WinSock FTP
Limited Edition 5.08
Windows 95/98/2000

WinSock FTP

WinSock FTP for Windows is software that allows you to transfer files between computer systems, similar to Fetch on Macintosh computers. WinSock FTP is standard for Windows computers in public clusters and offices. To launch WinSock FTP, go to Start > Programs > Ws_ftp > WS_FTP95 LE. Click here if WinSock FTP is not installed on your computer.

Installing WinSock FTP

  1. Click here to download the WS_FTPLE installer.
  2. When the Save As dialog box pops up, change the Save In location to your desktop (use the Save In drop-down menu and select Desktop).
  3. Click Save.
  4. Wait for the installer to completely download, then double click on the new WS_FTPLE.exe installer icon on your desktop:
  5. Make sure that Install WS_FTP LE is selected and click Continue.
  6. Make sure that I am a student, faculty member, or staff member of an educational institution [k-12, junior college, or university] is selected and click Next.
  7. In the How will you use WS_FTP LE? window, check all the boxes that will apply to you, then click Next.
  8. Click Accept.
  9. Click OK.
  10. Click OK again.
  11. If prompted about an INI file, click No.
  12. Click OK.
  13. Click OK again.

Logging in to WinSock FTP

To log in for the first time:

Each academic or administrative department has been assigned a User ID and password by the Wellesley web master to transfer files to the Wellesley web server. Contact your department's Webmaster for the User ID and password.

CS students who need to transfer files to the Puma server should have received a User ID and password from their instructors.

If you are using WinSock FTP for the first time to upload files to the CWIS, it is helpful to customize the program to suit your preferences. Once you have customized WinSock FTP on your computer, you will not need to do so again unless you want to change your options.

  1. Launch WinSock FTP (Start > Programs > Ws_ftp > WS_FTP LE). The Session Properties window should open:
  2. Under the General tab, click the New button and type in a profile name (ex: Web, CWIS, or Your Name; something that makes sense to you). You only have to do this once. When you login in the future, select your profile name from the Profile Name drop-down menu.
  3. Set the Host Name/Address to www.wellesley.edu to upload to the CWIS (CS students use puma.wellesley.edu).
  4. Set the Host Type to Automatic detect.
  5. Enter your user ID in the User ID field. Your user ID should be eight characters or less, all lowercase.
  6. Make sure the Anonymous box is not checked.
  7. Enter your password in the Password field. Do not select Save Password. Do not click OK yet! If you accidentally click OK, quit WinSock FTP and log in again.
  8. Click the Startup tab at the top of the Session Properties window:
  9. In the Initial Local Folder field, enter the path to the location on your computer that you will be using most frequently. This is generally where you have saved your files on your computer's hard drive. The location you enter will appear in the Local System window on the left every time you log in. If you want the contents of your desktop to appear, type C:\Documents and Settings\username\Desktop. (Note: Be sure to substitute your username for username in the field.
  10. Click OK to log in.

For future logins, you need only select your profile name from the Profile Name drop-down menu. To create new profiles, follow the instructions below.

 

To create a new login profile:

    1. If the Session Properties window is not open, click on the Connect button in the main WS_FTP LE window to open Session Properties.
    2. Under the General tab in the Session Properties window, click the New button and type in a profile name (ex: Web, CWIS, or Your Name; something that makes sense to you). This profile name will be saved in the Profile Name drop-down list for quick access in the future.
    3. Change the Host Name/Address to www.wellesley.edu to upload to the CWIS (CS students use puma.wellesley.edu). If you are using another host, type the name of that host into the Host Name/Address field.
    4. Set the Host Type to Automatic detect.
    5. Enter your user ID in the User ID field. Make sure the Anonymous box is not checked.
    6. Enter your password in the Password field. Make sure the Save Password box is not checked.
    7. Click OK.

