Connecting with CuteFTP 5.0XP

Important: The information supplied in this tutorial is based on the assumption that you are configuring CuteFTP for a domain hosted by FutureQuest^®. If this is not the case, some of the information provided in this guide may not apply to you and you will need to contact the support department of your hosting provider for additional assistance.

Now, let's get started. After downloading and installing it on your computer, open CuteFTP.

NOTE: If you are using the FTP account set up with your FutureQuest^® account, the information needed below for host address (hostname), username, and password (as long as no changes have been initiated by you) can be found in your Activation Letter. If the domain has not yet been registered or transferred to the FutureQuest^® servers, you will need to use the Temporary Account Access information found in your Activation Letter.

3. On the next screen, you will need to enter the FTP host address (hostname). This will be in the form of ftp.example.com (where example.com is replaced by your actual domain name).

Once done, click the "Next" button.

5. The next screen will allow you to choose a default local folder that CuteFTP will automatically move to when you connect. The default local folder is where you store your web files on your own computer. Click the "Browse" button to select the location of your web files or you can simply leave this field blank if you wish and manually navigate to a folder each time you connect.

Once done, click the "Next" button.

6. Click "Finish".

7. Now, click on the "Site Manager" icon.

8. Click once on the label you chose in step 2 to ensure the selection is highlighted, and then click the "Edit..." button.

9. This will take you to the area where you can edit the General properties for this FTP connection. To begin with, if this is for a FutureQuest-hosted domain, set the "Host Type" to Unix or you can simply leave this as the default setting of "Auto-Detect". The Default Remote Directory is where you want CuteFTP to go to when you connect to the site--most likely, you will want to use  /big/dom/xdomain/ (remember to replace xdomain with your own domain name) - or you can simply leave this field blank - and manually navigate to the desired directory each time. Note: It is advised to leave the "Use PASV mode" selected if this is for a domain hosted at FutureQuest^®. If you are behind a firewall or if you are unsure whether you are behind one, leave the "Use firewall settings" selected as well.

10. Now, click on the "Advanced" tab at the top to set your Transfer type. Here you can make the selection to upload in ASCII (primarily used for text files), Binary (primarily used for image files), Auto-detect where you allow CuteFTP to decide which mode to use based on the file(s). ("Use default" is used when global settings have been specified and, as such, is not applicable to this tutorial.) In most cases, "Auto-detect" is a good selection and is recommended for the purpose of this tutorial. You can always use the other options of ASCII and Binary if you should need to "force" a file to be transferred in a particular mode.

Once you have made the appropriate selections, click "OK".

11. You should now be back at the Site Settings screen. Once again, be sure that label you created in step 2 is highlighted and click the "Connect" button (or you can simply double click the label).

That's it! You should now be connected to the server and viewing both the directories/files on your computer and the directories/files stored on the server. Your files are shown in the left window while the files on the server are shown in the right window.

Notice that just above both the left and right windows is the directory path, which tells you where you are at all times. Immediately above the directory path is a gray or blue bar. The blue bar indicates which side you are working on at that moment (your computer or the server). For example, if you click a file in the left window, you should see the blue bar displayed above the path information in the left window (your computer). If you then click a file in the right window, the blue bar should shift to the right side (server) instead. 

You will find a few directories and files already on the FutureQuest^® server when you first connect. Below is an image of some of these items. (Note: Your account will not match exactly and the example shown below is simply provided for illustration purposes.)

The directory you will spend the most of your time in is the www directory (the one highlighted in the image above). This is where you must upload all of your web files in order for them to be viewable from a browser. (Note: Your cgi scripts should go into the cgi-bin directory.) To open the www directory, simply double click it. To upload a file from your computer to the www directory on the server, simply highlight the file you would like to upload in the left window and click the upload button (see below).

The image above shows the Download button (for transferring files from the server to your computer), the Upload button (when transferring files from your computer to the server), the Transfer Queue button (see documentation for an explanation of this feature), the Stop button, and the Refresh button (after making changes you may need to refresh the side you made changes to in order to view the changes).

Next to the directory path (where the blue/gray bar is) is an image of a file folder (shown above). Clicking the folder icon will allow you to move out of the directory you are currently in and into the directory one level up. For example, clicking the folder icon in the right window (server) will allow you to move from your www directory up to /big/dom/xdomain (where domain is replaced by your actual domain). The folder icon in the left window works the same way for directories on your computer.

If you're new to FTP, take some time to experiment, visit the Community Forums for help, and explore the web for other tutorials that will increase your knowledge of FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

Enjoy!

Back to Top