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April 29, 2005

Quick Connect

In WS_FTP 9 (both Home and Professional versions), there are a couple of ways to quickly connect to an FTP site:

- In the main toolbar, click the down arrow attached to the Connect button. A list will appear that includes the Connection Wizard and Site Manager followed by a list of your FTP sites.

- In the address toolbar, click the down arrow attached to the Address box. A list of your most recent FTP sites will appear.

Of course, there are many other ways to connect. You can type the FTP site address into the Address box, you can use the Connection Wizard, etc.

Posted by Van K at 10:35 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 28, 2005

FTP 101

If you're new to FTP, let FTPplanet explain the basics to you. Our FTP 101: A Beginner's Guide article explains FTP, FTP sites and FTP clients.

After reading the article, try WS_FTP Home for free and see how easy it is for yourself.

Posted by Van K at 03:33 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 27, 2005

Not FTP Related, But If You Like Movies...

...check out Yahoo! Movies and Apple's Trailer Site for previews of many upcoming movies.

Here at FTPplanet.com, we're most looking forward to Batman Begins, Star Wars, War of the Worlds and Wedding Crashers. Which movies are you looking forward to?

Posted by Van K at 11:52 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 26, 2005

Getting Started Guide

If you're new to FTP, don't forget to check out the WS_FTP Getting Started Guide. It's a nice flash animated walkthrough to WS_FTP. Other tutorials are also availble.

Posted by Van K at 12:25 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 25, 2005

Command Line FTP

If you'd like to try out the basic command-line FTP functionality in Windows, it is very easy to do.

First, go to a command prompt and type in ftp. To learn what the commands are, type in help at the ftp prompt. Or, type in help followed by a specific command to learn more (for example, help delete to learn more about the delete command).

To connect to a site, simply type open and the URL or IP address. For example, to connect to the FTPplanet FTP site, you would just type open ftp.ftpplanet.com.

Give the command line FTP a try and see what you think. I don't find it as easy or functional as an FTP client, but it gets the job done if you're on a computer that doesn't have a client available (say, a public computer at a tradeshow).

Posted by Van K at 11:39 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 22, 2005

Opera 8 Released

For those who like browsers that aren't Internet Explorer (or are just looking for an alternative that isn't FireFox), you might like to know that Opera 8 was recently released.

It's been a while since I've used Opera, but I'll probably check this new version out. It has a nice, clean look and promises better, more secure browing. Check out the Opera Web site for more.

Posted by Van K at 03:06 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

Newsletter Archive Updated

The FTPplanet.com newsletter archive has been updated with our most recent issues. Check it out here.

If you're not already a subscriber, why not sign-up? It's free and includes FTP tips, articles, news and more.

Posted by Van K at 10:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 21, 2005

FTP and Windows XP SP2

A popular discussion in the FTPplanet forums is on using FTP after installing Windows XP SP2. If you've installed SP2 and are having trouble with FTP, check out the thread.

Also, take a look at this KnowledgeBase article (compete with screenshots!): Cannot use WS_FTP Pro after my upgrade to XP SP2

It seems that SP2, specifically the firewall that comes with it, causes problems and the problems are slightly different for everyone. If you're still having problems using FTP after installing SP2, feel free to post a question in the forums.

Posted by Van K at 09:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 20, 2005

WS_FTP Professional Tools Guide

WS_FTP Pro includes a number a tools to use as part of a complete FTP package. These tools are a scheduler, synchronization, scripting and the command line interface.

A PDF document is available that introduces these tools. You can download it here. It is also available in German and French.

Try out the tools when you get a chance. They're helpful in automating transfers, troubleshooting some problems and customizing WS_FTP Pro a bit.

These tools are available in the evaluation version of WS_FTP Professional, so you can see what they do even if you don't own WS_FTP. You can download the evaluation for free from Ipswitch.

Posted by Van K at 10:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 19, 2005

Contest Winners

Here are the three winners of our recent contest. All three win a free copy of ACDSee with WS_FTP PhotoMover.

Check out the winning posts and sites:
msbd for Carr Imaging
Shad for dynamicz.org
brighthawkcreations for Bright Hawk Creations

Congrats!

Posted by Van K at 12:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

Choosing the Right Web Host

With so many choices available for Web hosting, how can you be sure you'll make the right decision?

Our article, Choosing the Right Web Hosting Provider will help you make the right decision for you.

Posted by Van K at 10:42 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 15, 2005

The Right-Click Upload

Have you noticed that in WS_FTP 9 (both Home and Professional versions), you can right-click on a file and quickly upload that file using the upload wizard?

Try it out...just right-click on a file and select Upload using WS_FTP Upload Wizard.

