Over 99 percent of internet users will have Internet Explorer installed on their PC, whether or not they use it.  So, if you are into designing and publishing web pages, did you know that IE comes complete with a FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Client?  Strangely it is something that MicroSoft doesn't seem to promote, even though it uses both Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer to make the bi-directional transfer of files to and from the server possible.

This page will give brief and hopefully concise instructions, backed up with screen shots you will actually get when setting up the IE FTP to connect to the 'genealogy community' on the Freepages server at Rootsweb.

1.. Open Internet Explorer
2.. Enter in the URL address field - ftp://users.freepages.rootsweb.com and Enter
3.. You will now be prompted to Log On as per the following screen shot:-

Log On
(a)User: - enter your assigned username (without the ~ [tilde])
(b)Password: - enter your assigned password (it is CaSe SensiTive!)

When you have completed entering the required details, click the Log On button.

4.. A page titled FTP root at users.freepages.rootsweb.com now opens to reveal the Freepages
     "Communities" that are available for your use.

(a)Click on genealogy_html

A new page giving a listing of Directories and Files in your Genealogy community will now open and look similar to the partial page shot below:-

Genealogy Directory

5.. Go to the Internet Explorer Menu Bar, click View and do the following:-

(a)From the dropdown menu select Open FTP Site in Windows Explorer
 (i)     You may need to go to Internet Options and check that -
        Enable Folder View in FTP is selected
(b)Once Windows Explorer opens, you may Close the Internet Explorer page
(c)Resize the Explorer window to about 50% of the page width and move it to the right-hand side
(d)To ensure you can view the necessary details - select Tools / Folder Options
(i)Open the View tab and do the following -
(ii)Check - Display file size information in folder tips
(iii)Uncheck - Hide extensions for known file types
(iv)Finish by clicking the 'OK' button
(e)Select the Explorer view to List. If your File View is set to show the File extension, then right click on Name bar above the file names and if it is already checked select Type. This will remove the File Type column and you should now have 3 columns in view - they are Name, Size and Date/Time. Adjust the column widths, window width and height as required. TIP:- Name, Size and Date/Time column widths can be optimised by Ctrl + Numeric Pad '+', or when using a Laptop by Ctrl + Fn-Key '+'

Your Windows Explorer view of the Remote Site should look similar to this screen shot:-

Server Window

6.. If you have a desktop link to My Computer, click on it, or click on Start / My Computer.  This will open another Explorer window which should be adjusted as follows:-

(a)In the lefthand Folder listings scroll to and click on My Documents, then navigate to the Folder which contains the Folders/Files you wish to load to the server
(b)Adjust the height and width of the Explorer Local Site window so that it can sit to the left of the Explorer Remote Site Window.  The width of the lefthand Folders section can also be reduced (it has horizontal scroll), and the widths and number of data columns can be changed as previously described

Local Window Server Window

When properly arranged the Explorer windows should appear as above (reduced view).

That completes the set-up and you can now Copy & Paste files from one Window to the other, change the names, or delete.  In fact you can do anything you are able to do when using Explorer normally, including "Drag and Drop".

Finally, if you find that the Local Site Explorer window is a little on the large size, you can reduce its width to show just the Name column.  Remember back in 5..(d)(ii) the Pointer Tip was enabled to show the file details, well the Pointer Tip dialogue box will show the Type, Date/Time modified and File size accurately when the cursor pointer is held over the File Name.