Simple Download Page Problems

They have: 6 posts

Joined: Mar 2004

Hi,

I've been building a website and will be selling electronic files. I have everything ready to roll but need a return path URL for automatic file download. The problem I have is that I'm using a site builder that is furnshed by my web host. The builder does not offer a feature for me to create a page for downloading files and I don't know where to turn. These guys are less than supportive on issues like this. I uploaded the product files that are targeted for download to my site yesterday using FTP. I just don't know how to create a page... say using frontpage that will be invisible on the site and allow my customers to download the file electronically.

I will mention that these files are in .zip format and have been uploaded to the server file httpdocs. I was told by my web provider that I could simply offer up a return url of http://www.mydomainname.com/filename.zip. I tried it and it doesn't appear to work. Then I tried http://www.mydomainname.com/httpdocs/filename.zip. That doesn't appear to be working either. Can anyone help?

s0da's picture

He has: 157 posts

Joined: Mar 2004

What sort of error are you getting? I would think downloading a .zip file would be easy.

Could you upload a test file to a test directory? That way we can see if it works or not.

They have: 6 posts

Joined: Mar 2004

I'm getting a "page not found" error. Should it work if I simply use a return path of http://www.sitename.com/httpdocs/filename.zip? Is that all there is to it?

s0da's picture

He has: 157 posts

Joined: Mar 2004

is sitename.com a REAL domain?

They have: 6 posts

Joined: Mar 2004

sitename.com isn't a real domain... or if it is, it doesn't belong to me. I am working with a real domain. I just used sitename.com as an example. To rephrase my question, the files I want my customers to download are loaded on my site. They have been placed in httpdocs. Is it possible to simply use an address for a file download that is structured like this: http://www.mysitesname.com/nameoffile.zip? Or would http://www.mysitesname.com/httpdocs/nameoffile.zip work? Or do I actually need a hidden download page to execute downloads from my site?

s0da's picture

He has: 157 posts

Joined: Mar 2004

it doesn't matter where the location is. the only thing that matters is if the file is actually in the directory. i still can't figure out why it's not working for you though.

no. you dont need a hidden page. yes .../nameoffile.zip will work just fine. even specifying a directory with the url; .../httpdocs/ ;; this would list all the files in that directory for download.

They have: 6 posts

Joined: Mar 2004

Thanks sOda. It was a permissions issue on the file. I figured it out but I do appreciate your help.

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