One of the great features of working with the web is the ability to download a file by clicking on a link. As most earthlings know, a link is most frequently visible as blue underlined text displayed on a website or on an HTML email. Links can also be presented as hot spots on an image, or as a button which can be clicked.

Usually when we click on links, we are transported to a new web page. Behind the scenes, we are actually receiving new files from a web server, and our browser software is "rendering" the files on our screen according to instructions contained in the files.

Other times when we click on links, we get a different experience. Our browser offers to download a file and patiently awaits our answer. When we accept and possibly tell our browser where to file the download, the web server sends the file to our computer and a download takes place.

The usefulness of this functionality is obvious. We don always want to see the information painted on our screen, sometimes we just want to use it. Consider a spreadsheet file as an example.

If I want to share my spreadsheet with you, I can easily send it to you as an email attachment, but what happens if the file is too large? Chances are, your file attachment could hit a bottleneck somewhere in your, or your recipients email system and may never deliver.

However, if I send the file as a download, email system bottlenecks are bypassed and the pipe is wide open.
Heres how it works:

1. Using FTP software I upload my large file to a web server
2. Then, I place a download link to that file in my email to my pal.
3. When he receives the email, he either clicks on the link or pastes it into the address bar of his browser.
4. He easily downloads the file.
5. He is incredibly impressed.

To do this, here is what you will need:
1. Rights to a web server to host your file - many web hosting companies offer this.
2. Software for uploading your file - for starters you can actually use Windows Explorer.
3. Knowledge of the correct "path", or URL which will allow your recipient to access the file. This should be available from your web hosting company.

Download link Format

The format of the URL will look like this: http://www.domain.com/downloads/myspreadsheet.xls

"domain.com" is the domain you have registered for your use, which is targeted at a folder on a web server.

It has a subfolder named, for example, "downloads", which contains your file "myspreadsheet.xls".

Your download link should match the actual domain/subfolder/filename exactly. Filenames should not have spaces or odd punctuations.

If these steps seem too intimidating or labor intensive, there is a software/webhosting package available called Personal FTP - see the link buttons on the left.

The software Poingo Email-Printer with Personal FTP uploads your large files to your private webspace on the Personal FTP server, opens a new email, and places a download link onto the email, all in a few clicks.

The web-hosting offering Personal FTP Webspace gives you up to 5 subdomains and 1 gig of server space. The subdomain adds your identity to the link and also enhances the reliability of the download.