Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes
It was only in the beginning of January of the current year when I became familiar in using FTP Softwares so much that I’ve been used to it more than the web interface provided by my web host. FTP clients are a lot easier to maneuver since the interface allows you to simply lunch the program without having to open your web browser in times you need to immediately upload or download something from your site to your computer and vice versa.
I do not want to make an assumption that everyone who will be reading this post knows exactly what I’m saying so I’ll make it simple. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, while an FTP client is a software program for your computer which is used to upload and download files.
FTP runs over the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) usually via the well-known port number 21 (data connections usually use port number 20) for incoming connections from clients. These connections coming from the client forms the control stream on which commands are passed to the FTP server (host) and responses are collected.
For bloggers and webmasters, a user-friendly interface makes the usage experience smooth sailing. The availability of many freeware FTPs are remarkable so purchasing commercial FTP software is unlikely to be recommended even by most experienced webmasters and bloggers.
To help newbie bloggers and webmasters become more productive, I’ve compiled a list of the 5 Best FTP Clients for Newbie Bloggers and Webmasters which I think are excellent.
SmartFTP Client—available to both (32 and 64-bit) Windows OS. I’ve tried using this before but I didn’t like the user-interface because it was so confusing. The application window is clean-looking although it’s just not appealing to use for starters to I looked for something else.
CoreFTP for Windows—I’ve been using this FTP client for quite sometime because it’s so easy to use and navigate. The window may not be good looking unlike SmartFTP but the ability to switch connections from one website host to another makes my life easier. I highly recommend this for bloggers and webmaster managing multiple websites with different host names.
FileZilla for Windows and Linux—this is definitely one of the most widely used FTP client since CoreFTP. I’ve used this software for quite a while but this can only manage one connection at a time so multiple web owners are not advised to use this.
Cyberduck—is another open source FTP client with an easy to use interface with quickly accessible bookmarks. I have never used this so I couldn’t say much about it but it’s worth the try. I’ll update you on this once I get to use it when I can.
WinSCP—is an open source SFTP (Secure FTP which can also refer to SSH File Transfer Protocol) client and FTP client for Windows. Its main function is the secure file transfer between a local and a remote computer. Again, I’ve never tried using this software so any comments regarding this FTP client is most welcome in the comments section.
Suggested for further reading:
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