Step 1: Download an FTP Client

Welcome to the tutorial for uploading your images to Lake Effect Online.

First off, you'll need an FTP client in order to log in and upload. I suggest CuteFTP, and it's the one I'll be using for this tutorial. Click here to download it.

For our Mac users, I recommend Fetch. You can click here to download it. Note that this tutorial will be focusing on CuteFTP and PC support, but the same concepts will apply.

Either way, download and install your FTP client, then proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Logging On

The first time you start CuteFTP, it will automatically bring up the connection wizard. If this isn't your first time using it, just click the "setup wizard" button, shown on the right.

You'll have two boxes to fill out here. Enter the following:

Host Address: lakeeffect.hopto.org
Site Name: Lake Effect Online

Click Next.

Now, you'll have to enter your username and password. You should have received these, but if you lost them, or if we forgot to send them, Contact Us and we'll look it up for you right away.

Click Next.

This screen will allow you to set your Default Local Folder. This is the folder on your computer where CuteFTP will be looking every time it opens. I suggest setting this to the folder where your normally keep all your images. This will save you the time of having to open the folder every time you load CuteFTP. Leave the Default Remote Folder line blank.

Click Finish, and it will automatically connect to your remote folder.

Step 2.5: Getting Your Bearings

Your screen should look something like this (unless you're using Fetch, then it'll just look vaguely like this). You have 3 areas to worry about:

1) Your Files
2) Your Local Folder
3) Your Queue

I'll be using those terms to refer to the areas from now on.

Step 3: Set Up Your Folders

Note: If you already have your files in folders on your computer, you may skip this step. When you get to step 4, simply drag your folders to your queue. Otherwise, continue with step 3.

First, navigate to the folder that contains the images you wish to upload in the your files window.

Next, we'll need to create directories in your local folder. Lake Effect will use these directories as "categories." For instance, if you were uploading a wedding, you would create directories for rehearsal, ceremony, reception, etc.

To create directories, right click in your local folder and select "new folder". Enter the name of your category in the box that pops up.

Do this for every category that you need.

Step 4: Upload Your Files

After setting up all your folders, navigate to the first category worth of files that you want to upload in your files, and also double click on the category in your local folder to open it.

Next, highlight the files you want to upload, and drag them to your queue.

We want to make sure we drag the files into your queue, and not into your local files, because using the queue will let us set up all of our uploads, and then simply press a button and walk away while it uploads all of them at once.

Repeat this process for every category / folder you want to upload. Make sure that the directory that you wish to upload to is open in your local folder when you drag your files to your queue.

Step 5: Make It So

By now you should have a pretty big list of files that are ready to upload in your queue.

Right click anywhere in your queue, and click "Transfer All". This will start uploading all the files that we prepared to their respective folders.

Now you can walk away and wait for the upload to finish - you're done!

Note: If your download gets interrupted for any reason, you can just click "Transfer All" again, and it will automatically resume. That's the nice thing about using the Queue!