[newbie] ftp access

this question appears to have been asked a number of times on the mailing list archives, but i can't seem to find any answers! how do i change ftp access to my linux box for a given user (myself) so that i can remotely update the files on my web page (under home/httpd/html) any help would be

[newbie] web counter under apache

how do you program a web counter under apache? (i don't know html very well and front page extensions don't work when running on the apache server) thanks! -joel