The WinSock FTP environment

After successfully logging in, you will see the WinSock FTP main window:

The Local System files on the left are files on your computer. You can navigate to any folder or file using the drop-down menu or by navigating through the folders to the desired location. To go up one level, double click on the green arrow . To open a different drive (such as a zip drive or floppy drive), scroll down to the bottom of the Local System file list and select the appropriate drive from the list:

To find your desktop folder: Type C:\Documents and Settings\username\Desktop in the drop-down menu as shown above, or navigate using the folders (C:\ Drive > Documents and Settings > username > Desktop).

The Remote Site files on the right are files that have been uploaded to the www.wellesley.edu server (or the puma.wellesley.edu server for CS students). You can navigate to any folder or file using the drop-down menu or by navigating through the folders to the desired location. To go up one level, double click on the green arrow .

To display hidden files: (i.e. any filename starting with a period, for example - .profile) In both the Local System and Remote Site sections, under the MkDir button, locate the blank box. In the blank box, type -la and then click Refresh. This will list all files in that location, including the hidden files.

You can set WS_FTP to sort your local system or remote site files by name, type, date, etc. To specify how your files are sorted:

  1. Click the Options button at the bottom of the main window.
  2. Click the Sort tab.
  3. Select the desired sort options for both the Local and Remote files.
  4. Click OK

At the bottom of the window, above the buttons, is a message area:

This area displays messages that explain the state of your login, uploads, downloads, and the state of the remote machine.

Uploading and downloading files

To upload a file:

When you upload a file, you take a file that already exists on your computer and place a copy of it on the Web server. To upload a file using WinSock FTP:

  1. Navigate to the desired file on your computer in the Local System window on the left by using the drop-down menu or by navigating through the folders (to get to your desktop, type C:\Documents and Settings\username\Desktop in the drop-down menu, or go to C: drive > Documents and Settings> username > Desktop).
  2. Navigate to the desired transfer location (where you want the file uploaded) in the Remote Site window on the right by using the drop-down menu or by navigating through the folders. Please note that simply highlighting a folder will not allow you to transfer files to that folder. You must open the folder by double clicking it before transferring the files (the folder name will appear at the top in the drop-down menu, and the folder's contents will appear in the Remote Site window).
  3. Click on the right arrow button . Please note that if you upload a file to a location that contains a file with the same name, the file that you upload will overwrite the previously uploaded file. There will be no confirmation of the overwrite, and there is no way to get the old file back! To prevent lost files, please be absolutely sure you are uploading the correct file to the correct location. To set WS_FTP to confirm all file overwrites, go to the instructions on To confirm file overwrites.

The newly uploaded file should appear in the Remote Site window, and the message area should display Transfer complete.

 

To download a file:

When you download a file, you take a file that exists on the Web server and place a copy of it on your computer. To download a file using WinSock FTP:

  1. Navigate to the desired file in the Remote Site window on the right by using the drop-down menu or by navigating through the folders.
  2. Navigate to the desired transfer location (where you want the file to download to your computer) in the Local System window on the left by using the drop-down menu or by navigating through the folders (to get to your desktop, type C:\Documents and Settings\username\Desktop in the drop-down menu, or go to C: drive > Documents and Settings > username > Desktop).
  3. Click on the left arrow button . Please note that if you download a file to a location that contains a file with the same name, the file that you download will overwrite the original file on your computer. There will be no confirmation of the overwrite, and there is no way to get the old file back! To prevent lost files, please be absolutely sure you are downloading the correct file to the correct location. To set WS_FTP to confirm all file overwrites, go to the instructions on To confirm file overwrites.

The newly downloaded file should appear in the Local System window, and the message area should display Transfer complete.

 

To confirm file overwrites:

You can set WS_FTP to confirm all file overwrites, for both uploading and downloading files. This may help prevent accidental deletions of newer file versions. To do this:

  1. Click the Options button at the bottom of the main window.
  2. Click the Session (con't) tab.
  3. Make sure Prompt for Destination File Names is checked.
  4. Click OK.

