F(ile) T(ransfer) P(rotocol), A communications protocol governing the transfer of files from one computer to another over a network.
- Translation: a file can be sent from one location over the internet and placed in a directory on the receiving end.
- Basically, an FTP is a bridge between two systems that may not otherwise be able to communicate. It's a place where they can meet and transfer data.
- AoB will utilize an FTP in 2 ways:
- An FTP for your AoB account allows you and/or third-party services to interact with your AoB account. Examples would be uploading files for new inventory, downloading inventory files, and sales history downloads. Or, in the case of third-party services, such as RepriceIt.com.
- Some Venues require an FTP to interact with AoB. Enter the login for these accounts on the AoB Venue Settings to allow us to pass the files back and forth which are necessary to keep your business in sync on your selling sites.
Click on the Support Ticket link on any AoB page to submit a request or send an email to support@theartofbooks.com to request an FTP account. Your request should contain your preferred password if you have one. Otherwise, a random password will be generated for you. The username for your FTP account will be the same as your AoB account. All login credentials will be shared when the account is created.
You can login to any FTP account that is not a Secure FTP (sFTP) in a web browser, for read-only access by following these instructions:
- Open an internet browser.
- In the address bar at the top (where it normally says http://www.theartofbooks.com) enter ftp://ftp.theartofbooks.com. (For non-AoB FTP accounts you'll need to change the host to the other hostname you're using. For example, BuyBundle is ftp.buybundle.com)
- A dialog box will open. In the first line enter your username for that FTP account. In the second line enter your password
- Click Login
- Congratulations you are now in the FTP account and can see what files are there as well as the status (a file that has been processed will have a .done extension).
To be able to download and/or upload files to and from your FTP you should use an FTP Client as described below. An easy-to-use FTP client is FileZilla, and you can download it at https://filezilla-project.org/, though a subscription is required if you're going to functionally use it.
Once logged in to your FTP account using an FTP Client you are presented with the main directory as displayed here:
If you wish to upload a file of inventory to your AoB account drag and drop it into this main directory.
- Files intended to purge and replace existing AoB inventory should contain the word 'purge' somewhere in the filename.
- AoB's processing will pick up the file on its next scheduled cycle (usually within minutes).
- Files that have been processed will display done in the Type column of your FTP Client and .done as the new file extension.
- You can leave processed files in this directory or delete them as you wish.
Any download requests you initiate in AoB, whether for Inventory or Sales History, will be found in the downloads sub-directory. Saving your files to your machine is as simple as dragging them to your desktop, or right-clicking and choosing your Save As option.
Lastly, orders can be updated with tracking and processed by uploading a tab-delimited text (.txt) file that you have named tracking_upload.txt to the shipping_upload sub-directory containing the following headers and data:
- order_id will be the order id as it's displayed in AOB. (ex: Alibris orders have 'AL' prepended in the AOB display)
- dc will be your Delivery Confirmation number.
- shipping_cost will enter the value as your Actual Shipping cost. The dollar amount should not include the dollar sign ($).
- shipped_method the value of this column will be based on the shipping method and carrier as follows:
-
- usps_mm = Media Mail
- usps_fc = First Class
- usps_pm = Priority Mail
- usps_em = Express Mail
- usps_lm = Library Mail
- usps_bp = Bound Printed Matter
- usps_yp = Standard
- fedex_gr = Ground - FedEx
- fedex_ai = Air - FedEx
- ups_gr = Ground - UPS
- ups_ai = Air
- dhl_gr = Ground - DHL
- dhl_ai = Air - DHL
- dhl_gl = DHL Global
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