The Download Blog

Do you maintain a Web site or blog? If so, you've probably experimented with several FTP clients to keep your site up to date. While there are a lot of good File Transfer Protocol apps available, SmartFTP continues to stay high on our Most Popular list for good reason: It has the features you need and it's incredibly easy to use.

Whether you're a pro Web designer or are looking to start your own site, check out this First Look at SmartFTP, the affordable shareware FTP client with pro-level features.

This highly recommended Firefox extension takes the small pile of gigabytes that the Google folks throw at you for your Gmail account and turns them into a drive with storage and music-playing capabilities.

Accessible via a toolbar button or from the menu bar, Gspace opens a new tab with an FTP-style interface. You can transfer files by highlighting them and hitting the directional arrow. Drag-and-drop is not available, but the plug-in is still replete with goodies. Uploading a file sends an e-mail with it attached to your Gmail, so you can create Gmail's native filters and folders to keep track of files you've uploaded. Deleting the file from Gspace deletes the e-mail.

Gspace also allows users to switch between different Gmail accounts, has an In-box button so you can quickly jump back to the standard Gmail interface, and supports different uses of the virtual drive. These include a Music mode, which can be used with a Flash music player to create a Web-based MP3 player, and a Photo mode that didn't work for us at the time this was written. The rest did, and it made home-to-office file transfers almost as easy as using Google itself.

Rich in Web content, short on cash? Open-source FTP application FileZilla is handy if you're looking for a feature-rich tool for Windows, Macs, and Linux machines to handle transfers and don't want to part with your bucks. The multilingual app caches directories to speed up browsing, and multiple secure connection options ensure that you can move files around without concern.

FileZilla supports all the major features you'd expect from a top-notch FTP client: bookmarking, a site manager, QuickConnect for fast switching on the fly, the ability to connect to multiple servers at once, and a powerful filter. It lacks a task scheduler, but makes up for that by eating a manageable amount of memory. Hands down, this is one of the best FTP tools around.

As Power Downloader sifted through an enormous amount of e-mails recently, he ran across one from a friend who wanted some software advice. Apparently, his friend was designing a Web site and had looked around for a free FTP program for transferring files, but had not yet found anything very promising.

A multi-paned interface makes your file transfers a snap

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Firing up his trusty Web browser, Power Downloader immediately began searching for the perfect free FTP client. Accessing Download.com, Power scanned the file lists and quickly came to the app he was looking for: FileZilla. With this powerful open-source FTP client on his computer, Power's friend would be able to transfer files to and from his server with ease. The built-in site manager would make it possible for him to store connection details and log-ins for the Web site, and the Explorer-like interface would make it easy to find files quickly. Always thinking of security, Power Downloader was happy that FileZilla also supported firewalls and proxy connections as well as SSL security. With additional must-have features like a download queue, raw FTP commands, and manual transfers, FileZilla would be the perfect fit his friend's needs. Perhaps best of all, the well-made FileZilla tutorial would help his friend get started immediately.

After sending an e-mail with a link to FileZilla and other important information, Power Downloader began thinking that maybe his own site could use a tune-up. Fortunately, once the design work is done, Power doesn't have to worry about picking an FTP client to get his files online with ease.

There are Firefox plug-ins for just about every task imaginable. There's one to tell you how many e-mails you've got waiting to be read, and another that gives weather forecasts. You can change how the browser functions, you can manage your music players, and with FireFTP, you can transfer files using a top-notch FTP client.

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(Credit: CNET Networks)

If you maintain a Web site or blog, you need a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client. Mainly used for uploading and downloading files to and from a Web server, FTP clients can also download obscure files and documents from any number of servers around the world. The good ones make the process of uploading and downloading fast and painless with features that eliminate unnecessary steps and offer common security protocols.

I've tried a number of different clients and found many that work quite nicely. But the things I look for in an FTP client, like drag-and-drop support and user friendly bookmark management might not be as high on your priority list. What's most important is finding one that offers the best features for your specific needs.... Read more