Back when the Web was new, there was really only one way to get a Web page from the hard drive to the Web server. You had to use a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client. This client was often hard to use, text based, with arcane commands ("get", "put", "prompt", "bin", "hash", etc.). But now, in many ways it's a lot easier.
FTP Clients
The first, and best thing is the actual FTP clients that are available now. There are lots of really easy to use FTP clients available for both PC and Mac. You don't have to know the commands, or if your file is "binary", or even anything more than drag and drop. Michael DeSanto, the About Shareware/Freeware Guide, reviews some great clients.
But, the problem with FTP clients is you have to know where to transfer your files. Some Web servers allow FTP access to the same URL as your Web site, but this is fairly unusual. At my last hosting provider, my Web site was at web.hostingprovider.com, CGIs were hosted at cgi.hostingprovider.com, I could telnet to shell.hostingprovider.com, and FTP to ftp.hostingprovider.com. The first time I tried to edit my Web site, I had to find the correct location to do what I needed to do.
To find this information, you have to contact the support group or Web site for your hosting provider.
All-in-One Hosting
FTP is actually becoming less popular. The trend in hosting providers now is in all-in-one hosting. These providers allow you to post your pages on their server, help you to build your site, and even provide images and other tools to use. What they almost never provide is FTP access.
Instead, you need to use a form to upload your files. Now, this form is almost never called "FTP". In fact, it often is hidden in some other part of the site. For instance, on the former About Personal Pages, you had to go to a section called "All My Sites" and choose "Account Management and Advanced Tools". In fact, it took over seven steps to get to the upload site to upload images and HTML files on the About Personal Pages.
So, while it is now a lot easier to move files from your hard drive to your Web site, it is also harder. You have to guess what it will be called (file management, file upload, etc.) and where it will be on the site builder. One thing to remember is that these Web site builders are there to help you. If you can't figure it out, contact the support department.
