# Filezilla help
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 7, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892 "2013-07-07T22:00:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/1 "2013-07-07T22:00:38Z")
I’ve neglected my webpage since about 2005. Previously, I used a PC to edit HTML and I used CuteFTP to upload and download files. Now I’m on a Mac, running OS X Lion. I’ve downloaded Filezilla, and have connected to my server.
On the left side is ‘Local site’. I’ve found Macintosh HD, and I selected Pictures. I tried selecting a photo to upload to the site. I double-click, and it seems to do something. I also tried dragging the .jpg file to the file list on the right side of the Filezilla window. I typed in the webpage address and added the filename (including .jpg) to see if it came up. File not found.
How do I go about uploading a file using Filezilla?
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/2 "2013-07-07T22:10:46Z")
In Filezilla, Remote site is ‘/www’. In the window below that, there is a file icon that is apparently names ‘/’. Below that (i.e., in ‘/’ file) are folders called ‘etc’, ‘ftp’, and ‘www’. I can see the files that are on my webpage when I click on the ‘www’ folder. When I click the arrow next to the ‘www’ folder, I see other folders where files reside on my webpage. I do not see the file I just uploaded in the list of files that is displayed when I click on the ‘www’ folder icon.
When I click on the ‘/’ folder (the one in which everything else lives), I see in the file list in the box below, a folder icon followed by ‘…’, a folder icon called ‘etc’, another called ‘www’, and finally, the file I uploaded. I’ve just tried dragging that file from there to the ‘www’ folder. The .jpg does not appear in that folder when I click on it.
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/3 "2013-07-07T22:20:08Z")
You’re right in your assumptions that it should be a very simple drag-and-drop operation once you have the connection established.
Does FZ show a successful transfer (in the bottom pane)?
Does a refresh of the remote folder (F5 under Windows; not sure if FZ varies from platform to platform) make the transferred files show up?
Is the remote folder write-enabled?
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/4 "2013-07-07T22:21:19Z")
Before you do anything, have you connected to the desired site? (File-\>Site Manager…)
I know you said you did, but this is not a step to take lightly.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/5 "2013-07-07T22:26:01Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#):
>
> You’re right in your assumptions that it should be a very simple drag-and-drop operation once you have the connection established.
>
> Does FZ show a successful transfer (in the bottom pane)?
>
> Does a refresh of the remote folder (F5 under Windows; not sure if FZ varies from platform to platform) make the transferred files show up?
>
> Is the remote folder write-enabled?
I don’t know where to look in the ‘bottom pane’ I have two panes on the bottom: The left is the source directory (my computer), and the right is the website directory. The file does not appear in the website directory. When I transfer, I get a popup that asks if I want to replace the existing file, but I don’t see where it is. Here’s what the status box says:
Status: Starting upload of /Users/[Johnny L.A.]/Pictures/Cessna pics/N84823\_Tail.jpg
Command: PASV
Response: 227 Entering Passive Mode (199,174,114,30,10,166).
Command: STOR N84823\_Tail.jpg
Response: 150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for N84823\_Tail.jpg
Response: 226 Transfer complete.
Status: File transfer successful, transferred 20,761 bytes in 1 second
Status: Retrieving directory listing…
Command: PASV
Response: 227 Entering Passive Mode (199,174,114,30,10,167).
Command: LIST
Response: 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list
Response: 226 Transfer complete.
Status: Directory listing successful
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### Author:  [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/6 "2013-07-07T22:26:54Z")
Are you logging in anonymously? or did you specify a username and password when you connected?
Are you able to drag the file from the local side straight to the www folder?
Also, a directory lesson:
… refers to the folder that contains the current folder. If you picture an organizational chart (who’s in charge of who) this would be your current folders boss
. (single dot) refers to the current directory and may not be shown on some systems.
/ refers to ‘root’ directory level in an org. chart, this would be the CEO/President
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/7 "2013-07-07T22:27:28Z")
> [@Musicat](#):
>
> Before you do anything, have you connected to the desired site? (File-\>Site Manager…)
>
> I know you said you did, but this is not a step to take lightly.
I am connected as indicated.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/8 "2013-07-07T22:30:31Z")
> [@dstarfire](#):
>
> Are you logging in anonymously? or did you specify a username and password when you connected?
I used the ‘Quickconnect’ button, but I did enter a Host, Username, and Password initially.
> [@dstarfire](#):
>
> Are you able to drag the file from the local side straight to the www folder?
Yes, I can drag-and-drop. But the file does not appear on the right side.
> [@dstarfire](#):
>
> Also, a directory lesson:
> .. refers to the folder that contains the current folder. If you picture an organizational chart (who’s in charge of who) this would be your current folders boss
> . (single dot) refers to the current directory and may not be shown on some systems.
> / refers to ‘root’ directory level in an org. chart, this would be the CEO/President
I assumed that, but I thought it would be easier if people assumed I hadn’t.
