When you are setting up a new website, you usually want to build something workable in a fairly short time, without doing too much reading. This page is a guideline to getting your club website set up with basic features. It will give you a good foundation, to which you can add other features later. We have added links to our online documentation where you can find more detail as you need it.

Before you begin

Make sure your club details are correct in Club Central, with a working contact email address.

There is NO SHARING of private data between Toastmasters International and FTH. FTH checks publicly-accessible Toastmasters.org find-a-club information to make sure that you (as club rep) are who you say you are.

Apply for site

Go to https://www.toastmastersclubs.org/welcome/ and fill in the details in the form. Make sure that you choose the right kind of website for your circumstances.

After you apply for your site, you'll receive an email with a link to click on. It will take you to the site and allow you to log in. 

Once you have logged in and set your password, go to Basic Settings and set up the details there.

Setting up

Begin with Basic Settings

Basic settings define important things about your site. They include club name, description, alias or custom domain, time zone and formats.

The alias needs to be kept short. If you already use a custom domain, keep using it. Otherwise it's probably easier to manage an alias than domain name.

Choose the colour scheme at the bottom of the window. It's the first step in managing the site's appearance.

Go to Manage Website

Enter the title, and a short, snappy description for the coloured background area.

Space is limited here. This is really an extended heading area. Save the detail for the "MainPage" area.

Change the stock photo for a custom one if you wish.

About and Info / Directions pages

Anything distinctive about your club and its history? Put it in the About page.

Use the Meeting info / directions page to let people know when you have meetings, where you have them and how to get there.

Social media links

Fill in the fields with your club page addresses.

Members

Go to Manage Members and add your members. If you have a large number, you may want to use the "Quick Add" feature.

Define your club officers.
    You don't have to set up website delegation just yet (though some is done automatically), but best not to leave it too long.

Define contacts for contact forms, so that potential visitors will be replied to promptly.

Adjust notifications, so that you don't spam your members, especially while you are learning how to do things. They are in Meeting Agenda Settings →Global Settings and Membership Management → Settings. But set them to useful levels once you know your way around, so that officers get the notifications they need.

Let everyone know

Update Club Central with the new site details. Also update any other places where your club is listed (District site, local community "what's on" site, company intranet if a corporate club, and so on).

Get your members to login and update their profiles (and consider making them public).