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The "Unofficial" GeoCities File Transfer FAQ
General Information - the Basics
- What's this all about, anyway?
- Why do I have to upload my files?
- What is the easiest way to get my files to GeoCities?
- What kind of files can I upload?
- Why are you doing this page? What do you get from it?
EZ Upload Questions
- What happened to EZ File Upload?
- What browser can I use for EZ Upload?
- It tells me "wrong username or password" when I try to
upload.
- Text files upload OK, but I can't upload graphics.
- Files seem to upload OK, I get a Congratulations, but the files are
corrupted.
- Files seem to upload OK, but there is nothing in the file after
upload.
- The Host did not like that command
- What about uploading to subdirectories?
- Can I upload more than one file at a time?
FTP Questions
- What is FTP?
- Where can I find FTP Software?
- How do I upload files to GeoCities with FTP?
- Can I use a subdirectory?
- Just how many bytes are in a meg?
- Why does it tell me "Access Denied"?
- I uploaded my files, and the transfer was OK, but it still says
"membername hasn't moved in yet".
- I uploaded a file called index.html, but it says I still haven't
moved in yet.
- How can I find out what files are already in my directory?
- Do I have to delete existing files before I upload a new one?
Other Uploading and Publishing Programs
- Netscape Gold or Netscape Composer
- Microsoft FrontPage
- Microsoft Web Publishing Wizard
- Net Objects Cold Fusion
- Hot Dog or Hot Dog Professional
General Information - the Basics
- What's this all about, anyway?
- What it's all about is creating your space on the web. GeoCities has been kind enough to
give us the place to do it, but unfortunately, the most common problems seem to be getting
that page uploaded and working properly.
- Why do I have to upload my files?
- Think of GeoCities' server as a big, huge computer permanently connected to the Internet
(which it is). In order for people to see the pages that you want to display, you have to
put them in a place where they can access them. Since your home computer is most likely
not permanently connected to the internet itself, anything you want people to see on your
pages must be uploaded to GeoCities and put in the same directory as the home page itself.
This includes all graphics, music files, etc.
- What is the easiest way to get my files to GeoCities?
- Easy is a subjective term. What works good for some, may not work for you. You will have
to try all the various methods yourself until you find one that works best for you.
- What kind of files can I upload?
- GeoCities maintains a list of currently accepted files types. Rather than try to
duplicate that list, I'll just point you
here, so you can check the latest version of the list yourself.
- Why are you doing this page? What do you get from it?
- As a Community Leader for the WestHollywood
neighborhood, I started frequenting the File Transfer Problems forum to see if there
were any questions I could answer. Pretty soon, I was the ONLY one answering questions in
there. Since many of the questions repeated over a period of time, I came up with the idea
of creating this site. Now I am no longer a Community Leader but I still like to help out
where I can. The only thing I get out of it is personal satisfaction from knowing that I
am helping folks get their pages up and working, and a few GeoPoints (over 17,000 at last
count!) which I can't use anyway since there is nothing to spend them on :)
Back to top
EZ Upload Questions
- What happened to EZ File Upload?
- The old EZ File Upload utility was written in the Perl language, and was a big drain on
the resources of the GeoCities server. With the introduction of the new File Manager the Powers That Be at GeoCities
decided to remove all the old individual utilities, like EZ File Upload and the Home Page
Editors, all of which can now be accessed through the File Manager.
Back to top
- What Browser Can I Use?
- The File Manager also knows what browser you are using, so you will only have the option
to use EZ Upload if your browser supports it. Currently, the browsers supported by the
File Manager are/should be:
 | Netscape, version 2.0 or higher, any platform |
| Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.02 (Win95/WinNT) or higher |
| Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.02a (Win 3.1x/Macintosh) or higher |
If you are using one of the listed versions above, but don't have a BROWSE button in
the EZ Upload section, check on this page for details on the
various versions and which ones are supported.
- It tells me "wrong username or password" when I try to
upload.
- You may have typed in your username wrong, or there may be a problem with the security
server at GeoCities. Try it again later. If it still doesn't work, try changing your
password - but make sure your email address is correct on your Member Profile!!! - then
try it again. If that still doesn't make it work, go to the GeoCities
Online Help Guide and submit a request for assistance to GeoCities. Do not give
your password out to anybody!.
