On the right, you can see a WordPress website’s root folder. To the left, you have a local directory on your computer. Here’s an example of what you should see when you connect to your website via FTP: You’ll first need to enter your web host’s credentials, then wait for it to establish a connection, before finally getting to work. How Does an FTP Client Work? ☝🏻īy and large, most FTP clients work similarly. If you’re going to be working on a website (or you already are), knowing how to use an FTP client is key. Technically, these are all things you can accomplish with the command line too, but FTP clients provide a much more user-friendly approach. All you need to get started is to choose the right FTP client for you. 👓 With FTP, you can interact with your WordPress website in an entirely new way. FTP also enables you to edit and download files, or to modify their permissions directly. With FTP, you can upload and download files en masse and resume the connection is it’s broken. In a nutshell, FTP provides you with a different way you can interact with your website – one that only you should have access to – whereas anyone can see your website using a browser. Creating new subdirectories within your server.Uploading and downloading files of almost any type.For now, it’s important to understand what you can use this type of software for: In the next section, we’ll show you how an FTP client functions. Here’s a quick example of what those credentials look like within an FTP client: Port: Most servers use port 21 for FTP connections.Password: This will also be unique, similar to your username.Username: In most cases, this isn’t the same username you use to log into WordPress, but a unique one.Most (if not all) hosting providers enable you to connect to your website via FTP using credentials like the following: Whether you are looking after one WordPress website or 1,000, we’ve got your back! What is an FTP Client? 👈🏻Īn FTP client is a piece of software that enables you to connect to servers using a specific protocol. Here at WP Buffs, we help website owners, agencies, and freelancers take care of their websites and that can mean you as well.