Typical Website Access Issues and How to Resolve Them

1.  "I cannot access my website at all. When I type in the website address, nothing comes up."

1. Yes, it could be a problem with the server.  However, check the following *first*...
2. We can check if your website access is blocked.  If you check your IP address via whatismyipaddress.com/ and provide it to us in a support post, then we can check if you are being blocked by the server for some reason.
3. Try accessing your website via club#.toastmastersclubs.org/directions.html or other non-home page.  This will often work if you have a broken link on your home page which is causing the problem.
4. Try accessing via a different browser.  Some browsers are more tolerant of web page issues than others.  It you find that your website loads ok with a different browser, then you should probably suspect something is wrong with your HTML content, e.g, bad or missing tags, scripts you forgot about, bad links, etc.
5. If you are a techie, did you put some script in your home page that is goofing things up?
6. If your club is using a custom domain, check that your DNS settings are as required.  You can use www.geektools.com/digtool.php or www.digwebinterface.com/ to check against required DNS settings for custom domains (/doc/item/dns-settings-overview).
7. If your club is using a custom domain, check that your domain registration has not expired. You can use http://www.whois.com/ to check your expiration date. You may need to contact your registrar and pay a renewal fee.  (We can not resolve that for you.)
8. Advanced approach.  Using your browser's Developer Tools (via F12 key in IE, Ctrl-Shift-I in Chrome), reload the website.  If there is a javascript error or other type of website error, often you can see what it is in the Console tab of the Developer Tools--look for an error message in red.  If you find this, get a screen shot and post it in the support forums for us to take a look at.

2.  "My website is really slow."

1. Yes, it could be a problem with the server.  However, check the following *first*...
2. Do you have a lot of images and/or scripts in your home page?  That will slow things down.  We would advise breaking the home page up into custom pages.
3. Try accessing your website via #####.toastmastersclubs.org/directions.html or other non-home page. (Substitute your club number for ######.)  This will work if you have a broken link in your home page which is causing the problem.
4. If you are a techie, did you put some script in your home page that is goofing things up?

3.  "I keep getting logged out when I am logged as the website admin."

1. You may have an issue with your cookie settings.  See the user doc on cookies settings. 
2. If you have shared the admin password with another person, you will get logged out when the person logs in at the same time you are logged in.  The system will only allow one person to be logged in as the admin at a time.

4.  "I cannot access my custom page."

1. Most likely a broken link or img tag.  What were your doing before you had the issue?  If your were working with images, then it is very likely a bad img tag.  You will need to go in and take a look at the custom page and try to figure out where the bad reference is and delete/modify it.
2. Sometimes people make a page a different type than they think they did.  e.g., they make it public but they thought it was members only, and they cannot locate it now.  Did you do that?

5.  "How do I find broken links in our website?"

1. We recommend using the free Broken Link Checker tool.

In the article Aliases and Domain Names: what's the difference, we looked at what these are and some of their advantages and disadvantages. In this article we cover some of the practical details and especially what's involved in switching from one to the other.

Aliases

Aliases cost nothing. They don't need renewal, either. If your admin leaves and you need to set up a new one, FTH is set up to make the update process fairly straightforward.

Aliases are easy to set up. You just enter the term you've chosen in the Alias box in the admin console and save. You can change your alias any time you like, but if you do this it will take Google and other search engines a while to catch up.

• It may be a good idea to use the club number version i.e. http://nnnnnnn.toastmastersclubs.org in places such as TI Find-a-Club because this never changes.
• Keep aliases short. Bear in mind that an alias is used with "toastmastersclubs.org". Therefore you don't need something such as "clubnametoastmasters" as an alias. It's not fun to type, especially on a mobile device. "clubname", or even an abbreviation, is better.
• Aliases don't apply to email addresses. You still need to use the club number version i.e. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Domain names

A domain name is not something that you buy outright and is then yours forever. Domain names need to be renewed, often annually, and if they aren't, they stop working and someone else can grab them.

The domain name registrar has a contract with one person and getting the company to deal with someone else may be a challenge. To minimise problems of this kind, choose a contact email address that will be accessible for a long time, such as a club-number version of an officer address.

Getting domain names to work can be tricky. Getting the email to work properly can also be tricky. Configuring DNS settings for a Custom Website Domain gives some instructions on how to do this. If you need to, you can ask for help on the forums.

An advantage of Domain names is a simpler form of the email address. E.g. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. rather than This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. However, if the domain name expires, the email address also stops working.

Changing from alias to domain name

If you change from alias to domain name, you can continue to use the alias until you've made sure that domain name is set up properly, and that your members know what it is, including the new email addresses to use.

Changing from a domain name to an alias

Changing from a domain name is technically very easy. All you need to do is to remove the domain name from the box in the admin panel, and put your alias into the alias box. From that point on, the domain name will cease to operate.

Informing your members and the rest of the world may be a little more challenging. If the domain name hasn't expired yet, you may be able to set up a redirect to the alias version for a little while.

You can also run an alias and a domain name in parallel for a while, until your members and the search engines catch up with the change.

If you use Google or Bing webmaster tools, you can register the new name with them, which will reduce the time needed for search engines to update their results.

If you don't use Webmaster tools and the domain name has already expired, it may take Google and friends a few weeks to catch up.

Moving from a domain name to using the club number version (i.e. no alias) uses a similar process. In this case, though, you'll leave the alias box empty.

Update your listings

Whichever way you change, make sure that you update your club listing on other sites. Having these up to date also makes it quicker and easier for Google to incorporate your new details in its listings — and for visitors to find your site while the search engines are still updating.

Check and update your website address on:

• TI Club Central
• District/Division websites
• Paypal
• Local community sites with club listings
• Social Media Websites
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Meetup
• Google +
• and others if you use them
• Personal browser bookmarks/favourites

You'll need to educate your members regarding the email address format to use. You may find a "cheat sheet" useful for this.