- Text files upload OK, but I can't upload graphics.
- There seems to be a problem with Netscape on Windows 3.1 and some Macintosh computers
that does not upload graphics files properly. This has mostly been fixed by the new File
Manager, but may still pop up in some circumstances. Your best bet if this happens is to
use the FTP file upload method instead.
- Files seem to upload OK, I get an upload confirmation, but the
files are corrupted.
- First, make sure you are uploading the files with the correct settings: graphics (jpg,
gif, wav, etc) as binary, html and text files as ASCCI or Text.
If that doesn't solve
the problem, then it is usually caused by problems with your network setup. Try again
during a less busy time of the day, or try FTP. If it continues, you will need to check
with your ISP for further help.
- Files seem to upload OK, but there is nothing in the file after
upload.
- Make sure you are selecting the file to upload using the BROWSE button. Changing the
name before upload seems to create problems for some people. Also, make sure you choose
the correct file type from the "Select files of type" drop down list. Note: with
the new File Manager, you can click on the "Convert Filenames to Lower Case" and
"Convert HTM to HTML" before uploading (most valuable for Windows 3.1 users and
Netscape 4.0 users).
- "The Host did not like that command"
- Sometimes you will get an error message like this when trying to upload files with EZ
File Upload. This is usually caused by too much traffic on the server, and is not your
fault. If you see this, just use the BACK button on your browser to return to the previous
screen and try it again.
- What about uploading to subdirectories?
- You can upload new files directly to your subdirectory by changing to that directory
first, then use EZ Upload. If you forget, you can always use the "Move to
Subdirectory" button to move a file or files to a subdirectory. For details on using
Subdirectories, please visit the Subdirectory FAQ.
-
- Can I upload more than one file at a time?
- Yes. By default, the File Manager will give you 5 filename boxes in the EZ Upload
section. Don't worry if you have less than 5 to upload, that won't make a difference.
However, if you have lots of files to send, you can increase the number of file boxes by
clicking the dropdown list under "Number of Files to Upload" and choosing a
number up to 20, then click on the "Display" button to refresh the list.
Back to top
FTP Questions
- What is FTP?
- FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It is the most common way that files are
transferred across the Internet.
- Where can I find FTP Software?
- GeoCities maintains a list of FTP programs on the FTP Procedures Page. If you are using Windows
3.1x, Windows 95 or Windows NT, I recommend WS_FTP LE.
Macintosh users, I'm told, favor the Fetch program.
- How do I upload files to GeoCities with FTP?
- This is a lot easier now than it used to be. :) To upload your files to GeoCities, you
must first connect to the GeoCities FTP server, making sure to log in with your GeoCities
Username and Password. Then, you have to upload your files. Once these files have been
uploaded, a background daemon (a program that runs on its own at a regular interval) takes
all the files in the /pub/homestead directory and moves the files to where they are
supposed to go.
- Can I use a subdirectory?
- Absolutely! For details on using Subdirectories, please visit the Subdirectory FAQ.
- Just how many bytes are in a meg?
- This is not as silly as it sounds. The answer depends on who you ask :) Since
"mega" means 1 million, you would think that a megabyte would mean 1 million
bytes - and you would be absolutely correct, at least as far as GeoCities is concerned.
Therefore, 2 megabytes = 2,000,000 bytes. I know, for old computer folks a megabyte is
supposed to equal 1,048,576 bytes (1024*1024) but that's not the way GeoCities does it.
- Why does it tell me "Access Denied"?
- You are either trying to log in to the FTP server as Anonymous (doesn't work effective
11/22/96) instead of with your membername and password, or you are trying to upload to the
wrong directory. If your FTP client will let you, leave the destination directory blank
and the GeoCities server will automatically place you in the correct directory. If you
must put in a path of some sort in your FTP client, make sure you use the path to your
homestead, which is everything after http://geocities.datacellar.net
in your homestead URL. For example, for this site I would put
"/SiliconValley/Heights/7493".
