Edit landing pages safely: FTPS, automatic backups and rollback

What it does

Small page edits are where many campaigns quietly break. A typical story: someone opens the hosting file manager or an old FTP client, changes one line in index.html, uploads it and closes the window. There is no copy of the previous version, the upload was cut short, or a developer changed the same file an hour earlier and that work is now gone. Plain FTP adds another risk: it sends the login and password unencrypted, so anyone on the network path can read them. For an agency with several clients, these mistakes cost leads the ads have already paid for.

A safe routine has five parts. Connect only over an encrypted protocol, FTPS or SFTP, and use a separate FTP account limited to the site folder rather than the main hosting password. Save a copy of the file before every change, not once a month. After uploading, read the file back or open the page to confirm the change actually landed. Before saving, make sure nobody changed the file since you opened it; if someone did, reload it and redo your edit on top of theirs. Finally, note what you changed and why, so a rollback is a decision, not a guess.

AdAce Ads turns that routine into the only way to save. In “Settings” → “Site pages” the workspace owner or an admin connects the client's hosting: the FTP server, the login and password of an FTP account (not the hosting panel password), the site folder and the public address. The service connects only with encryption (FTPS); if the hosting does not support it or the certificate is invalid, it refuses to connect. The folder is checked before saving, and the FTP password is stored encrypted. Text files of the site can then be opened and edited: HTML, CSS, JS, TXT, XML, JSON, SVG and PHP, in UTF-8 and up to 2 MB.

Editing works like a careful colleague. You open a file, use “Find” and “Replace with” (or “Replace all”) or edit the contents directly, add an optional note for the log and press “Save on the site”. Before writing, the service stores a copy of the current file. If the file on the hosting changed after you opened it, the save is refused so you do not overwrite someone else's edit. After writing, the file is read back; if the hosting saved something different from what was sent, the previous copy is restored automatically. Saving needs your password and second-factor code.

Every file has its own list of copies, up to 30 per file. To roll back, pick a version and press “Restore this version”, again confirming with password and code. The version that was live before the rollback is kept as a copy too, so a rollback can itself be undone. Combine this with a quick look at the live page: the service checks what is stored on the hosting, but only a visit shows whether the page still looks and works right, especially after edits to PHP or scripts.

Why it helps

• Encrypted connections only; plain FTP is never used.
• A copy before every save, without relying on anyone's memory.
• A newer edit by someone else is never silently overwritten.
• Failed or garbled uploads are rolled back automatically.
• Password and second factor stand between a stolen session and the client's site.

How to set it up

1. Open “Settings” → “Site pages” and press “Connect hosting”.
2. Enter the FTP server, FTP login and password, the site folder and the public site address.
3. Find the file, then edit it directly or with “Find” and “Replace with”.
4. Add a short note about the change and press “Save on the site”, confirming with password and code.
5. Open the page to check it; if something is wrong, pick a version in “Copies of this file” and press “Restore this version”.

Good to know