Uploading Files to the Skyways web server

Uploading Files to the Skyways Web Server Using a Macintosh

Once you've developed your web pages you'll want to upload them to a web server so they can be viewed over the Internet. Fetch is Macintosh-based program used to transfer HTML files and graphics from your hard drive to a web server (or vice versa).

Fetch is an easy-to-use, full-featured FTP client for the Apple Macintosh. Students or employees of a public or accredited private school, college, or university can apply for a free license at http://www.fetchsoftworks.com/Licensing/edustore.application.html. Check out the Fetch Softworks web site for more information about Fetch.

Note that the following directions are for Fetch 3.01 - you may have an earlier or newer version with a slightly different interface. The basic information about connecting should be the same.

When you launch Fetch you will see a start-up window similar to the one below.

The first dialog box you see when you open Fetch

Fetch will need information to recognize who you are and determine that you have permission to upload files. Here's the specifics:

Host Name: the name of the server, which for Skyways is: skyways.lib.ks.us

User ID: enter your user ID that was assigned to you. If you do not have a user ID or password, you'll need to contact jmotsinger3@kumc.edu.

Password: Enter the password that was assigned to you. If you've forgotten your password, contact Joshua Motsinger to reassign you one.

Directory: You can leave this blank if you want to go to your default directory.

Selecting 'OK' will then open a connection between hard drive and web server. Below is what that looks like.

What You're Looking At
If you got connected, you should see something like the above. The directory that you're in appears selected in the pull-down at the top. In the case above, it's in the root /kansas directory. Your account is set up to automatically place you in your assigned directory on the server. Below the pull-down menu is a list of files and directories on the server. To open a sub-directory from the list, double click on it. To navigate back up a directory level, select it from the pull-down menu.

Transferring Files
To place a file on the server, hit the Put a File... button, and a dialog box will pop up asking you to navigate to the file on your hard drive you want to transfer. Select the file, and hit the Open button. Copies of the files you selected will now be transferred.

An easier way to do it if you have drag and drop capabilities (found on Mac systems running OS 7.5 and greater) is to simply drag files from your desktop onto the Fetch window from an open window on your desktop. Be sure you have the correct file format selected before doing so (see below).

Important!

Text documents (.htm, .html, .txt) should be uploaded as ASCII text, or Text files. Choose Text from the Format pull-down menu
Images (.gif and .jpg), sound (.au, .wav, etc.) or PDF files should be uploaded as Raw Data. Choose Raw Data from the Format pull-down menu
If you're dragging and dropping on to the server window, be sure you have the right format selected from the radio buttons (see the above image).
Fetch may be pre-configured to transfer binary files as a 'MacBinary II' format, which won't work when you try to view them on the server. To check, go the menu bar at the top of your screen and select Customize then Preferences then Upload. The default non-text format should be Raw Data.

Connections
Note that Fetch will disconnect you from the web server if idle for a few minutes. This is a security precaution. Attempting to transfer files while disconnected will result in an error message. If you lose your connection to the Internet while still transferring files, those files will remain 'open' on the server, and you won't be able see them from a browser or even delete them. If this happens to you, contact Joshua Motsinger to fix the problem.

Further Help
If you're still having trouble uploading your files, you can contact Joshua Motsinger by email or phone at 913-588-7387 to help walk you through the process. The Fetch User's Guide is available at the Fetch Softworks web site.