Create Your Own Download Linkls
One of the great features of working with the web is the ability
to download a file by clicking on a link. As most earthlings
know, a link is most frequently visible as blue underlined text
displayed on a website, or on an HTML email. Links can also be
presented as hot spots on an image, or a button which can be
clicked.
Sometimes when we click on links, we are magically transported
to a new web page. Behind the scenes, we are actually receiving
new files from a web server, and our browser software is
"rendering" the files on our screen according to instructions
contained in the files.
These new files could be served up by the same web server which
served up the previous page, or with equal ease we could be
receiving files from a totally different location, possibly from
halfway around the world! Such are the wondrous ways of the web.
Other times when we click on links, we get a different
experience. Our browser offers to download a file and patiently
awaits our answer. When we accept and possibly tell our browser
where to file the download, the web server sends the file to our
computer and a download takes place.
The usefulness of this functionality is obvious. We don't always
want to see the information painted on our screen, sometimes we
just want to use it. Consider a spreadsheet file as an example.
If I want to share my spreadsheet with you, I can easily send it
to you as an email attachment, but what happens if the file is
too large? Chances are, your file attachment could hit a
bottleneck somewhere in your, or your recipient's email system
and may never deliver.
However, if I send the file as a download, email system
bottlenecks are bypassed and the pipe is wide open. Here's how
it works:
1. First, I upload my large file to a web server somewhere. 2.
Then, I place a download link to that file in my email to my
pal. 3. When he receives the email, he either clicks on the link
or pastes it into the address bar of his browser. 4. He easily
downloads the file. 5. He is incredibly impressed.
To do this, here is what you will need: 1. Rights to a web
server to host your file - many web hosting companies offer
this. 2. Software for uploading your file - for starters you can
actually use Windows Explorer. 3. Knowledge of the correct
"path", or URL which will allow your recipient to access the
file. This should be available from your web hosting company.
The format of the URL will look like this:
http://www.domain.com/downloads/myspreadsheet.xls Where "domain"
is the domain you have registered for your use, which is
targeted at a folder on a web server, which has a subfolder
named, for example, "downloads". Your example filename, in this
case, "myspreadsheet.xls" should match the actual filename
exactly. Filenames should not have spaces or odd punctuations.
In case the above steps seem too intimidating or labor
intensive, there is a software/webhosting package available
called Personal FTP (www.poingo.com).
The software uploads your large files to your private webspace
on the Personal FTP server, opens a new email, and places a
download link onto the email, all in a few clicks. In addition,
you get your own subdomain, which not only adds your identity to
the link, but also enhances the reliability of the download.