Comparing your server with your local folder in FTP by Zaweba

Over time, a server and the local copy of a site drift apart. Files are uploaded through the website, old pages linger after a redesign, someone fixes something directly on the server. Compare, in the Disk view of FTP by Zaweba, takes the server scan Disk has already made and lines it up against your local folder, so you can see exactly where the two disagree.

The differences it finds

Compare sorts every difference into one of five kinds: only local, only on the server, newer locally, newer on the server, and different size. Each tells you something different.

Only local usually means work you have not uploaded yet, or files you deliberately keep on your PC. Only on the server may be uploads made through the website, leftovers from an old version of the site, or files someone put there by hand. Newer locally and newer on the server show which side has the more recent edit. Different size catches files where the times may not tell the whole story.

You can filter the list by kind of difference, which keeps a long comparison readable. Look at one kind at a time and make one decision at a time.

Acting on it

From the comparison you can Download ticked to bring server files to your PC, or Upload ticked to send local files to the server. For files that exist only on the server, Tag on the server tags them in Disk, where you can download, export, move, rename or trash them like any other tagged files.

That last option is the heart of a server clean-up. A site that has been rebuilt a few times often carries pages, images and scripts nobody uses any more. Compare shows them as only on the server; tag them, download them as a record, trash them, and check the site still works before emptying the trash.

Compare or Sync

Sync in the Site menu also compares local and server files, and it is the tool for bringing the two into line with a direction (server to local, local to server, or both ways) and a reason for each action. Compare in Disk is more of an inspection. It builds on a full server scan, sits beside the treemap and the lens, and its link to tagging makes it the better choice when the aim is to tidy the server rather than simply copy files across.

Getting a fair result

The comparison is only as current as the Disk scan, so run a fresh scan before comparing if the server has changed. Check that the local folder in Site Manager is the right one, too; comparing against an old copy makes almost everything look different.

Remember that exclusion patterns describe files you have chosen never to transfer, such as logs and caches. Expect those to appear as only on one side, and do not mistake them for problems.

If newer on the server shows many files all at once, the cause may be a clock or time-zone difference rather than real edits. The transfer tools in FTP by Zaweba explain that case in detail when they warn about newer server files, and comparing a sample file's contents settles it.

Mistakes to avoid

Do not trash everything that is only on the server. Uploads made through the website itself, such as pictures added by an editor, often live only there and are very much in use. Read the paths and think about how each folder is used.

Do not upload every newer local file without checking it is meant to be live. Unfinished work looks just like finished work to a comparison.

Used with a little care, Compare turns a vague sense that the server is a mess into a clear list of differences you can deal with one kind at a time.