Real FTP Upload V2 Installation & Setup Guide
Real FTP Upload V2 lets your customers send files directly from your WordPress website to your FTP/FTPS server using a simple drag-and-drop upload form.
This guide will take you through installation, licensing, server configuration, customizing your upload form and adding the uploader to your website.
1. Installing Real FTP Upload V2
Download the Plugin
After purchasing Real FTP Upload V2, download the plugin ZIP file to your computer. Do not unzip it before installing it in WordPress.
Open the WordPress Plugin Installer
Log in to your WordPress administration area and go to Plugins > Add Plugin. Click Upload Plugin near the top of the screen.
Upload and Activate
Select the Real FTP Upload V2 ZIP file, click Install Now, and when WordPress has finished installing it, click Activate Plugin.
2. Opening the Plugin Settings
Once Real FTP Upload V2 has been installed and activated, the next step is to configure the plugin for your website and FTP server.
From your WordPress Dashboard, go to:
The Real FTP Upload V2 settings are divided into easy-to-manage sections. You don't need to configure everything at once, and many of the settings can be left at their defaults.
FTP / FTPS Connection
Enter the connection information for the FTP server where you want your customers' uploaded files delivered.
Upload Rules
Choose the permitted file types, maximum number of files, maximum total upload size and how customer folders are organized.
Email Notifications
Choose where upload notifications are sent and configure the email address used when notifications are generated.
Google reCAPTCHA
Optionally add Google reCAPTCHA protection to your public upload form. If you don't want to use CAPTCHA, these settings can be left blank.
Appearance
Choose your upload button colour and access Theme Compatibility Mode if your WordPress theme interferes with the appearance of the uploader.
Form Customization
Customize field names, enable additional customer information fields, select languages and tailor the upload form to your business.
3. Activate Your License
Real FTP Upload V2 can operate in Lite Mode, but activating your license unlocks the complete feature set, including multiple-file uploads, larger upload capabilities and the advanced features available in the Full Version.
From the Real FTP Upload V2 settings page, locate the License section.
Enter Your License
Enter the Real FTP Upload License you received when you purchased the plugin.
Validate Your License
Click Validate License. Real FTP Upload will verify your license and activate the Full Version on your WordPress installation.
Confirm Full Version Is Active
After successful validation, check the plugin status to make sure it displays:
Your license is associated with the website and WordPress installation where it is activated.
4. Configure Your FTP / FTPS Connection
This is where you tell Real FTP Upload V2 where your customers' files should be delivered. You will need the FTP connection information for the server that will receive your uploaded files.
This information is normally available from your hosting provider, server administrator or the company that manages your FTP server.
| Setting | What to Enter |
|---|---|
| FTP Server | Enter the hostname or address of your FTP server. |
| FTP Username | Enter the username for the FTP account that will receive the uploaded files. |
| FTP Password | Enter the password associated with your FTP account. |
| Secure FTP / FTPS | Enable the secure connection option if your server requires an FTPS connection. |
| Remote Base Directory | Enter the directory on your FTP server where Real FTP Upload should create customer folders and deliver uploaded files. |
Test Your FTP Connection
After entering your FTP information, save your settings and use the Test FTP Connection function.
A successful test confirms that Real FTP Upload can connect to the server and authenticate using the information you supplied.
5. Configure Upload Rules
Upload Rules determine what your customers are allowed to send through the uploader.
Permitted File Types
Choose the types of files your customers are permitted to upload. For example, a printer or graphic designer might accept:
Only allow file types that your business actually needs to receive.
Maximum Number of Files
Set the maximum number of files a customer can include in a single upload.
Maximum Total Upload Size
Choose the maximum combined size of all files in a single upload. This setting is entered in megabytes.
This is particularly useful for businesses receiving large PDFs, print-ready artwork, photography, graphics and other production files that may exceed the normal PHP single-request upload limit of the website.
6. Automatic Customer Folders
Real FTP Upload helps keep incoming files organized by automatically creating folders for your customers instead of placing every upload into one large directory.
The information entered by the customer in the Company Name field is used to create the customer's folder on your FTP server.
You can rename the visible Company Name label to better suit your business. For example:
- Company Name
- Organization
- Advertiser Name
- Customer / Client
- Artist Name
- Department
Real FTP Upload can also use date folders, giving you another level of organization for repeat customers and multiple uploads.
7. Email Notifications
Real FTP Upload V2 can automatically send HTML email notifications when an upload has been completed.
Notification Email
Enter the email address where you want to receive notifications about new customer uploads.
From Email
Enter the email address WordPress should use when sending the notification messages.
The notification sent to you includes the information submitted with the upload. The customer's email address is also used as the Reply-To address, making it easy to reply directly to the customer from the notification.
8. Google reCAPTCHA — Optional
Real FTP Upload V2 supports Google reCAPTCHA v2 to help protect a public upload form from automated submissions.
