FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It's the way in which you transfer your webpages from your computer to a web server (a computer linked to the internet).

In order to transfer your webpages from your computer to a webserver, you'll need an FTP program installed on your computer. There are many programs available, and they all do the same basic job, so which one you choose to use is entirely upto you.

We would like to recommend an FTP program called FTP Commander. You can download it for free here. We recommend this because it's really easy to use, and is the program we'll use below to demonstrate how to upload your webpages.

Once you've installed your FTP program - launch/start it.

You'll be presented with a split screen interface (2 panes) with your "Local Computer" on the left, and "FTP - Servers" on the right.

The first time you use the program, you will have to set-up a connection to your webspace.
In the FTP - Servers pane, click the 'New Server' button, and you'll see this box:

You only need to enter 4 things:

Name Give this connection a name. Something like "my website"

FTP Server This will be provided by your host.

User ID Enter the username your host gave you.

Password Enter the password your host gave you.

Click Save when you're done.

You will now see this connection listed in the right pane (FTP - Servers).
Click/highlight this connection & then click the "Connect" button at the top.
After the FTP program has authenticated you with your host, you will see in the right pane either a number of directories (one being "HTDOCS"), or you may just see nothing depending on how your host has set up it's configuration.
If you see nothing, then you're already in the right place to upload your files. If you see some directories, you need to double click the "HTDOCS" directory as it's here you'll upload your files.

In the left pane ("Local Computer"), select the directory where you have stored your webpages.
Click/highlight the file you want to upload, and click the ARROW which points towards the right pane. A box will pop up showing you the progress of the transfer.
Do this with all the files you want to upload. You can select more than one file to transfer at a time by holding down the SHIFT key on your keyboard while clicking on the first & last file you want to upload.
When you're finished uploading your files, click the "Disconnect" button at the top.

Your files will now be visible to the outside world (anybody looking at your Domain Name) with their browser.

If you make any changes to your website by altering the files stored on your computer - remember to re-upload them to your Hosting

That's it really! You can download your files from your web server if you need to, and you can also do things like rename files, delete files etc., but I'm sure you'll figure out that stuff from using the program.