How to post a downloadable link on a webpage for a pdf file stored on my PC?

Question

I need to know how to post a link so that a pdf file can be downloaded instantly off of my website page, I want to offer freebies. The pdf file is stored in my documents on my pc. I don't know how to upload it on my website and add it to a page. Please explain in beginner terms, my knowledge is very limited, thank you very much for your help.

Answer 1

First you will have to move the document to the web server. Use an ftp program like CuteFtp or WSFtp or your Web browser (using ftp://yourwebserver.com) it will require a username and password You should check with your host if you dont have that information.

Once the file is there on the server you make a link just like any other HTML link you need something like

Download my pdf

Thats about it.

Answer 2

Internet is not a home network. You can't allow the download to be made from your PC. That would open your machine for anybody to access it and they could do really dangerous things with it. So DON'T.
You must upload the file to your website. Unfortunately here you need to ask your internet provider as each one has its own rules. It is not a technical issue, it is a policy issue.
Assuming most common case, they'll give you an FTP address (i.e. ftp.myisp.com) a user and a password (may be the same you use to create your webpage).
Then you open internet explorer and enter the address: ftp://user:[e-mail]
That will take you to a Windows Explorer like page where you simply drag and drop your file. You even can create folders and so on.
Then to allow others to download the file you need to add a link in your webpage, assuming your webpage's url is http://yourwebsite.com/home.htm then the address of the pdf would be: http://yourwebsite.com/filename.pdf
That assuming you put the file in the root directory.
Unfortunately it is not easy to explain but in practice it is very easy to do. And unfortunately you have to ask your provider for the data
Note: in the addresses above Yahoo eliminates the ending of the urls and ads (...) but you must understand.

Answer 3

The first thing you want to do is contact the company that hosts your website and find out how to upload things. Every company is a bit different.

For the purposes of organization, I would create a folder for your website. Inside that I would create a folder for pdf's. You can name the folder "pdf". Copy all of the pdf documents you want to be available on the website to the "pdf" folder.

Now, I'm assuming you know basic HTML, if not there are several tutorials and guides online. What you want to do is create a link from your webpage to the document in the "pdf" folder. The html code might look like this:





Welcome to my website, download the pdf's below.



Free PDF #1
Free PDF #2





Now, after youve written this code in a text editor, or in a WYSIWYG design program like Dreamweaver, you want to save the document as a .htm file. Upload the htm file, and the pdf folder along with its entire contents to your webserver in the root directory or www folder, whichever your hosting company specifies. When you go to your URL (web address) you should see your page and be able to download your documents by clicking on the links.

Answer 4

Jared's Right!