Help me find the best freebie FTP client software for the severely technically challenged.
March 8, 2012 3:20 AM Subscribe
Help me find the best freebie FTP client software for the severely technically challenged.
I’ve been using SmartFTP free software to upload files to my website; having tried to update it the other day, I find the service is no longer free. I don’t want to do anything fancy – just upload files to my site. Having googled free FTP software, I am bewildered by the number available and as a non-techie, am struggling to know which is the best one for me. Can anyone recommend a really simple, straightforward piece of software that even a dunce like me can use? Thanks!
I’ve been using SmartFTP free software to upload files to my website; having tried to update it the other day, I find the service is no longer free. I don’t want to do anything fancy – just upload files to my site. Having googled free FTP software, I am bewildered by the number available and as a non-techie, am struggling to know which is the best one for me. Can anyone recommend a really simple, straightforward piece of software that even a dunce like me can use? Thanks!
If you use firefox, fireftp is very good and easy to use. I prefer it to filezilla and I'm not technically challenged.
posted by missmagenta at 3:26 AM on March 8, 2012
posted by missmagenta at 3:26 AM on March 8, 2012
+1 for FileZilla (I've never used fireftp so I can't comment on that)
posted by southof40 at 3:31 AM on March 8, 2012
posted by southof40 at 3:31 AM on March 8, 2012
I used FileZilla in my PC days. Nthed.
posted by backwards guitar at 3:42 AM on March 8, 2012
posted by backwards guitar at 3:42 AM on March 8, 2012
Seconding FireFTP. I like that it opens in a Firefox tab rather than a separate window.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:53 AM on March 8, 2012
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:53 AM on March 8, 2012
I love and use FireFTP but a newbie I know was having issues with it not logging in, and he downloaded SmartFTP and it worked immediately.
posted by IndigoRain at 4:08 AM on March 8, 2012
posted by IndigoRain at 4:08 AM on March 8, 2012
+2 for FileZilla.
FireFTP is great, but as it is tied into using Firefox, it comes with that issue. Which really is not that big of one when you get right down to it.
FileZilla is a standalone client which I prefer.
posted by lampshade at 5:41 AM on March 8, 2012
FireFTP is great, but as it is tied into using Firefox, it comes with that issue. Which really is not that big of one when you get right down to it.
FileZilla is a standalone client which I prefer.
posted by lampshade at 5:41 AM on March 8, 2012
Yep. Yep. FireFTP.
posted by THAT William Mize at 5:50 AM on March 8, 2012
posted by THAT William Mize at 5:50 AM on March 8, 2012
I would use FileZilla. FireFTP may be very well-designed, but though I use and love Firefox, the occasional crashes caused by plugins and/or bugs in
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 5:51 AM on March 8, 2012
plugin-container.exe motivate me to handle FTP in a different program.posted by Inspector.Gadget at 5:51 AM on March 8, 2012
There are free websites where you can use FTP without downloading any software at all.
I've been using Net2FTP for about a decade with no problems.
posted by the latin mouse at 5:57 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
I've been using Net2FTP for about a decade with no problems.
posted by the latin mouse at 5:57 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
Cyberduck is available for both PC and Mac now.
posted by hooray at 5:59 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by hooray at 5:59 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
I had a huge (400+ GB) FTP project to move and I ended up using CoreFTP. It's not pretty and the interface is kind of annoying, but I could leave it running for days at a time without it crashing, automatically resuming after connection breaks, where other popular FTP programs would not hold up. Utterly reliable.
posted by distressingly thick sheets at 6:28 AM on March 8, 2012
posted by distressingly thick sheets at 6:28 AM on March 8, 2012
I have to throw in another vote for Filezilla. Hands down the best ftp program I've used.
When I had to transfer over a terabyte of data after setting up the raids in my server, filezilla handled it all seamlessly!
posted by handbanana at 6:33 AM on March 8, 2012
When I had to transfer over a terabyte of data after setting up the raids in my server, filezilla handled it all seamlessly!
posted by handbanana at 6:33 AM on March 8, 2012
The simplest, most basic and easy-to-use way I know of for FTP is to use Windows Explorer. This is what I have my wife use, because the mechanisms are exactly the same as regular Windows usage. To get to the FTP site, you put ftp://your.ftpsite.corn in the path field at the top (where you usually see "C:\" or whatever). Windows will ask you for the username and password, you give it to it and save the password if you so choose. Then the FTP site opens up like it's a local folder on your computer. You use drag-n-drop or copy-n-paste to move files around. The FTP site usually hangs around in your "My Network Places" folder. Windows FTP lacks a variety of features, like chmod or chown abilities, but if you just need to copy files to an FTP site it works fabulously for my wife.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:47 AM on March 8, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:47 AM on March 8, 2012 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks for all your swift responses; went with FireFTP and it works a treat - yay! Many thanks!
posted by Intaglio a go-go at 12:09 PM on March 8, 2012
posted by Intaglio a go-go at 12:09 PM on March 8, 2012
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posted by le morte de bea arthur at 3:24 AM on March 8, 2012 [7 favorites]