File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a method of transferring files that is much older than the world wide web. Before the web, it was the primary way people transferred files. You can access ftp servers with your web browser and download files from them, but to upload files to a remote server and perform functions like renaming, creating directories, you will need special ftp software. You should be able to get the software from any large shareware archive like shareware.com. If you're using Windows, try out CuteFTP. If you're on a mac, try Fetch.
An anonymous FTP site is a site that allows acccess to download files without a username and password. Your particular software should have basic instructions for use, but generally you enter in the path of the ftp server you are looking for "ftp.shopsite.com" and your username "anonymous" and you will see a window of files on that server, just as if you were looking for files in your own hard drive. You can then download and upload files into that server.
How to FTP
Even though FTP is older than the WWW, many people are so dependent on their web browser that they have never used FTP software. Every FTP client is slightly different, and the best way to learn to use it is to read the documentation, but one of the most commonly used clients is WS-FTP. If you have WS-FTP on your computer (you might, and not even know it) take a look at this tutorial.
Here are some useful definitions related to FTP, courtesy of Dr. J. Olin Campbell:
FTP: - The Internet standard file transfer protocol. An ftp program is a user interface to this protocol which allows the transfer to and from a remote network host.
FTP Client: - The local program which allows connection to an FTP server for the purpose of sending or receiving files.
FTP Server: - An Internet host which allows FTP clients to connect and transfer files to and from the hosts.
Anonymous FTP: - A form of FTP which, when supported by the server, allows anyone to connect and transfer files. The Anonymous FTP server is accessed with a user login ID of "anonymous" and generally expects the password to be your InterNET EMail address.
ASCII File: - Simply, a text file which contains only characters from the ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) Table. An example is a a readable text document such as a report written with a word processor.
Binary File: - A file of raw binary code (comprised of only zeroes and ones). Essentially, any file which does not have a ".txt" extension in the file name should be considered a binary file.
Download: - An FTP client retrieving a file from an FTP server is downloading the file.
Upload: - An FTP client sending a file to an FTP server is uploading the file.