If you want to use reCAPTCHA, enter both your:
- reCAPTCHA Site Key
- reCAPTCHA Secret Key
Your reCAPTCHA keys must be configured for the domain where the Real FTP Upload form will be displayed.
That's fine. Simply leave the reCAPTCHA information blank. Real FTP Upload will operate normally without CAPTCHA enabled.
9. Customize the Customer Form
Every business collects different information from its customers. The Form Customization section lets you adapt the uploader to the way your business works.
Core Customer Fields
The uploader includes three core customer fields:
- Customer Name
- Company Name
- Email Address
These are required fields, but their visible labels can be renamed to make more sense for your customers.
Additional Form Fields
You can also enable and customize additional fields, including:
- Date Required
- Notes
- Purpose of Upload
- Address
- Custom Text Field 1
- Custom Text Field 2
- Custom Dropdown
Optional fields can be shown or hidden and, where appropriate, made required or optional.
Purpose of Upload
The Purpose field lets you create your own radio-button choices. For example, a print shop could offer choices such as New Quote, Current Project or Other.
Custom Dropdown
The Dropdown field can contain your own list of choices, making it useful for collecting information specific to your business or workflow.
10. Languages
Real FTP Upload V2 includes multilingual support, making it possible to provide the customer upload form in the language that best suits your website and customers.
The customer-facing uploader includes support for:
- English
- French — Canada
- French — France
- Chinese — Simplified
- Hindi
- Spanish
- Standard Arabic
- Bengali
- Portuguese
- Custom Translation
Customer Language
Select the language you want customers to see when they use the upload form. You can also select Automatic to use the language configured for your WordPress website.
Administration Language
The language used in the WordPress administration area can be selected separately from the customer-facing language.
This means, for example, that you can manage the plugin in English while presenting the upload form to your customers in French.
Custom Translation
If one of the included languages doesn't meet your needs, the Custom Translation option gives you additional flexibility for the customer-facing wording.
11. Appearance & Theme Compatibility
Real FTP Upload includes appearance controls to help the uploader fit naturally into your existing website.
Button Colour
Choose the primary button colour used by the uploader. This makes it easy to coordinate the upload form with your company's website colours and branding.
Theme Compatibility Mode
WordPress themes and page builders sometimes apply their own styling to forms, buttons, fields and content areas. In some cases, those styles can interfere with the appearance of a plugin.
Real FTP Upload V2 includes its own content wrapper designed to reduce this type of interference.
The standard uploader already includes styling designed to work correctly inside normal WordPress content and common page-builder areas.
If your theme changes the width of fields, alters buttons, adds unwanted backgrounds or borders, changes spacing, or otherwise causes the uploader to display incorrectly, turn Theme Compatibility Mode ON.
Compatibility Mode applies stronger plugin-specific styling to help prevent the WordPress theme or page builder from overriding the uploader's intended appearance.
12. Add the Upload Form to a Page
Once your settings are configured, you're ready to add the customer upload form to your website.
Create a new WordPress page or edit the page where you want the uploader to appear. Add the following shortcode to the page:
Publish or update the page and Real FTP Upload will replace the shortcode with the complete customer upload form.
Choose the Form Alignment
The upload form is left aligned by default. You can also specify the alignment directly in the shortcode.
Left Aligned
Centred
Right Aligned
View the Page as a Customer
After publishing the page, view it from the front end of your website rather than only inside the WordPress editor.
Make sure the form is positioned correctly, the fields are easy to read, your chosen button colour looks appropriate and all of the customer fields you enabled are displayed.
13. Test Before Giving the Page to Customers
Before sharing your new upload page with customers, perform at least one complete test upload. This confirms that the form, FTP connection, file transfer and email notifications are all working together correctly.
Complete a Customer Test
- Open the upload page from the front end of your website.
- Enter test information into all required customer fields.
- Select one or more permitted files.
- Click the Upload button and allow the complete upload and transfer process to finish.
- Confirm that Real FTP Upload reports a successful transfer.
- Connect to your FTP server and confirm that the expected customer folder was created.
- Open the customer folder and confirm that all uploaded files arrived successfully.
- Check that the appropriate date folder was created if you have date folders enabled.
- Confirm that the customer received their email confirmation.
- Confirm that your business received the administrator upload notification.
Your Real FTP Upload page is ready to give to your customers.
Frequently Asked Questions & Troubleshooting
Most Real FTP Upload installations are straightforward, but differences between WordPress hosts, themes, page builders and FTP servers can occasionally cause problems. The answers below cover some of the most common questions.
The upload form looks strange or doesn't display properly. What should I do?
A WordPress theme or page builder may be applying its own styling to the uploader.
First, make sure you are using the current version of Real FTP Upload V2. If the problem continues, go to the plugin's Appearance settings and turn Theme Compatibility Mode ON.
Compatibility Mode applies stronger plugin-specific styling to help prevent your theme from changing the uploader's fields, buttons, spacing and layout.
How do I centre the upload form on my page?
