Transcription Resources

What is FTP, and what does an FTP client do?

FTP is an abbreviation for File Transfer Protocol. It is used to transfer files between computers on the Internet. The advantage of FTP is that it helps transfer large (heavy) as well as small files easily over the Internet.

How to use FTP
There is software available that one can use to transfer files through FTP. These software applications have very user friendly graphical interfaces such as Windows and do not require any special knowledge.

Using graphical FTP clients simplifies file transfers by allowing you to transmit files by dragging and dropping icons between windows. Trial FTP programs can be downloaded from the following sites.

WS_FTP Pro: http://www.wsftp.com/
CuteFTP: http://www.cuteftp.com/
FTP Explorer: http://www.ftpx.com/

Fetch is probably the most-used FTP client (and the one we recommend) for Macintosh systems. It can be downloaded from http://www.fetchsoftworks.com/.

Users with Unix variants can use FTP by typing ftp at the shell prompt.

How do I use a graphical FTP client?
In most FTP applications, a dialog box will appear after you select "Connect" (that or an equivalent option should be present in the menus, most probably the "File" menu). You should enter your account username, password, and server name in the relevant fields, and then click the "OK" (or equivalent) button to connect.

For example, here is a screenshot of Absolute FTP:

In the above screenshot, voxtab.com is just an example.

Click "OK" to connect to voxtab.com (host name). After you have been connected you can transfer files by simply dragging and dropping them from your computer to the remote location.

Can I use my Web browser for FTP?

You can also use a Web browser to connect to FTP addresses. Simply replace "http" with "ftp" in the address bar and add the username as follows:

ftp://username@ftp.voxtab.com/

You will be prompted to enter the password after you go to this address. You can then transfer the files easily by dragging and dropping.

While this method is convenient, Web browsers are often slower and less reliable and have fewer features than dedicated FTP clients.