What is FTP?
FTP is a standard network protocol for downloading and uploading files from your computer to the server.
We recommend FileZilla, it's free software and available for most popular platforms.
Using FileZilla software
To use FileZilla software, follow the steps below:
- Download and install FileZilla.
- Navigate to File > Site Manager and click on the New Site button. In Protocol, pick SFTP if your host gave you port 22, or FTP with Require explicit FTP over TLS for port 21 (see Getting the protocol right below). Set the login type as Normal. Then look up your Hostname, port, username and password in your hosting account's control panel, and fill each one into the matching field in FileZilla.
- Click on the Connect button. After that, a list of files and folders on the server will appear. Now you can edit files and folders from your local computer and upload them to the server.
Getting the protocol right
Step 2 has a Protocol dropdown above the host field, and it is the setting that decides whether the connection works at all.
- SFTP runs over SSH on port 22. Most hosts now offer this and a growing number offer nothing else.
- FTP runs on port 21 and sends your password across the network in clear text. Where a host still offers it, it usually offers Require explicit FTP over TLS in the Encryption dropdown beside it, which fixes that.
If the connection is refused straight away, or FileZilla says the server sent an unexpected reply, the protocol is the first thing to change. Your host's documentation says which it wants, and the port it gives you tells you too: 22 means SFTP, 21 means FTP.
Finding your FTP credentials
These details would mostly have been sent to you by your hosting provider, by email when you created your hosting account.
Example FTP details
Host IP: 108.168.23.1 Username: ftpuser Password: WEM6qRDm Live Web Directory: public_html/
If you are unable to find your FTP details, you can refer to the FTP settings page in the hosting Cpanel or contact the hosting support. On cPanel it is FTP Accounts, under Files, where you can also create a fresh account rather than hunt for the old password. See What is cPanel?.
Where Foxiz lives on the server
Once you are connected, everything in these docs that asks you to touch a file is under the Live Web Directory above, normally public_html.
| Path | What is in it |
|---|---|
public_html/.htaccess | WordPress rewrite rules, and the PHP values in Configuring Server Settings |
public_html/wp-config.php | Database credentials, and WP_MEMORY_LIMIT |
public_html/wp-content/themes/foxiz/ | The theme |
public_html/wp-content/plugins/foxiz-core/ | Foxiz Core, the companion plugin |
public_html/wp-content/uploads/ | Your media library |
Two habits worth having. Download a copy of any file before you edit it, because FTP has no undo. And if a theme update has gone wrong and wp-admin will not load, deleting wp-content/themes/foxiz/ over FTP and uploading a clean copy is the fix that does not need a working admin.
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