ftp and http

[Yvonne Reynolds]

Hello,

Could someone advise.  we have a website from which we have several links to a range of zipped files which we had in an ftp directory.  By clicking a link on our website you could activate the ftp download.  This hasn't been working lately, particularly with new browsers, which are trying to open the pages in the browser, rather than download them.  I am told this is because the newer IE browser is not defaulting to "active ftp" correctly.  

I have been advised that the best way to handle this would be to use the http protocol -i.e. put all the files in a directory on the website.  and not use the ftp protocol at all.  I am assured that the browser at the other end ( no matter how old) will know what to do with the file, no matter what format. (shape files too?)

 Is this correct?

 TIA
Yvonne



Yvonne Reynolds
Website Manager
National Botanical Institute
Kirstenbosch.
P/Bag x 7, Claremont 7735, South Africa
Tel +27 21 799 8712
Fax +27 762 0646
email: reynolds at nbict.nbi.ac.za
http://www.nbi.ac.za
http://www.plantzafrica.com

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