18th July 2001
Webmasters use this tip often because it makes documents much easier to get to in a pinch. Microsoft Office 2000 / XP applications have a slick option for opening files directly from an FTP site. You can get to it by clicking File | Open, and then the "Look in" dropdown box. Scroll down if necessary... until you find the "FTP Locations" item. From there, you can open previous servers or add new ones. All that's required is a site name or TCP/IP address, a username, and the associated password. You can also choose to use the anonymous login if allowed on the target site. Other applications (such as UltraEdit) have similar features to interact directly with FTP sites, but for applications that do not, you can use the My Network Places functionality included with Windows 2000 and ME. Double-Click the Add Network Place icon within My Network Places, specify the location specifics, then the username (or anonymous) and click Finish. Explorer will immediately attempt to open the new location, prompting for a password if necessary, which can then be saved. Now when you use the "Look in" drop-down box in applications that don't natively support the FTP features, you can get to the new FTP site via My Network Places. Cool, huh? No more manual FTP transfers to get to a single file when you need it.