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Using File Transfer Protocol
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| I have seven web sites on AOL. Until recently, I used Web editors such as AOL Press, Front Page Express, and Netscape Composer to create and edit my various web pages. When I was finished with a page, I would save it on my computer hard drive, and then use the editor to save a copy to my web site on AOL. | ||||
 Recently,
I needed to add a new page and to edit some older ones. I used the same methods
that I had used in the past, but a problem arose. Whenever I tried to Save
or Publish the page to my web site on AOL, I would be denied the access.
I would get the following message:"Save of http://members.aol.com/my screen name/file name failed. Forbidden. The requested URL cannot be accessed by this server". I tried it many times using the various editors, but without success. I called AOL Tech support, but they were of no help at all. I wrote an email to AOL, but the answer I received did not address the problem. The reply suggested deleting Temporary Internet Files, and performing other common procedures that I do routinely anyway. |
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| What to do? Well I decided to use FTP. I knew that I could use it on AOL. It is just much more time consuming, and more complicated, but it seems that I had no other choice. | ||||
| AOL has a reserved space on its servers for files for each AOL member and for each of the member's screen names. I have seven web sites on AOL, therefore, I have seven of these reserved spaces. AOL calls them "My Space". | ||||
| If I log on to AOL with the appropriate screen name, and choose the proper address, I can get to "My Space". | ||||
| The My Space dialog box appears with my files in it. There are also buttons to click on for various commands and features. One of the buttons is "Upload". If I upload a file, and all its graphics and related files with the correct names and locations from my computer, it will act the same as if I had saved it or published it using one of the web editors. But this takes much more time and effort, because the files have to be uploaded one at a time. | ||||
| Here is what the My Space dialog box looks like:
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| In the past, when I was ready to a save a page on one of my web
sites, all I had to do was edit the page on my own computer using AOL Press,
Netscape Composer, or Front Page Express and then use the appropriate command
for the particular editor, such as SAVE or SAVE AS or PUBLISH and the page
would be sent to my site on the web. This procedure was quick and easy and
it had another advantage. All the files that were related to the page, such
as graphic images, buttons, sounds, fonts, etc. were automatically saved
with the page. Some pages have a great many files connected with them. If
you try to use the My Space to upload the page and the files, they have to
be done one at a time. This can be a very tedious procedure.
Using an editor to save or publish your pages is like creating a document in a word processor with different fonts, graphics, colors, word art, etc. and clicking the print button on your computer tool bar. Everything goes to the printer and is printed as a single entity. |
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| I have just discovered that my Netscape Communicator version
4.77 and its editor Netscape Composer can do the FTP for me a little easier
than uploading directly at the "My Space", but sometimes it takes literally
hours to complete. It is necessary to use the following format: ftp://members.aol.com/screen name/file name It is also necessary to include my password in the appropriate dialog box. This is easier, but slower than doing an upload to My Space. Also all the files go together if I want them to. I have also been able to use this same procedure with AOL Press, but not with Front Page Express. |
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| However, I finally decided to use FTP software. I had an FTP program on a CD from PC World magazine. It is WS_FTP LE. The LE indicated that it is the Limited Edition of the program. It is free, so I decided to try it. The installation was quick and easy and the program seems to work fine. It transfers the files easily and quickly. There is no manual with the program, but by using the help files, I am learning how to use it efficiently. | ||||
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File
Transfer Protocol is usually abbreviated as FTP. It
is used for transferring files on the Internet and for uploading and downloading
files to or from an Internet server. I have used it occasionally to upload
files to my AOL web sites. Now I have been using it much more frequently.
I will explain.
Copyright © Roland B. Herman 2000
All rights reserved
Updated May 14, 2003
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