I’m curious about the ‘Remote site: /www’. I’d expect my web address to be there.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/9 "2013-07-07T22:31:21Z")
You sure you have it in the right directory on your website? That is, are there other pictures in that directory that work? For example, on one of my webservers if I want to get to “[mysite.com/mypicture.jpg](http://mysite.com/mypicture.jpg)” I have to put “mypicture.jpg” in the “/public” directory, not the root.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/10 "2013-07-07T22:31:24Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> I am connected as indicated.
Good. Next, using the right mouse button, select the desired file to upload. Do the options shown in the popup include “upload”?
And what pulykamell said.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/11 "2013-07-07T22:41:13Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> You sure you have it in the right directory on your website? That is, are there other pictures in that directory that work? For example, on one of my webservers if I want to get to “[mysite.com/mypicture.jpg](http://mysite.com/mypicture.jpg)” I have to put “mypicture.jpg” in the “/public” directory, not the root.
That’s the thing… I can use my web address to look at [a photo](http://pw1.netcom.com/~heliboy/r1.jpg) I have in my webspace.
Adapting **Musicat** ’s suggestion, I right-clicked on the www folder and tried to create a new directory. The dialogue box says:
/www/New directory
I would expect my address to be there. OTOH, my address doesn’t appear anywhere, and the pre-existing stuff from 2005 and before are there in the www folder.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/12 "2013-07-07T22:57:08Z")
OK, here’s an oddity and a bizzarity.
Once upon a time I was selling 6-foot inflatable _Hunt For Red October_ submarines. (I still have a box of them somewhere.) I’d made a webpage that I linked to from eBay or something, and the files are in a ‘red october’ folder. Somehow, a [different photo](http://pw1.netcom.com/~heliboy/hunt_for_red_october/N84823_Front_Quarter.jpg) that I attempted to upload earlier wound up in that folder. I can also see the test picture I have been trying to upload, by leaving off the subfolder name (i.e., under www and not www/hunt\_for\_red\_october) and typing the .jpg filename. So I’m looking, and…
I now see the files in the www folder. I must have missed them because they are not in alphabetical order. Everything else is, but these two test files are not. 😕
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/13 "2013-07-07T23:01:21Z")
Does Filezilla sort caps first? Because the test files I uploaded are N\_\_\_, and I was trying to find them amongst files that are named n\_\_\_.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/14 "2013-07-07T23:03:53Z")
I’m leaning to the problem being one of “the right directory” and permissions thereof. It seems like you are communicating with the web site OK.
Web hosting services have differences and quirks, and they are often using Linux, which imparts a flavor that might be confusing. At this point, I would contact the host’s tech support. If it’s a company like GoDaddy, their tech support is extremely good. You’re halfway there, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Can you do that?
FYI: Linux is case-sensitive. Beware!
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### Author:  [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/15 "2013-07-07T23:05:13Z")
Why are you uploading to the www folder ? (Not being rude. ) That is just a shortcut to the public\_html folder. The latter being for root files, whilst images etc. should really be stored in separate dedicated folders.
Since it said successfully transferred, it must be up there in _some_ folder. Also, occasionally with FTP I’ve not seen the file until I forcibly refreshed the pane.
However, now I use FireFTP in Firefox for all my FTPing needs. Far better.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/16 "2013-07-07T23:07:34Z")
I seem to have just been confused, since I was looking for the files where they weren’t. (i.e., sorted alphabetically, but with caps first.)
Now I just need to find an HTML editor so I can work on the page, clear out the obsolete stuff (heh – here’s that [Red October](http://pw1.netcom.com/~heliboy/hunt_for_red_october/red_october.htm) page), and whatnot.
Thanks for the help.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/17 "2013-07-07T23:08:56Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#):
>
> Why are you uploading to the www folder ?
>
> However, now I use FireFTP in Firefox for all my FTPing needs. Far better.
Because that’s the folder that contains all of my files.
I don’t use Firefox, since I’m used to Safari.
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### Author:  [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/18 "2013-07-07T23:15:02Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> I now see the files in the www folder. I must have missed them because they are not in alphabetical order. Everything else is, but these two test files are not. 😕
Or the file view may not have refreshed. I think filezilla’s pretty good about refreshing the view of the current folder after any transfers, but I’ve seen it fail to update many a time.
Also, have you checked the file and folder permissions? Linux and Mac OSX use a rather different permissions scheme than the windows world. I know there’s permissions option in the right-click menu on the PC version. Not sure how you access that on a Mac.
Finally, here’s a screencap of filezilla, showing the different parts of the interface and what they’re for. I suspect you’ve figured most of this out already.
[ ](https://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn313/starfire42/filezillainterface-labelled.gif)
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### Author:  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filezilla-help/662892/19 "2013-07-08T02:52:58Z")
I use Filezilla all the time between PCs and Linux/Unix and Windows-based servers.
Your hosting company should have basic FTP instructions for most FTP clients, including Filezilla. They should also have provided to you the basic structure of how web and non-web files are stored (and made available) under your FTP account access. Have you asked them?
FWIW, never, never, never ever use drag and drop. Always copy/paste. I cannot tell you the number of times I have coworkers come up to me for assistance as they transferred files between hard drives (same computer) and well as with a remote computer that drag and drop all too often results in permanent data (file) loss. It’s almost always user error, but the network transfers have that added “feature” of somewhere across the network something just fails.