Upload??...Download??......Help!!

How do I upload an ebook to my site? How do I download an ebook or program? I seem to be getting this question a lot lately as well as a specific request to write an article on this subject, so here is the info on how to download and/or upload.

First of all, let me explain the difference. A download is when you "pick up" an ebook, program, etc. from another computer and bring it "down" to your computer.

An upload is just the opposite. You are sending something from your computer "up" to your host's computer. It will then appear on your website.

To download, all you do is click on the download link and save the file/program to your desktop or wherever you want to save it.

When you click on the link a box will pop up. This box will have a Save & a Cancel & an Open button. If you want to Save the program, click the Save button. A Save As box will then pop-up. This is where you can change the file name if you want to. Also, this is when you tell your computer where you want to put the file.

I save everything to my desktop until I can take a look at it and decide where to go from there.

For a PDF file, you want to right click on the download link and then click "Save Target As".

Also, some files will be downloaded as a compressed "zip" file. Compressed files can be downloaded faster and more efficiently. To "unzip" or separate these files once you have them downloaded, you will need an Unzip Wizard. You can find a good one at: http://newbieclub.com/wizard/?web_success

The first step to uploading is to open your FTP site via Internet Explorer. FTP or File Transfer Protocol, is a set of instructions for the computers to use to transfer files. To do this, you simply type "ftp://" (without the quotes) followed by your username (provided by your web host company) then a ":" (without the quotes) and then your password (also provided by your host company). After all this, place an "@" followed by your host address.

Here is an example FTP site: "ftp://MOE:mypass@ftp.myhost.com"

Once this site loads, you should see a list of files and folders. These files and folders represent your webpages. To upload your file, simply locate it on your hard drive and then drag it onto this window. The file will upload and then you will be all set!

Uploading and downloading may seem confusing if you are a beginner, but once you have a better under- standing of what they actually mean, getting the hang of doing it is much easier!