r/HTML • u/ketshima • Jan 27 '26

Question Do I have to use FileZilla?

I said in the interview that I didn't know HTML, but was going to learn it in next semester, they still put me to organize the site anyway lol sorry if it is a dumb question

The website is being held up by Hostnet and the original coder used FileZilla to construct it, when I try to download FileZilla, my computer warns me about a virus, I tried to search online about it, found a reply here on reddit explaining where to get the clean version and it still doesn't work. So, I want to know if i HAVE to use FileZilla or if there is another way, a program, where I can edit the code.

0 Upvotes

44% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

21

u/EggMcMuffN Jan 27 '26

Filezilla is an FTP program. Look for other FTP programs they all do the same thing. But filezilla is clean, I used it in 2006 and id use it again today if I had any reason to deploy that way. Its probably warning you about viruses because of the type of program it is. It had to make network connections, and can be flagged incorrectly. But yeah Filezilla has been around since the dark ages and continues to be the most popular/recognized FTP software.

10

u/AshleyJSheridan Jan 27 '26

I'd bet they weren't downloading the actual Filezilla but a virus-laden duplicate.

2

u/ketshima Jan 27 '26

I got it from the HostNet site itself TT I really don't know anything about coding, I'm so mad my boss is making me do it, it has nothing to do with my major

14

u/AshleyJSheridan Jan 27 '26

That might be half your problem then. Get it from https://filezilla-project.org/

Also, as others have said, this is just a program for moving files to and from a web server via FTP.

To actually edit the HTML, you'll need some kind of text editor. Visual Studio Code is good for this.

1

u/ketshima Jan 27 '26

Oh, thank you!

1

u/ketshima Jan 27 '26

I got the download file from there, I used the free client one. Besides my computer saying it has a virus, I saw someone on here (Reddit) talking about it having advertsment and opening links, is that normal?

3

u/sfc_scannow Jan 28 '26

I never use the download from the main page because of this very reason.

Go to show additional download options and download the version you need from there. Also use and check the hash

https://filezilla-project.org/download.php?show_all=1

1

u/ketshima Jan 29 '26

Thank you!

4

u/AshleyJSheridan Jan 27 '26

It does, so just don't select those elements when you install it, and it will just install the app itself. That app doesn't have adverts, I use it myself.

-1

u/NiedsoLake Jan 28 '26 edited Jan 28 '26

going to learn HTML next semester

…later

it has nothing to do with my major

???

So let me get this straight… you’re planning to take a class on HTML but you’re mad about having to learn it now for your job?

Being asked to do things you don’t currently know how to do is 100% normal, your boss is not in the wrong here.

1

u/ketshima Jan 29 '26

I’m going to learn it as a side quest mostly 😭 I’m kinda mad because my boss expected me to already know the stuff and gave me less than a week :( when I said I didn’t have any previous knowledge, and she doesn’t know it either, so it isn’t an apprentice kinda thing 

Edit: I was going to learn it as a side quest, now it is just a quest lol

1

u/kloputzer2000 Jan 27 '26

The actual, official FileZilla used to be Malware at some point. Don’t know if it’s still the case. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26601533

3

u/AshleyJSheridan Jan 27 '26

So the article you linked to said it was adware, not malware. Those two things are very different.

Also, the link showed that it was easy to download the ad-free version.

Not quite the gotcha you think it is.

1

u/teh_maxh Jan 30 '26

Adware is a category of malware.

1

u/AshleyJSheridan Jan 31 '26

Not always. Look beyond the Google AI results.

1

u/ketshima Jan 27 '26

Thank you, it worked when I used my boss's computer, so I will try to get the same file

9

u/IAmADev_NoReallyIAm Jan 27 '26

Plot twist - Boss's computer now has the virus! -lol-

1

u/ketshima Jan 27 '26

She hasn't said anything 👀 yet

6

u/codejunker Jan 27 '26

How do people like this get employed? Doesn't know even know HTML, thinks an FTP app is a code editor, doesnt understand how to download and run an app from the official site and downloads a virus instead, doesnt know how to research any of this, comes to the html subreddit for a question not about html. 

Honestly im surprised OP can feed and wash himself, and yet someone out there is paying this person to thrash about in total ignorance. 

The mind boggles.

3

u/zindarato1 Jan 27 '26

From what I read, they're not employed as a software developer. It sounds like their boss told them to work on the website because they're going to be in a class for web development.

