How do you upload a PDF or exe file to server?

What is exe? Info to be downloaded by others.

[Webseeker]

Please, if you could take the time to help me out, I would appreciate it...

My webmaster skills are extremely limited, so most things I have my webmaster do for me. I will do this myself... with your help!

I have a FTP and password info to my ftp.site with limited knowledge on how to use the FTP.

I have a PDF file that I want to upload to my server space where my website is located at. I want to be able to give out the URL so others can download it. I don't know if I should have the file to be .exe or .zip. I don't know the difference except the zip is compressed and the .exe "executes" automatically or something like that.

Do I create a file at my website? How?
Do I go with .zip or .exe? What's the difference?
How do I do each?

I want to give the URL to a select few to download. I have the PDF in a folder on my desktop.

I would appreciate a step-by-step "how to" on this.

Thanks for reading.

Webseeker

"I do not want to put in on my website like a .com/file-name.pdf either."

[henry0]

I do not know why you don’t wish to have an extension looking like .com/my_pdf.pdf
But even if you do not know why :)
There are some advantages, the default behavior for people is to left click it so it will open in a browser but will not seat on a hard drive, unless they right click it which most won’t, as such you are better of to supply a zipped file that will load your file on the user hard drive.
So here is what you might want to do:
1)Zip it
2)Open your FTP, browse your PC until you find the zip, look at he right hand pan and be sure that it shows the server location you are seeking; if not again navigate till you find it, go back to your left hand side, highlight the zipped file by the middle column of your FTP application is an arrow pointing to your right, click it done!

A word of caution:
You cannot break anything unless you delete something
beware this is not Microsoft, there are no way back
what done cannot be undone.
Please open you FTP
clik on "options"
click on "program options"
AND VERIFY THAT " ALLOW DELETION OF NON EMPTY FOLDER" IS NOT CHECKED

[tangor]

If you don't want the PDF file to show as a link but you want to allow access to the file without having to give out vital and potentially dangerous FTP information (security issues) or set up an FTP area on your server and assign user permissions, just upload the PDF file to your server root then dispense the EXACT URL to those you want to access the file:

http://www.example.com/31x7898z220a1bv_my_pdf.pdf

That will DISPLAY the file in the browser without option to right click and save. If you want them to ALWAYS DOWNLOAD the file, upload as a ZIP

http://www.example.com/31x7898z220a1bv_my_pdf.zip

The long and weird filename suggested (make up your own!) makes it more difficult to hack the filename. If you don't want the file visible to your webmaster, don't upload the file. If you don't want the file visible to the web upload to a directory with an index.html file, or make sure server directory browsing is turned off.

[edited by: tangor at 1:15 pm (utc) on April 23, 2006]

[tangor]

If you don't want the PDF file to show as a link but you want to allow access to the file without having to give out vital and potentially dangerous FTP information (security issues) or set up an FTP area on your server and assign user permissions, just upload the PDF file to your server root then dispense the EXACT URL to those you want to access the file:

http://www.example.com/31x7898z220a1bv_my_pdf.pdf

That will DISPLAY the file in the browser without option to right click and save. If you want them to ALWAYS DOWNLOAD the file, upload as a ZIP

http://www.example.com/31x7898z220a1bv_my_pdf.zip

The long and weird filename suggested (make up your own!) makes it more difficult to hack the filename. If you don't want the file visible to your webmaster, don't upload the file. If you don't want the file visible to the web upload to a directory with an index.html file, or make sure server directory browsing is turned off.