- I uploaded my files, and the transfer was OK, but it still says
"membername hasn't moved in yet". (Option 1)
- You must have a file called "index.html" in all lower case letters
before GeoCities will recognize that you have moved in. Whatever your "main"
page is for your site, rename it to "index.html" or re-upload it as
"index.html". If you use FTP to upload your files, make sure you wait for it
to show up in your directory. Depending on how busy the server is, this can sometimes take
up to several hours. You can rename your files on the File Manger. Note: you can upload a new
file and overwrite an existing one of the same name, but to rename or copy a file, you
must delete the existing one first. If you want to be safe, rename the original file
(i.e., index.html to index_backup.html) first.
- I uploaded my files, and the transfer was OK, but it still says "membername
hasn't moved in yet". (Option 2)
- By default, browsers are not set up to use their cache optimally. Why, I don't know, but
there is something you need to check to make sure you don't have problems at GeoCities.
Here are the settings and how to change them for Netscape and Internet Explorer.
Netscape
2.x and 3.x : From the menu, choose Options, Network Preferences. Click on the
Cache tab. At the bottom of the Dialog box, make sure "Verify Documents" is set
to "Every time". Clear the Disk and Memory cache by clicking on those buttons,
click OK to close the Dialog, exit Netscape and Restart.
- Netscape 4.x: From the menu, choose Edit, Preferences. When the new
options window displays, scroll down on the left (if necessary) and click the plus (+)
sign next to "Advanced", then click on the "Cache" option. On the
bottom of the window where it says "Document in cache is compared to document on
network:" select "Every Time". Clear the Disk and Memory cache by
clicking on those buttons, click OK to close the Dialog, exit Netscape and Restart.
Internet
Explorer 3.x: From the menu, choose View, Options and click on the Advanced tab.
Internet Explorer 4.x and 5.x: From the menu, choose View, Options and click on the
General tab (if needed).
In the "Temporary Internet Files" section, click on Settings. Make sure
"Check for newer versions of stored documents" is set to "Every visit to
the page". Click OK to close the Dialog box, exit IE and restart.
This is very import, especially when working with the File Manager. Your browser looks
at the address (URL) of the page you are visiting to determine if it should get the page
from the server, or from the hard drive cache. In the case of the File Manager, the URL is
always the same. If your cache is not set up correctly, then you will have all
sorts of problems because your browser will not see the latest information or changes that
you have made.
- I uploaded a file called index.html, but it says I still haven't
moved in yet.
- GeoCities is case sensitive. This means that a file called "INDEX.HTML" is not
the same as "index.html". Check the File
Manager and rename your file as needed. On some rare occassions, the default
"index.html" file that is created when you first created your site gets
"stuck". Just delete it and re-upload your page and all should be fine. Note:
Windows 3.1 users - you can click on the "Convert Filenames to Lower Case" check
box when using EZ Upload to make things easier for you. See also the section right above
this regarding your browser Cache settings.
- How can I find out what files are already in my directory?
- Go to the File Manager.
This will list all the files in your directory, tell you how much space you have used, let
you delete files that are in your directory and rename them. From this point you can also
edit your pages, using 1 of 3 editors, upload your files and access the Personal Profile
Editor.
New! If you are using FTP to upload, check the display on your
program for the status messages given by the server. It will tell you what percentage of
your allotted space is in use during the login process and after each upload.
- Do I have to delete existing files before I upload a new one?
- No, if you upload a new file of the same name, it will over write the old one. (However,
if you want to copy or move files in the File Manager, you cannot overwrite an existing
file - you must delete or rename it first)
Back to top
Other Uploading and Publishing Programs
- Netscape Gold or Netscape Composer?
- GeoCities does not currently support the Publish feature of these programs. You can,
however, use Netscape to connect to the FTP server and upload that way. I'll have a page
on Netscape FTP uploads coming soon, as soon as I get the time to prepare it.
- Microsoft FrontPage?
- Uploading is supported from FrontPage now, but only through the Web Publishing Wizard
(see below)
- Microsoft Web Publishing Wizard
- YES! At long last, you can now use the Web Publishing Wizard to upload to
GeoCities. BUT, you must be using the latest version (1.5) from Microsoft, then follow the
instructions on my Web Publishing Wizard Setup Page.
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- Hot Dog or Hot Dog Professional
- GeoCities does not currently support the Publish feature of this program to my
knowledge, but there may be built in FTP features. Check the HotDog home page or help file
for details.
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