Introduction
In this tutorial you will learn what FTP is, what you can use it for, where you can find your FTP access details and how to access your site using FTP as well as how to do stuff with it.
FTP
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. All nice and well, but what you can do with it is way more interesting then the digital terminology.
With FTP you can get direct file access to your site. You will be able to browse the actual files of your site. This includes all the created content, except for the database. Created content includes themes you have installed, plugins that you have installed and all the images (and video) material you have uploaded to your site.
What Can I use FTP For?
Full Files Backup
FTP access is great to access your entire website to for example download it to your local disk and make a copy of it. If you make a backup with the Export option within the Tools section of your WordPress Dashboard, you make only a backup of the pages, posts, menu's, structure, categories and tags of your site. The export option does not export plugins, themes and images.
So with FTP you can create a complete backup of your site. When you accidentally delete something or your site gets hacked or something else wrong happens to your site, it is possible to restore the file(s) again. You cannot use FTP to take a backup of your database (posts, pages, categories, tags, menu's etc).
NB: Here at Wealthy Affiliate our sites are very well protected against hacking, but bugs in for example WordPress can still lead to hacking. In the same way, if your PC would get hacked, they could get access to your site through your password.
NB2: At Wealthy Affiliate they also take a daily (nightly) backup of all your websites. Those backups are similar to the backup you can take with FTP. Any extra copy of your site is only making it safer.
Uploading a Premium Theme
When you buy a premium theme, you often receive these in the form of a ZIP file. WordPress Dashboard allows you to upload these ZIP files straight to your site with a special option, but sometimes the zip files are too big to upload via your Dashboard. In such cases you can unpack them on your PC and upload the files to your themes directory on your website via FTP.
I have done this a couple of times with premium themes because they were a bit bigger in size and it works very well - quick and easy.
Uploading a (Premium) Plugin
Just like the Premium Themes, both premium and non-premium plugins can be rather large in size. Sometimes the files are too big to be uploaded through the web interface. Using FTP to upload them is then the only solution and it works just as great.
Isn't FTP Access Dangerous?
Yes you are very right there. FTP access is a bit dangerous. You will have direct access to your entire website and that includes access to your WordPress System files.
This means also that if you delete a file that is important, you could very much so break your site. It is therefore important that you know what you are doing and to follow instructions carefully.
Next up:
- Where to find your FTP access details
- What software to use
- How to access your FTP
- How to do backups, theme and plugin removal/adding
Reply
Thanks for this excellent training. I've been seeing references to FTP but had no idea what it was and how to use it. You detailed instructions will be a great reference tool!
Debbie
Really great to hear that the tutorial is exceeding your expectations. You are most welcome to share it on livechat, comments and private messages as well as using the affiliate link in your other stream of communication.
Steven
Mac is a bit different from Windows where I work upon, but all PC's, be it Mac, Windows or Linux come with hard disks and the organisation of files on it.
The documents folder on a Mac is most likely using cloud backup and is therefore an excellent place to store your backup, as it will automatically save to the cloud.
Steven
Very detailed and easy to understand bro, thanks again, peace! :-)
Sharing is caring, right? As far as I am concerned, the idea of the Open Learning Platform is that when one searches for a topic, one might find this tutorial.
Sharing on your own site (with referral link) is entirely okay. Sharing within WA is also perfectly fine. If you help someone out on chat and they ask for FTP help, you can link them this tutorial, for example, or your own if you happen to have one ;)
The reason I create these tutorials is that I find some stuff not available on the search bar. When I finished a tutorial it gives me the possibility to link the tutorial and share them with people on chat or in question forums.
But thanks for asking anyway. Appreciated. So share away!
Steven
