Making A File Downloadable

Introduction
Sometimes you make a file that you want people to download, like Photoshop Brushes. The easiest way to make an item downloadable is: 1.) Put it in a compressed folder. 2.) Upload the compressed folder to your server. 3.) Link to the compressed folder.

This section will cover those three steps.

Downloading Ultimate Zip
Before you can make compressed folders, you need a zipping program, like Ultimate Zip, or WinZip.

1. The program you need is Ultimate Zip.
2. Go to their website, and download the program. Remember where you saved it, saving it to the desktop would make this easiest.
3. Go to the location that contains the downloaded file. It will be called uzsetup_beta3, or something kind of like that.
4. Double Click it.
5. Click Next.
6. Read the license agreement, and click yes to continue.
7. The next screen shows you where the program will be installed, which will most likely be the program files, located on your hard drive. I would leave it as default. Click next when ready.
8. The next screen shows where it is going to install a shortcut button, in the start bar. Leave this as default, and click next.
9. The next screen will ask you if you want to install desktop icons, and etc. You can make your choices, and click next.
10. Click "Install" to complete the process.
11. You're now ready to zip and unzip a folders. The process is completed, but continue further to learn how to unzip files:
12. If You want to unzip files, make your way to one, and right click on it.
13. Select the menu item that says "extract to folder blah blah blah...."
14. After a moment, a new folder will display, and it will most likely be named the same as the zip folder. This is the extracted folder, and the process is completed.
    

Putting Files In A Compressed Folder

1. Highlight all the files you want to put in a .zip folder.
2. Right-Click on one of the the files.
3. In the menu select "Send To", and then "Compressed Folder".

You can rename the folder by right-clicking, and selecting "Rename" near the bottom. If the folder is called "something.zip", be sure not to change the .zip part, just the "something" part. If it only looks like "something", then don't worry about it.

Upload And Link
Now you need to make the folder downloadable by the public. The first step is to upload or FTP the .zip folder to your web server, which is done the same way you upload any file, like .html files.

Check with your host to see the different rules for uploading .zip folders. Note that some free servers do not allow .zip files!

Once the file is uploaded, you need to link to it, so people can click the link and download the file. This is done the same way you would link to an image, or another .html file.

<a href="foldername.zip">Click Here To Download!</a>

A Word On Linking
When linking the folder, you need to know it's location, and the location of the page that links it.

If the folder and the page is located in the same directory on your server, then you can make the link like this:

<a href="foldername.zip">Click!</a>

If you have the .zip file located in a different directory, then you need to add the directory name, followed by the .zip file name, like this:

<a href="directoryname/foldername.zip">Click!</a>

For more information, see "About Folders and Directories"

When in doubt, just put the complete address of the folder, like this:

<a href="http://www.host.com/folder.zip">Click!</a>

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