FTP Headache

[silnat]

Hellooo!!!!

I just signed up for three months hosting with Bluehost and I think I've made a mistake in doing so. Have sent a "ticket" requesting some help but nothing yet.

I need the basic FTP login information, remote directory address, username and password but I have nothing! Why isn't ALL of this stuff emailed to new users in DETAIL or at least easily found in the console? I think Bluehost assume that everyone knows how to do this stuff, but that is not the case. We are not all technical gurus who can work it out blindfolded.

My previous hosting company sent me one nice email with ALL the details I needed and I was up and running in no time. Simple.

All I need to know is what to type in the appropriate fields when publishing a page.

Some questions:

In FrontPage, if using the "Publish Selected Page" option, what do I type in the "Remote Web Site Location" field. Do extensions need to be on or off? Do I select the FTP option? Username? Password? One "help" page in the console suggested the username would be "FTP". What??? If I need to type http:// blah blah, then I ned to know that.

In CoffeeCup, (which has FTP capabilities), when going to publish to server, what do I type in the Add Server Configuration box? It asks for "username", "password", "remote server address", and "remote directories" in exactly those terms. Yes, I have tried all different possibilities but nothing works and I have no idea what a remote directory is.

IF I use something like FTP Voyager, it asks to set up FTP Site Profile Manager. Then is asks for "FTP Site", and "Default Directory". Yet MORE terminology that differs to anything else I've seen before.

Yes, I have uploaded sites and pages before using FrontPage but it was as easy as pie and my site looked fabulous. For this site, I need to use FrontPage or CoffeeCup because it's all I have as an HTML editor.

I refuse to use the page editing tool in the BlueHost system - it's very limited and tedious.

Please help as I'm going grey and my 90 days are almost up!

Please, responses from gentle, kind people only. Tech-heads who like to throw around technical terminology will go right over my head and cause further frustration but I admire your expertise.

Thank you ever so sweetly.

In anticipation of a resolution,

Yours sincerely
silnat
PS Not willing to give my web address in this forum so please use generic examples. Thank you!

[Early Out]

Take a deep breath, and let it out slowly.... :)

For virtually any FTP client program, the information is going to be the same.

The Host Name or Host Address or FTP Site is just www.yourdomain.com (whatever it really is).

The Remote Directory or Default Directory, if the client demands it, is public_html (and anything you upload should be put into that directory).

The Username is whatever username you use to get into the Control Panel. Ditto for the password.

I'm not a Frontpage person, but the extensions do have to be on - there's a place in the Control Panel to turn them on. You want to use FTP, with the same info I've outlined above. The one piece I'm not entirely sure about is the Remote Website Location, but I'd guess that's either www.yourdomain.com or http://www.yourdomain.com. Try it both ways, and see what works.

[charlesp]

I received a setup letter from BH when I got my account. It had all the information in it. I was late in receiving so I called tech support they said they had sent it. Turned out the the original letter was stuck in a spam folder in my email. So if you have any kind of email filtering system, check there and/or call tech support. They sent my second letter to another email address before I found the first one in the spam folder.:o

[silnat]

Hi Early Out - thank you for your response.

Regarding this:

The Host Name or Host Address or FTP Site is just www.yourdomain.com (whatever it really is).

Do I need to put the http:// in front of it - have tried both - did not work.

Regarding this:

The Username is whatever username you use to get into the Control Panel. Ditto for the password.

I don't think this is right. I just received an email welcoming me (22 hours late), and it tells me my username is the first 8 letters of my domain name. However, when I log into the console, I am using the entire domain name including the www part. Who decided on the first 8 letters - not me! Tried it and it doesn't work.

Regarding this:

The Remote Directory or Default Directory, if the client demands it, is public_html (and anything you upload should be put into that directory).

So I am to type just public_html in that field? Some "help" page on bluehost says to put public_html at the end of the FTP site address - tried that too - did not work.

Will try all this again and get back to you. Thank you.


Breathing slowly.....breathing slowly..........:o

Charlesp - thank you - but I am receiving all my emails. Cheers.

[silnat]

I give up. Nothing works. Have tried every variation under the sun. Been uploading to the internet for 3 years and using 'puters for 22 years, so it's not me!

Bluehost - there is clearly not enough information regarding FTP file transfering to server and publishing to web!

You wanna take my money, then tell me the stuff I need to know and don't assume I know everything. What works with one hosting company doesn't necessarily work with another it seems!

Nightmare - I'm outta here. What a waste of money and effort. I'm going back to my old host where I had no problems at all. In about 2 minutes, my password to this site will be forgotten - not that it ever got me anywhere :confused:

And get this - I registered in the customer support "ticket" area, and when I went back to login, it told me "not registered". But I just sent you a ticket people!

AND, while I'm at it, when you sign up for the 3 months hosting plan, it should tell you how much it is about to swipe from your credit card. It takes your money out of the card without telling you how much it's going to take. So, for the 24 month plan, get your calculators out people and multiple $5.95 x 24 and that's your answer - you won't get it from bluehost. BAD!

Headache - over and out. No correspondence will be entered into. Good luck people!

[Early Out]

Do I need to put the http:// in front of it - have tried both - did not work.No, do not put the http:// in front. If this doesn't work, it's because your domain name hasn't propagated yet. Give it another day or two.
...when I log into the console, I am using the entire domain name including the www part. Who decided on the first 8 letters - not me! Tried it and it doesn't work.
Sorry, yes, it depends upon how you normally login to the cPanel. There are places where you can login to cPanel with just the 8-letter username, and that's what you should use for FTP. It's only when you go in through the "front door" that the full domain name is required (which I've always found a bit odd, frankly!).
So I am to type just public_html in that field?
Yes.

What's happening here is that you appear to have a brand new account, and your domain name hasn't propagated yet. Give things a little time. Trust me, there's absolutely nothing weird about BH's FTP - it's as plain vanilla as they come.

[charlesgan]

try filezilla... setup manual here...
http://helpdesk.bluehost.com/kb/index.php?x=&mod_id=2&id=301