Note: FTP for Mac is sometimes called "Fetch", which refers to the most popular Mac FTP client of the same name.

If you are new to all this, we recommend you start out using the WebCom File Manager to create and edit files at your WebCom site. However, you'll need to use FTP in any of the following situations:

• You want to put a graphic, image, sound, or other binary object on your Web page.
• You have some pre-existing Web pages or other files you want to move into your WebCom account.
• You want to backup some files or your entire WebCom directory (see our FAQ on how to backup your entire account in one step), or transfer in a group of files all at once.

Even WebCom customers who use FTP regularly prefer the WebCom file manger since it's so convenient, especially for making quick and minor changes. However, in any of the above situations you'll need to use FTP. FTP comes standared with every TCP/IP (Internet) protocol software package, and it's very easy to use (especially graphical FTP clients for Mac and Windows).

If for some reason, you do not have software enabling you to use FTP, there is a very popular and publicly distributable FTP Client for Windows called WS_FTP (Windows Sockets FTP), and one for Mac called Fetch. These can be downloaded at our list of publicly distributable WWW tools.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP), is the name for the underlying protocol with which your FTP client communicates with the WebCom FTP server to transfer files between your computer (or your service providor's host computer if you use a UNIX shell account or other dialup online host service) and WebCom.

FTP allows you to: list files and directories; create new directories and delete old ones; upload and download files, as well as delete old ones; rename directories and files--in short, do everything you would normally do on your local machine, except create new files from scratch, and change the contents of old ones while using your WebCom account.

FTP also supports uploading and downloading large groups of files at one time. If you have a graphical FTP program, transferring files is as easy as pointing and clicking with your mouse. There is even a program which integrates FTP into the Windows File Manager, so that you can use your WebCom directory just as though it were another hard drive on your Mac or PC, or your local network (LAN).

WebCom uses WuArchive (Washington University Archive) FTPD, which is virtually a standard for large FTP sites. This program supports a number of advanced features:

1. You can control whether or not people can list and/or download your files
2. You can compress, archive, and uncompress files as you transfer them from the WebCom server to your computer.
3. People downloading your files can do this as well, as they are transfering them; this enables you to store compressed files in Unix formats, while still allowing people without Unix to download them. More information on this is available at ftp.webcom.com/~webcom /pub4/webcom/help.html.