What is FTP access on WordPress? A Short Introduction
To proceed through the next few steps you’ll need to transfer files to and from your new website.
There are two ways you can go about uploading and downloading files to and from your web hosting account. The first method is probably the simplest and is what most newbies should use. The second method is a little more involved but is also very simple.
HawkHosts recommend WinSCP. I recommend Filezilla. Now it’s up to you what FTP client you’ll use. Here you can find a comprehensive FTP introduction by HawkHost:
FTP – Basics
Each FTP client software requires some information to log in. These are the required piece of information:
File Protocol: FTP
Hostname: Your temporary FTP IP or your domain name (if the domain’s nameservers/DNS is already pointed to our hosting)
Port number: 21
User name: Your cPanel username
Password: Your cPanel Password
Remember when you “Addon” your domain name and checked “Create an FTP account associated with this Addon Domain”? Well, replace the info above with your custom credentials.
-Important Note-
If you are new to this and are playing around with the controls, be very careful because you don’t want to overwrite or delete any important folders or files! Try creating two or three new test folders and then use those test folders to test moving, copying, and deleting files.
When in doubt, don’t touch it!
It is a good idea to use FTP to periodically download your entire website to your local computer to have as a backup in case something goes wrong (I do this weekly). Or at the very least, download the folder for the theme you are using. In the meantime, if you are not familiar with using an FTP program, please take some time to familiarize yourself with the controls and learn how the program works. Filezilla has some help pages that explain the basics.