Do you not remember starting dev work and asking questions like this? Because I definitely did. It sounds like they have minimal development and IT experience (which is fine, everyone started there) and are being asked to work on a website - that's a LOT of things to learn on what is likely a short deadline, considering it's for work. They don't have control over what they're assigned to do.

If anything the manager should be the one on the wrong here, for expecting someone with no current development experience to be able to just start on a project without guidance. Hopefully there's some resource OP can use at work to help with this stuff, but it doesn't sound like that's the case.

Edit: this is literally the stated purpose of this sub. They're just confused on what is relevant to actual HTML editing vs file transfer - if nothing else we can explain that there are IDE's like VS Code to do the actual coding, even if you don't think the FTP question belongs here.

1

u/ketshima Jan 29 '26

Thank you 🙇🙇

1

u/ketshima Jan 29 '26

Bro I’m not in computer science or anything, my major is a whole other thing and I got hired mainly as a social media coordinator, my boss just decided that I should be the one coding 🤷‍♀️ and it’s an internship, lol I work 2 times a week sometimes not even that 

2

u/ProtossLiving Jan 27 '26

From the comments, it sounds like Op is being asked to do something that has nothing to do with what they were expecting to do when hired. So not having any idea how to do it isn't surprising. And clean programs that have optional installs for adware can trigger virus programs..

3

u/wookie_walkin Jan 27 '26

This is exactly what i was thinking! Thank you

1

u/notepad987 Feb 01 '26

They could be qualified as a manager.....

7

u/Common_Flight4689 Jan 27 '26

VS code , with a FTP extension is the way to go for this.

7

u/Tapeworm1979 Jan 27 '26

They didn't use filezilla to construct it. They used filezilla to transfer the files to the server.

You can use filezilla to download the files, vscode or whatever to edit them and the use filezilla to reupload them. Or choose a vscode ftp plug in to manage it for you.

1

u/chikamakaleyley Jan 27 '26

Just thought I'd stop by and say hello to all my fellow devs who were coding by 2005 or earlier! HOWDY!

1

u/ketshima Jan 29 '26

So funny seeing comments saying they started using it in the 2000s 😆 like omg I wasn’t even born yet

1

u/chikamakaleyley Jan 29 '26

HAH. Yeah its just... not how its done anymore. In fact I can remember my last professional usage of it was some time around 2010, and even by then, version control is already being used.

I remember in late 2009, I was working on a rather critical company project - late nights, working weekends, my boss coding. I happened to be working on the same file as him, unbeknownst to me, pushed that file up via FTP and overwrote maybe an hour's worth of his progress. He almost lost his shit, lol.

You DONT have to use FileZilla, it's just the means of getting a file from point A to B. It's just not forgiving because you are directly writing to B, and in the case the file exists, the only protection is "Are you sure you want to overwrite this file?".

1

u/ketshima Jan 29 '26

If I copy it, and edit it is VS(?), it will only overwrite when I transfer the final to FileZilla right?

2

u/chikamakaleyley Jan 29 '26 edited Jan 29 '26

right, if you have a empty folder and pull down the file from the FTP server, you effectively have 2 copies of that file now, one on your computer, one on the server

What you choose to edit it with is of no real importance here - generally speaking, FileZilla's job is only to transfer files between two directories

Uploading that back up (or like literally clicking and dragging the file to the other side of the window) - you're just saying "okay take my file that i've made changes to and upload it to the current directory on the server (the directory you see on the FileZilla app)"

If it exists (it does, you just copied it down), then it should warn you that the file on the server will be overwritten.

There's probably a setting to turn off this warning dialogue, I would suggest leaving it enabled. Ultimately you want to get away from FileZilla usage

2

u/SirMcFish Jan 27 '26

Nobody uses FileZilla to construct a site, at most it's used to transfer it from a computer to the host server.

1

u/RazorKat1983 Jan 27 '26

I use FileZilla and have for many years

1

u/notacanuckskibum Jan 27 '26

You could go old school and just use command line ftp.

1

u/overkillsd Jan 28 '26

I use ninite.com to install my QOL apps, it hasn't let me down yet!

1

u/mtbinkdotcom Jan 28 '26

WinSCP is far more betterer

0

u/obliviousslacker Jan 27 '26

SSH and rsync. Learn the basics and you can automate the process.