Use the centre alignment option in the shortcode:
The uploader is left aligned by default. You can also use align="left" or align="right".
Do I have to use Google reCAPTCHA?
No. Google reCAPTCHA is optional.
If you don't want CAPTCHA protection on your upload form, leave the reCAPTCHA Site Key and Secret Key information blank. Real FTP Upload will operate normally without CAPTCHA enabled.
Why does reCAPTCHA say "Invalid domain for site key"?
Your Google reCAPTCHA Site Key must be registered for the domain where the upload form is being displayed.
Check the domains associated with your reCAPTCHA configuration and make sure the website displaying Real FTP Upload is included.
The FTP connection test fails. What should I check?
Start by checking your FTP server address, username and password. Even a small typing error can prevent a connection.
Also check whether your server requires a secure FTPS connection. Some hosting environments may restrict outgoing FTP connections, in which case you may need to contact your web hosting provider.
The plugin connects to FTP but cannot create folders or upload files. Why?
This usually indicates that the FTP account does not have sufficient permissions inside the configured Remote Base Directory.
Real FTP Upload includes diagnostic tools that can help test whether the FTP account can create, write, read and remove temporary test items.
You can temporarily enable Debug Mode when troubleshooting the connection.
Where does Real FTP Upload put my customers' files?
Completed files are transferred to the FTP destination configured in the plugin.
Real FTP Upload organizes uploads using customer folders created from the information entered into the Company Name field, along with your configured date-folder structure.
I renamed the Company Name field. Will it still create the customer folder?
Yes. Renaming the visible label does not change the function of the underlying field.
For example, you could rename Company Name to Organization, Advertiser, Client or Artist Name. Whatever the customer enters into that field will still be used when creating their FTP destination folder.
Why can't my customer upload a particular type of file?
Check your Permitted File Types setting. Real FTP Upload only accepts the file extensions you have allowed.
Also confirm that the upload does not exceed your configured maximum number of files or maximum total upload size.
Can Real FTP Upload accept files larger than my website's PHP upload limit?
Yes, under the appropriate conditions. The Full Version includes automatic chunked uploading for large files.
When required, the browser divides a large file into smaller pieces that can be sent through WordPress individually. Real FTP Upload then reassembles the file before transferring the completed file to your FTP server.
This allows the plugin to work around the normal single-request PHP upload limit for qualifying large uploads.
Do I have to turn on chunked uploading for large files?
No. Chunked uploading is automatic in the Full Version when it is needed.
Normal-sized files continue to use the standard upload process. Real FTP Upload only uses the chunked process when the size of the upload and the PHP limits of your server make it necessary.
A large upload stopped before it finished. What should I check?
First try a smaller file. If smaller uploads work correctly but very large uploads consistently fail, check the available disk space on both the web server and FTP destination.
Also make sure the FTP connection is stable and that the server permits the required file and directory operations.
The files arrived successfully, but I didn't receive an email notification.
If the files reached the FTP server, the upload itself was successful. Missing email notifications usually indicate a WordPress email-delivery problem rather than an FTP problem.
Check the Notification Email and From Email addresses configured in Real FTP Upload. Also check your spam or junk folder.
If WordPress email is unreliable on your server, consider configuring your website to send email through a reliable SMTP service.
The Upload button isn't available. What should I check?
Make sure all required customer information has been entered and that at least one permitted file has been selected.
If you have made additional custom fields required, those fields must also be completed before the upload can proceed.
Can I change the information customers are asked to provide?
Yes. The Form Customization section lets you rename core field labels and enable additional fields such as Notes, Purpose, Address, Date Required, custom text fields and a custom dropdown.
Optional fields can be configured to suit the workflow of your particular business.
Can I use Real FTP Upload in another language?
Yes. Real FTP Upload includes multiple customer-facing languages as well as a Custom Translation option.
The WordPress administration language can be selected separately, so the language your customers see does not have to be the same language you use to administer the plugin.
Can I remove the Real FTP Upload branding from the customer form?
Yes. The licensed Full Version provides the option to hide the Real FTP Upload branding at the top of the customer-facing upload form. Branding remains displayed in Lite Mode.
Why does the plugin say Lite Mode when I purchased the Full Version?
Go to the License section and confirm that your Real FTP Upload License has been entered and successfully validated.
If the license was previously activated on another domain or WordPress installation, it may need to be reissued before it can be validated on the new installation.
What should I send to support if I can't solve a problem?
The more information you provide, the easier it is to diagnose a problem. When contacting support, please include:
- Your website address
- Your WordPress version
- Your Real FTP Upload V2 version
- A description of what you were trying to do
- The exact error message, if one was displayed
- Whether the FTP Connection Test succeeds
For security, never send your FTP password in a normal support email unless specifically requested through a secure method.
Still Need Help?
If you've followed this guide and Real FTP Upload V2 still isn't working as expected, we're here to help.
Real FTP Upload V2 Support
Muskoka Graphics
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