Have you ever wanted to give a client FTP access but you only have one master login?  If so, the Magento extension File System by MagPleasure may be a good solution for you.

FTP – When You CAN’T Provide Access

If you recall, I wrote a previous article about FTP.  Although that article was about uploading PDF’s, I went over the “good, bad, and ugly” about FTP and granting users access.  But what if you do have a savvy user who is completely comfortable with FTP and you would REALLLLLY like to give them access.  But you can’t.  You can’t because of a couple of reasons.

1. Your FTP may be part of a larger hosting group and by giving them access, they will have unlimited access to every other website in the plan.  Obviously, you can’t do this.
2. You have been hired as a service provider.  Your client may say,”But I am paying you, I want access!” and this is understandable, however, as a service provider you are liable for any mishap/outage/destruction and so on.  If they have access, then you cannot be held accountable for any damage they may cause, even if it is by accident.  At our company, we keep very cut and dry.  If you hire us to maintain everything, then that is what we are going to do.  We do not provide FTP or other similar access points if we are the Administrators.  Only Administrators have this level of access.

Now, these scenario’s are cases where you have ONE FTP account which is a master account.  Probably, the same login you use for your cPanel or WHM or Hespia. If you are able to create an FTP for that user and limit them to where and what they can do, then providing them with FTP may be OK (under the assumption that they are comfortable and you have hourly backups in case something goes wrong).

But if you fit in to #1 or #2 and you simply cannot give your client access due to compromising the login credentials or providing too much access (other sites on the shared server), then this easy to install and use extension may be the solution for you.

File System by MagPleasure (Magento extension)

This free extension, is located here.  Once this extension is installed, you can easily access it under your System dropdown in the backend of your Magento website.  The File System loads as a framed tool which shows all folders and files within your website.  I would strongly recommend putting in place an agreement with the client regarding where responsibility lies if something becomes corrupt or is deleted and how the site will be rolled back to replace the files/correct the issue.

Personally, I feel that this plugin may be best for a developer to use and not provide the client with access. I could see how this plugin would be valuable for a developer who travels or works while in motion on their smartphone and may not have FTP credentials handy (or an FTP software on their phone) and they are hit with an emergency which requires working in the code.

To download  this neat free plugin http://ext.topmage.com/extensions/9b/6b/File_System/