Deleting files

Before you delete uploaded files, be certain that you have a backup. It is impossible to replace files once you have deleted them. Please be certain you are deleting what you intend to delete.

You can delete files from either the Local System or the Remote Site by following these instructions:

    1. Navigate to the file you wish to delete.
    2. Click once to highlight it.
    3. Click the Delete button . A confirmation message will ask if you really wish to delete the directory or file named. If it is the correct file, click OK.

To delete more than one file at a time, hold down the SHIFT key (for selecting adjacent files) or the CONTROL key (for selecting non-adjacent files) while selecting multiple messages.

To delete a folder, you must first delete all the contents of the folder. Open the folder and delete the contents, then click the green arrow to go up one level. Then select the folder and click Delete.

You can set WS_FTP to never confirm deletions, although this is not recommended. If you choose to set WS_FTP to never confirm deletions, please be very careful when you delete files. Once you have deleted a file, there is no way to get it back! To set WS_FTP to never confirm deletion:

      1. Click the Options button at the bottom of the main window.
      2. Click the General tab.
      3. Make sure Verify Deletions is not checked.
      4. Click OK.

Log files

After you have uploaded or downloaded files, WinSock FTP creates a log file on both your computer and the remote site. The log file shows what date and time a change was made to either the local system or the remote site. It appears inside the Local System and the Remote Site windows of the WS_FTP main window, but you won't see it either on your computer or be able to access it using a browser. You may delete this file if you wish, but it is not necessary. To delete the log file, click it once to highlight it, then click the Delete button .

You can set WS_FTP to never generate log files. To do this:

      1. Click the Options button at the bottom of the main window.
      2. Click the General tab.
      3. Make sure Enable log is not checked.
      4. Click OK.

File management and organization

Creating directories:

You can create new directories within your main directory for groups of files. This is like creating folders within folders on your computer. When you create a new directory, it will be located within the directory that is visible in the Remote Site area to the right.

To create a new directory:

    1. Navigate to the desired location in the Remote Site window.
    2. Click the Mkdir button on the right. The Input window will open:
    3. Enter a name for your new directory. Names should be one word, capitalized, using only letters or numbers (for example, Images is a good directory name; web.images is not). Directories that have more than one word or characters such as / or . will cause your page to be unviewable.

      If you want the contents of a directory to be restricted to local access only, the file should be named LocalOnly, and should contain a special file to limit access. For more information, contact your department's Webmaster.

     

Naming your pages:

While directories should always be capitalized, individual files should always be in all lowercase letters. File names should contain only letters and numbers, and no spaces. File names should also be short (up to 10 characters, not counting the .html extension).

The Wellesley Standard requires that all pages end with .html. Other pages on the Internet occasionally end with .htm, but Wellesley requires the full .html so that all pages on the CWIS are standardized, and so that our search engine knows which files to index.

Before you create your Web pages, you should think of a naming structure. File names should be unique, but should also make sense to you and indicate the purpose of the file.

Once you decide on a name for your page, don't change it. If you do, all links to that page, from both inside and outside the college's network, will be broken. You should not rename files without a good reason, since the repair and crosschecking required afterwards is often tedious, and can cause many difficulties for other people attempting to access your site. If you have to rename your site's homepage (this is strongly not recommended), be sure to notify your department's Webmaster so that all navigational links to your homepage can be changed.

File management:

We recommend that you keep a complete backup copy of your Web pages on your computer or a zip disk. When you want to make a change to your Web page, make the change on your backup copy, then upload the changed files to the server. You may also want to keep an archival of copies of your Web pages labeled with the date. Find a system that works for you; unorganized files will not only be confusing, but it may cause your images and links to break.

How to quit WinSock FTP

    To quit WinSock FTP, click the Exit button at the lower right corner of the main window. You should then test your files in a browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape to make certain all the changes were successful.