FTP & File Management

Three protocols with confusingly similar names, one of which sends your password in the open. Here is what actually separates them.

What those three-digit numbers on your files actually control, and why almost everything on a website should be either 755 or 644.

Setting the right permission number on a file or folder using your FTP client or file manager, and the one number to never use.

A plain walkthrough of connecting to your hosting account with an FTP client, from finding your login details to seeing your files on the server.

The habits that keep a clean-up from turning into an outage, and what to do before deleting anything you cannot immediately identify.

Making a quick change to a file already on the server, using the editor built into your control panel, without downloading and re-uploading it by hand.

Using the search built into your file manager, or narrowing it down folder by folder in an FTP client, when you cannot remember where a file went.

The handful of things that actually stop an FTP connection working, checked in the order most likely to fix it fastest.

Where disk space actually goes on a typical hosting account, and what to clear before assuming you need a bigger plan.

Where to look immediately after overwriting a file by mistake, in the order most likely to get it back without restoring anything you did not need to.

Creating a separate, limited FTP account for someone working on your site, rather than handing over your own main login.

The handful of Linux commands that handle everyday file management jobs faster than an FTP client, once you have shell access set up.

Copying files straight from an old hosting account to a new one without routing everything through your own computer first.

A sensible folder structure inside public_html saves far more time than it costs to set up, especially once a site has grown past a handful of pages.

Upload the archive once, then use the Extract option in your control panel file manager instead of downloading and re-uploading every file inside it.

Getting one very large file, or a great many small ones, onto your hosting account without the transfer failing partway through.

Installing FileZilla, connecting it to your hosting account, and using its two-panel layout to move files on and off the server.

Files whose name starts with a dot, like .htaccess, are hidden by default in most listings until you turn on show hidden files.

Into the public_html folder, and nowhere else, if you want visitors to actually see what you have uploaded.

Usually one of three things: the file went into the wrong folder, its permissions are wrong, or your browser is showing you a cached page.