FTP Upload through Browser Window

[mistercheezit]

Hi all,
A client needs to provide me with a few large video files. I'd like to setup up a temporary FTP solution which allows her to visit an FTP address in her browser and upload the files to the FTP folder on my site (no FTP client involved). Is there an easy way to do this? I see an anonymous FTP function am not sure how a user could send files through a browser. She doesn't have an FTP client and wouldn't be brave enough to install one.

*oh, she's on a Mac if that changes anything

OR, can anyone give me the "dummies guide to FTP uploads on a Mac?" I'm just afraid she won't be willing to download a free FTP client and I really need these files soon.

Thanks for any help!
Brian

[homoludens]

Dropbox?

Or a simple web-interface that allows her to log on and upload stuff?

There's the FireFTP (I think) add-on for Firefox, (although allowing write access for anonymous FTP is not advised).

Am I helping yet?

[mistercheezit]

Dropbox looks slick. I'm concerned, however, that she may not have permissions to install anything on the computer and am also concerned that she won't have the patience to deal with downloads and installs. I was hoping there was a solution which involved her simply uploading to my FTP through the browser but this may not be practical with large files. I'll try Dropbox and see is willing/able to use it. Thanks.

[mistercheezit]

Downloaded it and found out that we'd both have to pay $ to move her large video files so that won't work. Maybe I can get her to download an FTP client/plugin.

[JPC-Jawad]

You can use this syntax and put it in your browser window.

ftp://username:yourpassword@hostname.com

where username is ftp user, yourpassword is the password and hostname is the server where you want to upload. It works on Windows based browsers, you can test it on a MAC as well.

[jason]

How big are these files? There are several sites that allow you to upload large files that you want to "send" to a third party. Generally the sender uploads a file and then a download link is generated that can either be sent to the recipient or, on some of the sites, the site will send the link to the recipient automatically. Maximum file sizes vary by site, some allow you to subscribe to increase that maximum. Here's a few:

http://senduit.com 100Mb max, retention of 30 min to 7 days
http://sendspace.com 300Mb max with free version, pay verion with higher limits
http://transferbigfiles.com 1Gb max with five day retention for unregistered users

You could also set up an FTP account on the server and allow her to transfer files to that, but I'm not sure how easy that is to do through a browser. I know IE can do it on Windows, but there is no IE for MAc any more. I think the other browsers only support FTP downloads without plugins.

--Jason

[homoludens]

Downloaded it and found out that we'd both have to pay $ to move her large video files so that won't work.

Ah, sorry. I've never used it, I just a have a client who swears by it for sharing massive tiffs.

You can use this syntax and put it in your browser window.

ftp://username:yourpassword@hostname.com

Works on various browsers on *nix too. It may leave plaintext passwords in your browser history though.

Maybe I can get her to download an FTP client/plugin.

If she is that computer illiterate, do you want her having FTP passwords? I reckon a web-interface route is best, probably of the third-party sort that Jason suggests.