FTP Problems? Try Using an External FTP Client

Hi folks...intrepid blogger John Scalzi has reported that some of you are having problems accessing your FTP storage space from Keyword: FTP. [Edit: These problems have been resolved.]

I have passed this along to the tech guys, and they are looking into it.

However, there is a workaround, and it also gives me an opportunity to talk about a much better way to handle the files (usually photos) that you want to put in your Journals & Web pages. It involves using an external FTP program running over your AOL connection.

Here's the story: The AOL FTP program (also known as an FTP client) is older than dirt.
It offers some basic functionality, but it's not very easy to use. In
fact, I rarely use it myself. (The tech folks are trying to figure out
how we can replace it all with a better way to handle files.) [Edit: The new Web-based file manager is now available. See my entry on how to use the new File Manager. However, there are still some advantages to using an external FTP client, so you can keep reading if you like.]

However, one thing you can do to make things easier is to get an
external FTP client, and run it over your AOL connection. Here's how
you do it:

1. Download and install an external FTP client. There are lots and lots of freeware or shareware FTP clients available. AOL members can search in the AOL Download Center, and you can also search for FTP clients at reputable download sites such as Download.com, Shareware.com, Tucows.com, etc.

2. Configure your FTP client.
The exact instructions will vary according to manufacturer, so please
check their instructions; for my example, I will be referring to the
process for WS_FTP, the program I currently use. The basic outline
goes like this: Somewhere in the settings, you will be asked for the following information so you can connect to your FTP space: host address (of the place you want to connect to), User ID and Password. Now, this next part kind of goes against intuition, so please pay attention:

• For host address, enter members.aol.com


• For User ID, enter anonymous (there may be a checkbox or pulldown for Anonymous, that you have to do also)


• For Password, enter the full e-mail address of the AOL screen name's FTP space you're trying to access.

For example, for my JournalsEditor screen name, my host address will be members.aol.com; user ID will be anonymous (the check box is also checked), and password will be journalseditor@aol.com (Don't worry about "profile name"; it's just something WS_FTP uses so I can save these settings for next time):


3. Make sure that you are running the AOL client, signed in using the same screen name
as the screen name whose FTP space you're trying to access. This is
very important -- your AOL client connection takes care of the
authentication stuff, so you can't access someone elses private FTP
space. If my AOL client connection is signed in with my JournalsEditor
screen name, I can only access the private JournalsEditor FTP space
with my external FTP client.

It all sounds complicated, but it should fall into place once you try it -- and once you try it, you'll never go back.

One warning, though: Using an external FTP client makes it easier do everything: upload files, rename files, move files. It also makes it easier to delete files. You should be doing this anyway, but please make sure that you have backups (preferably on your own computer and backup storage), in case you delete anything you shouldn't have.

[Update: You can now upload and access the files in your storage space using an external FTP program that doesn't require an AOL connection -- you just need to use an FTP client program that supports SFTP -- see my full entry with instructions on what to do.]

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions or problems. -- Joe