Using CoreFTP Lite

 

As you know, in order to make your pages publicly available you need to transfer them to a computer and put them in the correct kind of directory.

 

All files must reside in a directory or sub-directory of your personal directory which is named public_html.  For example, all my files on web.simmons.edu are in web.simmons.edu/~menzin/public_html/   My home page is at web.simmons.edu/~menzin/public_html/index.html

 

The custom is for browsers and servers to not show public_html, so that you would end up in the same directory if you typed either http://web.simmons.edu/~menzin/public_html/index.html or http://web.simmons.edu/~menzin/index.html

 

Further, there is an understanding that if a user enters the name of a directory, then the browser will look for the page named index.htm or index.html in that directory, and if there is no such page then will print a listing or all the files in that directory (or a notice that you don’t have access to that listing.)   So, in fact, you can also find my home page by typing http://web.simmons.edu/~menzin into the location bar.

 

When you want to put up a site you first must acquire a place to put it.  Simmons provides one for you at web.simmons.edu/~your_simmons_user_name and this course provides one on Anita at anita.simmons.edu/~your_anita_user_name.  (Note: Your Simmons user name and password are the same as for your email name, but your user name on Anita may be shorter or different and your password may be different.)  All work is subject to the College’s acceptable use policy at http://my.simmons.edu/services/technology/policies/acceptable-use.shtml and you should read that before proceeding.

 

Once you have acquired a place to put your files, you must create the public_html directory and then FTP you files to that directory.

 

At Simmons we use CoreFTPLite as our FTP utility for PCs.  It is on all the Windows computers here and is available free at coreftp.com.  You should put it on your own machine too.  If you use a Mac at own, then you should use Fetch or Fugu for FTPing files, or (if all else fails) PutTY.  Links for these files may be found at http://web.simmons.edu/~menzin/WebCentricResources.html#ftp_tools

 

The material below steps you through the process of doing all of this and provides extra information about CoreFTP. 

 

Please read the entire set of instructions – including the helpful information about editing with CoreFTP.

 

 

 

  1. Go to www.coreftp.com and download the free software, or go to www.zdnet.com and find it there.
  2. Follow the installation instructions, using all the defaults.
  3. Follow the attached instructions to start up your own site on a Simmons server
  4. In the public_html folder create a folder for this course.
  5. In that folder create a folder for each project.  For example, you will need a folder for “What I like best about Simmons”
  6. When you open up Core FTP you will get a screen like


 

  1. Of course, you will fill in your own name and password, using whatever machine is on the Simmons instructions.

 

  1. NOTE: For some projects you will use anita.simmons.edu (the Computer Science machine).  In that case it is very important to select SSH/SFTP (check the middle box just above the Comments area.  If you use web.simmons.edu or joan.simmons.edu  (e.g. for a personal web page) then you should NOT select SSH/SFTP.  Please read the section in after step 20 on changing permissions in anita.

 

  1. Then click on Connect.

 

  1. When I do that the panel on the left represents the computer I am working on and the panel on the right represents the server I am going to.

 

  1. Note that the PATH to the folder is above each panel.

 

  1. My page looks like

 

  1. After I click on public_html on the right panel it looks like

 

 

      

  1. Notice that the left side uses \ as the path separator and the right side uses /.  This is because the left side is using Windows and the right side is a server running on LINUX.  Usually browsers will make these kinds of corrections for you.
  2. Clicking on the folder at the top of a panel gets you up one level.  You may also use the upwards icon next to the path listing to go up one level.
  3. Find the directory you want to be in on each panel.  Highlight the file you wish to move and click on the heavy blue arrow above the “from” machine to FTP the file to the “to” machine.  You may also drag and drop the file from one machine to another.
  4. Double clicking on a file name allows you to edit it while you are on the server!  Useful for correcting minor typos.  Notice that at the very top of the dialog box there are the usual icons for cut and paste.
  5. In the line or icons in the row directly above the path there is a yellow-ish icon, which may be used to make a new directory (i.e. a new folder).
  6. When you are done choose File ->Exit.

 

 

 

How to FTP in such a way that you may change the permissions

 

Summary: It has been determined that in order for the chmod (changing permissions) to work one must use ssh/sftp rather than straight ftp. Fortunately CoreFTP supports ssh/sftp. Just have the students check the ssh/sftp check box on the connect window. All seems to work fine once that is done.

 

Detail:

After you open CoreFTP, check the SSH/SFTP (secure FTP) box.  It is in the middle of the row right above the Comments box.  After that you will be able to change permissions in the usual manner (i.e. right click on the file in question, click on properties, and give yourself permission to Read, Write & Execute.  Give the Group and World permission to Read and Execute.  Alternatively, change the “Value” to read 755.  Then click on OK)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Editing with CoreFTP – a great time-saver for minor issues.

 

On your own computer you should go up to the Manage Menu and select File Associations.  The dialog box here allows you to set a program which will be used to open all files of the extensions you specify.   I suggest that you use Notepad for all htm and html files – though some of you may prefer Evrsoft’s 1stpage.   I have had some problems with using 1stpage for php files, so I use Notepad as the default utility.   If you use something else you may not be able to edit with CoreFTP.

 

I sometimes upload a file and then find a minor error in the file.  One way to fix this is to find the file on my own computer (or download it to the computer I am using), fix the error and then upload it again.  A much simpler way is the following:

·         Open CoreFTP and navigate over to the file

·         Right click the file name and select Edit from the list of choices offered

·         Make the changes on the file and close it

·         Select ‘Save Changes”

 

     Sometimes your file will open up without the pretty printing.  Use ctl-f to find the text you are looking for.   For example, if you spelled the first month of the year as Janry then ctl-f using Janry as the text to search for and you can easily correct the spelling.