For most college textbook supplement and ancillary projects, you’ll work from PDF chapter files of the new edition of the text. Sometimes your editor will copy them all onto a DVD and send it to you along with the contract and perhaps the old edition of the text.
However, you’ll often just get an e-mail with a link to the publisher’s ftp site. Don’t just click on the link and hope you’ll be able to download the chapters or other files. Sometimes that works, but often it doesn’t.
You need Firefox FireFTP.
How to Get Firefox FireFTP
Here’s what you do:
First, get Firefox, if you don’t have it already. It’s the most versatile and useful browser that has thousands of add-ons and plugins to increase functionality.
Second, open Firefox, click on the Tools menu, and select Add-Ons.
Third, click “Get Add-Ons,” put “FTP” in the search box, and hit enter.
Fourth, select FireFTP and follow the directions from there, which includes restarting Firefox.
How to Use Firefox FireFTP
First, right-click the FTP link in the e-mail message from your editor and select “Open Link in FireFTP.” A new tab will open that contains a left-pane window with the directories on your computer and a right-pane window with the directories on the publisher’s FTP site.
Second, find the directory on your computer where you want to download the chapter files and make sure it’s highlighted.
Third, find the proper directory on the publisher’s site.
Fourth, click the arrow in the middle that points to the left.
Your files will now download one at a time. You can see the status of the download at the bottom-right corner of the window.
Core FTP Lite Also Does the Job
Core FTP lite is a free program (not a Firefox add-on or plugin) that allows you to easily do ftp transfers. I use it frequently for transferring files to Godaddy, which hosts all my blogs and websites.
Any suggestions for easier or better FTP transfers?
