pages. On a Windows web server, navigate into your wwwroot (Helm) or httpdocs (Plesk) folder.