Posted by Van K at 11:58 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 14, 2005

Comcast Users: You Get Free FTP Space Too...

Following up on yesterday's post about free FTP space for AOL users, I notice that Comcast also offers users some FTP space as part of their monthly fee.

Each Comcast user receives 25MB of free FTP space. I don't know how many user names you get with each Comcast account, but it's probably more than one.

See Comcast's help section for more details. (And more information here.)

Posted by Van K at 11:52 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 13, 2005

AOL Users Get Free FTP Space

If you have an AOL account then you're entitled to 140 MB of free FTP space! According to this AOL help page, their My FTP Space service is free with an AOL membership:

"My FTP Space is an area of disk space AOL has set aside for you on the "members.aol.com" Web servers. Web pages and downloadable files that you store in My FTP Space are available to anyone using America Online or other Internet services. My FTP Space is FREE with your AOL membership."

Each screen name you have receives 20 MB of FTP space. Since an AOL account can have up to 7 screen names, that's 140 MB of FTP space.

For more details, click here.

Posted by Van K at 09:56 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 11, 2005

ASCII or Binary?

When transferring files to and from an FTP site, the general rule is to use ASCII for text files, which includes HTML pages, and Binary for everything else, such as JPGs, GIFs, EXEs, etc.

Many FTP programs, including WS_FTP, have an option for 'Auto Detect' of transfer mode.

In current versions of WS_FTP, you can find this option on the 'Startup' tab of 'Site Options' (there is a box called 'Startup transfer mode').

Posted by Van K at 01:09 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

Blocking Call Cancelled

If you ever see the "Blocking Call Cancelled" error message, change to Passive transfers mode. How to change to Passive mode varies by FTP client, but it is typically in the advanced options of an FTP site profile. In most cases, this will solve the problem.

Posted by Van K at 10:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 08, 2005

Customize WS_FTP's Launch

In WS_FTP 9, you can change how WS_FTP will behave when you start the program. You can choose to:

- Open a blank workspace
- Open with the FTP connection dialog
- Open with the last local and remote folders (WS_FTP remembers your last connection)
- Connect to your default FTP site

Open up the Options screen by selecting 'Tools' and then 'Options' (or by clicking the 'Options' icon in the toolbar). The Options screen should open to the 'General' tab. Look for the 'Auto reconnect' option and select what you want from the drop down box.

I like to start by having WS_FTP open the last local and remote folders. What is your preference? Leave a comment.

Posted by Van K at 11:07 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 07, 2005

What's the WS mean?

You've probably figured out that the FTP in WS_FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, but have you ever wondered what the WS stands for?

It stands for Winsock. Winsock is a way for programs to tell Windows how to access network services. Learn more about Winsock at Wikipedia.

Posted by Van K at 01:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 06, 2005

Get the latest WS_FTP patches

Are you using the latest version of WS_FTP Professional or WS_FTP Home? A variety of patches are available at Ipswitch's Web site.

WS_FTP Home is currently on version 9.02. Upgrade here.

WS_FTP Professional is currently on version 9.01. Upgrade here.

Don't forget to keep up with the latest patches. If you're on the current version of WS_FTP (currently 9.x), minor patches are typically free (to a .xx version number).

Many other FTP clients offer free patches as well. Check with the software publisher.

Posted by Van K at 10:16 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 05, 2005

Contest Reminder

As mentioned in last week's newsletter, FTPplanet.com is running a contest in which you can win a free copy of ACDSee with WS_FTP PhotoMover. To enter...

...all you need to do is post a link to your blog or online photo album in our 'Your Web Site' discussion forum.

Be sure to name your post after your blog or photo site and include a description of the site. We'll choose a few of our favorites and post the winners in an upcoming blog entry and newsletter.

Good luck!

Posted by Van K at 01:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

April 04, 2005

FTP Return Codes (or "What does the 530 mean?")

When FTPing, you have probably noticed three digit codes in the transfer log. These codes let you know when things have gone right (226, for example, means that your action was successful), though most people notice the codes when things have gone wrong (the 550 can mean you don't have proper permissions).

Here's an excerpt from our FTP Codes Page that gives a brief overview of what those return codes mean...

500 Series: The command was not accepted and the requested action did not take place.

400 Series: The command was not accepted and the requested action did not take place, but the error condition is temporary and the action may be requested again.

300 Series: The command has been accepted, but the requested action is dormant, pending receipt of further information.

200 Series: The requested action has been successfully completed.

100 Series: The requested action is being initiated, expect another reply before proceeding with a new command.

For information on specific codes, click here for our FTP Codes page.

Are you receiving an error code and don't know how to resolve the problem? Post your question in our Discussion Forums.

Posted by Van K at 10:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page