Connect To Your Web Server Through FTP With FileZilla

Yesterday I talked about how you can manually upgrade WordPress to the latest version in order to keep your blog secure and to take advantage of new features. Some of you complained suggested that I should make a video which I will do soon enough. I also mentioned in my post about using FileZilla to connect to your web server and upload the files.

Instead of leaving you to figure it out yourself I’ve decided to give you a tutorial on how to setup FileZilla to connect to your web server so that you can upload files.

Download and install the latest version of FileZilla

It’s always a good idea to keep up with the latest versions of software. You can find the latest stable version of FileZilla on their download page. Once you have done that, install it and start it up.

I already have FileZilla installed on my computer so you may encounter some dialog boxes when if this is your first time installing it.

Configuring your FTP account login information

Now it is time for us to actually setup the connection between our computer and our web server through FileZilla. To do this you are going to need 3 things; the URL used to connect to your server through FTP, the username of the FTP account and the password of the FTP account.

I use both HostGator and GoDaddy for my web hosting currently. If you are using HostGator (best webhost) you can find the URL to connect to the FTP account in the left pane of the cPanel menu. Look for server IP address and make a note of the number you see listed in the same row.

If you are using GoDaddy as your web hosting provider all that you have to do is use ftp.yourdomainname.com as the server URL. The username and password for both HostGator and GoDaddy will be the information you use to log into your GoGaddy/HostGator hosting accounts.

Now that you have that information it is time to plug it into FileZilla and connect to your web server.

The above is a picture of the Quickconnect feature in FileZilla which you should find just below the main menu bar. As it’s name suggests, it allows you to quickly connect to an FTP account!

In the Host field you are going to want to enter the URL to your server. If you are using HostGator enter your server’s IP address. So for me to connect to my HostGator shared hosting account I would enter 74.53.180.50 into the host field or ftp.jarretcade.net into the host field if I wanted to connect to my GoDaddy hosting account. You may have to use something different as each host may use a different name, contact your hosting provider if you are unsure.

Now, go ahead and enter your hosting account’s username and password into the appropriate fields. Once you have done that click on Quickconnect and if all goes well you should now be connected to your web server and the files and folders should be displayed within FileZilla. The window directly below the Quickconnect bar will give you information about what it is doing and will let you know of any errors that FileZilla encounters while trying to connect.

That’s all that it takes! The panel on the right hand side will the the files and folders on your web server and the panel on the left hand side will be the files and folders on your local computer. All that you have to do to transfer files between your computer and web server is just drag and drop.

If you have mutliple hosting accounts you only have to enter each one once into FileZilla. Notice the black arrow pointing downwards next to the Quickconnect button? After entering each account’s information it will save the info in a list and display it when you click on the arrow.