FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is used to send files up to the web server and to retrieve files from the web server. First you must build your website. You should create a folder on your computer for your website files. As soon as you have your files ready to go you will need to obtain a FTP Client.

Currently we have screen shots for a few FTP programs in our Software Setup Section under FTP. These screen shots show how to setup the software to work with GWI.

FTP Settings for GWI.

FTP is one of the most simple and effective tools on the internet. It stands for File Transfer Protocol, which is fairly self explanatory, as it is used for moving files from one computer to another on the Internet. WS_FTP LE is possibly the most simple FTP client available, which makes it perfect for those that are new to FTP and wish to publish a personal webpage.

If you have not already downloaded and installed the latest version of WS_FTP LE, then you will need to do so. Visit our Web Development Tools page to choose your operating system and download WS_FTP LE.

Please note that these instructions are not for building a webpage, they are for use after your webpage has already been created and you wish to publish it. Instructions for creating the webpage using HTML can be found on our How To HTML Tutorial.

After installing the latest version of WS_FTP LE, you will see this window when you run it for the first time. Click on the New button to begin configuring it to connect to your web space.

Now all of the fields should be empty. You should fill in your information so that it looks like this. Follow the steps below if you need help.

1. The Profile Name: can be "my web page" or something similar.
   
2. In Host Name/Address: type "home.gwi.net" (without the quotes!).
   
3. Username: should be your own GWI username, in lowercase letters and with no spaces (NO @gwi.net either).
   
4. And in the Password: field type your password, which is case sensitive and also cannot contain spaces. Also put a check in the little box next to Save Pwd.
   

Click OK when you have all of the information entered, which will connect us to your webspace via FTP.

You should now see a window similar to the one at the left. This is the window you will spend most of your time looking at when you are working with WS_FTP LE. As you can see, it is divided into 2 halves, with a gray portion at the bottom. Note the titles at the top of each half. The Local System (left) is a listing of files on your own computer, while the Remote Site (right) is a listing of the files in your webspace on the GWI server. The gray portion at the bottom of the window is where the FTP commands are displayed. Now, lets upload your webpage to the server so that it can be viewed on the Internet!

1. On the Local System (left side), locate the files you have created for your webpage. (If they are on a disk, then insert the disk now and browse to them there.)
   
2. Now, this part is important. There is a specific place that your webpage files need to be on our server in order to be viewed. On the Remote Site (right side), double click on "public", then double click on "www". Here is where you want to put all of your webpage files.
   

Notice the --> and <-- arrows in between the two halves of the main window. These are used for taking selected files from one side and transferring them to the other. This is called Uploading and Downloading files.

On the Local System (left side), select one of your webpage files by clicking on it once. Then click on the --> arrow that points to the right. You have just uploaded a file to your webspace. Continue until each of the files for your webpage that are listed on the left are also listed on the right.

You could also repeat this step using files from the Remote Site (right side) and the <-- arrow if you wanted to download something from the server to your computer.

Once you have uploaded all of the files necessary for your webpage, you may eventually find yourself needing to make changes to these files or the ones on the Local System. You can do this by simply right-clicking on the file you need to modify, as shown on the left here. There are also buttons on each side of the window which can be used for deleting, renaming, creating folders, and changing directories.

When you have uploaded all of your files and you are done using WS_FTP LE, click on the Exit button at the bottom right hand corner of the window.

To see if your webpage is working properly open up a web browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Communicator, and surf to: "http://home.gwi.net/~username". If you do not see your webpage when you pull up this address, then go back over the steps above, or contact our Technical Support Team for assistance.