TOPIC:

I am trying to upload files to our club's FTH website. The files are PPT to start but am happy to upload them as PPT or PDF whichever works. I tried both PPT and PDF so far, by the way.

What I did so far.
1. Took a PPT file and uploaded it via the File Manager.
2. Took a PDF file and uploaded it via File Manager.
3. Put a prefix on the files so they would go into a virtual folder.
4. Received a note on the FTH website that the files successfully uploaded.
5. Confirmed they are in my file upload list.
6. Logged-in as a member vs. administrator. Cannot find the files.
7. Logged-in as administrator. Don't see how to find the files outside of File Manager.

The problem is that I cannot see where the file went and how the members would find it. In case my naming convention is the problem, here is what the PPT and PDF files are named respectively:
Training Modules: M01_How_to_be_Toastmaster
Training Modules: MM01_How_to_be_Toastmaster

I have many more to upload but started with just this one first. Would really appreciate help if determining where the file went and how I direct members to it.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Mary Cornwall, DTM
District 13 - Moon Toastmasters Club President
www.moon.toastmastersclubs.org

1) FTH is not a storage vault if you have a large number of large file we suggest you use a 3rd party storage app like google drive or drop box.

2) we have a max allowable upload size of and is youo exceed the size the file will not show

3) file names should not have spaces or special characters.

4) the file description you enter by hand after the upload will contain the "folder: file description"

5) files upload as private and you have to click the lock to unlock so they can be seen public or leave locked to show in th member only area.

6) You have turned of both member and public downloads in the admin console.

7) do NOT use WWW in your url

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the quick response. The files are a handful of training things to help our members get up to speed. The files are 500kb. I tried uploading another and no luck. There are files in our File Manager already that I was going to review and likely delete many of them in exchange for these new ones.

I am not even sure if I am being successful in getting them uploaded. Can you tell me exactly where I would see this file if indeed it worked? I was assuming it would be in the MEMBERS ONLY list on the homepage.

Thanks,
Mary

6) You have turned of both member and public downloads in the admin console.

I found those settings and changed them. Still cannot figure out where the files show-up for members to access them.

Time to read the documentation
support.toastmastersclubs.org/doc/item/appearance

Hi Brian.

I understand that you likely get questions from people who have not done due diligence first by reading the documention. I actually spent many hours in the past two weeks reading the site documentation trying to figure out how to upload files. I thought I had figured it out and attempted the uploads yesterday. To my dismay, it did not work.

I then reached out to the person who was the site administrator prior to me and had (a couple years ago) successfully uploaded files. He too is puzzled and cannot figure it out.

It was then that I turned to your team as I am sure you know the site backwards and forwards. Note, I am not a website guru but am savvy enough that I should be able to do this if directed to the right information.

I greatly apprecaite your time on this, but the responses you gave me thus far are rather canned and vague. None of them are helping me resolve the problem.

Can you PLEASE give me a step-by-step of what is needed to be done on my end to get the files uploaded to our site and also answer if indeed they will show-up in the "Members Only" menu from the home page? I am growing very frustrated. If you can help me with that - great. If not, then please let me know that you are unable to answer my question.

Thanks,
Mary

Mary,

Brian gave you a number of things to look into. Consider this all to be a learning experience... any kind of learning requires some patience and persistence with both yourself and those who are trying to facilitate your learning.

In our case, we are all volunteers and we rely heavily on our online documentation to ensure we can focus our time on those non-routine issues that are not covered by the online documentation. If our online docs are insufficient, we need our users to tell us where there are issues so we can fix them. (hint)

You say that you have looked at the docs. Ok, but if you are not getting what you need from them, it would really help if you could tell us where we can improve them.

For your specific issue, you need to realize that the area where you upload files to be stored on our server is different than where people download the files. This is on purpose... You need to manage and control who can upload files. You upload files to the server using the File Manager module in the Admin Console. Once you upload the files in the File Manager, you can use the file descriptions and "lock setting" to control whether the general public can download the file in the Public Downloads area.

The two downloads areas are accessible from the menu at the left when you have closed the admin console. The Public Downloads area shows the files for download that you have specifically designated for public access by clicking the unlock button in the File Manager to "unlock" the file. The Members Download area is available if you log in as a member... it's link is below the login buttons and shows all of your files for download.

You mention you are uploading Powerpoint files. This is a really bad idea. Not every user should be expected to have Powerpoint on their computer. Instead, you should save those as PDF from the Powerpoint application, and upload PDFs to your website.