Free Toast Host Support Page

Can we answer your Free Toast Host.org question? Email the District 46 Webmaster and find out.

Q. Where do I sign up for a free website?

A. Just click on this link and fill out the form. You’ll receive an email response in a day or two.

Q. Is there some kind of tutorial available for the club webmaster?

A. You can view a slide show overview of the setting up a new site by clicking on this link.

Q. Are there Frequently Asked Questions available for review?

A. You’ll find the FAQ here: http://www.igroops.com/igroops/fth/faq

Q. How do I get technical support from FTH?

A. Click on this link to join the FTH iGroop: http://www.igroops.com/igroops/fth/info

Q. How do I get my club’s website link listed in the District 46 club directory?

A. For inclusion on the District website, your club’s home page must contain the following:

  1. Club Name (either in the banner or prominently displayed elsewhere)
  2. Meeting Day and Time
  3. Meeting Location
  4. Club Contact Information for Guests

Q. My site has disappeared. What happened?

A. If your club has not set up their FTH site within 30 days it is removed.

  1. You waited more than 30 days before activating your account. If accounts are untouched after 30 days of the setup date, FTH assumes it will not be used and removes it. If this happened to you, just request your FTH website again.
  2. Your FTH website had no activity for several months. Once again, in order to make room for clubs that use the software, FTH removed those accounts not in use.

If your site was removed, simply request it again using the form at http://www.freetoasthost.org/membershipinfo.html

Q. So what is the bare minimum I need to do to set up my website?

A. If you just plan on doing the bare minimum, or you plan on starting with the bare minimum and finishing the rest later, here is what needs to be done to make your FTH website active and ready to promote.

  1. Change your admin password.  When your new account is setup, it is setup with a default password.  To secure your website change this password right away to a custom password of your choosing.  To do this:
    1. Access your admin area by clicking the "site administration" link at the bottom of your home page. Enter your admin username and password as sent to you in your "welcome" e-mail.
    2. Click the "Website Settings" icon in the top admin menu (that is the little wrench icon).
    3. Where it says "change master password" enter your new password and confirm by retyping in the following box.
    4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the "update settings" link.
  2. Customize your HTML pages.  At the very least, you want to enter your club's information on the "Membership Information", "Directions", and "Contact Us" pages.  To do this:
    1. Follow step 1-1 to access the admin area.
    2. Click the "Edit HTML Pages" icon in the top admin menu (the little globe)
    3. Click the edit icon to the left of the name of the page you wish to edit/create
    4. Enter your information in the area provided using the web-based editor.
    5. Click the "*** Edit Page / Save Changes ***" button when done.
    6. Repeat steps 2-3 through 2-5 for each page you wish to customize.
  3. Add yourself as a member to the member database.  Start with yourself, then, add other members.
    1. Follow step 1-1 to access the admin area.
    2. Click the "Toastmasters Member Administration" icon in the top admin menu (the little Rolodex card)
    3. Under the "New Member" heading, at the very least, enter your firstname, lastname, and e-mail address.
    4. At the end of that section, click the "add new member" button.
    5. Repeat steps 3-2 through 3-4 for each member you wish to add at this time.

Q. How do I customize the banner on my club’s site?

A. It’s actually quite simple once you know how, but it does require following multiple steps.

  1. Copy the existing banner to your hard drive
  2. Open and edit the banner
  3. Upload the revised banner using the site administration tool
1. Copy the existing banner to your hard drive
  1. Bring up your club’s website in your browser - or -
    view all the available banners here.
  2. Using the right mouse button, click on the banner.
  3. With Internet Explorer, choose “Save Picture As…” from the right-click menu.
  4. Choose a location for the file.
2. Open and edit the banner
  1. Open the saved banner using an image-editing program like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro.
  2. Add your text to the images, as in these examples.
    3. Sample banner 1 Sample banner 2
  3. Save your file, in either .jpg or .gif format.
3. Upload the revised banner using the site administration tool
  1. Bring up your club’s website in your browser.
  2. Choose the “site administration” link at the bottom of the page, and log in.
  3. Scroll down the page until you find the “Upload Custom Logo” box. See below.
    4. Upload Custom Logo
  4. If you’ve copied an existing banner, check the box that specifies a 670 x 75 pixel image.
  5. Click the “Browse” button and go to the location for your banner file.
  6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “update settings” button.
  7. Your new banner should show up at the top of the page.
You can also create your own banner from scratch. Just create your image as 670x75 pixels so it displays full-size when you upload it.

Still too much trouble?

Send the webmaster your blank banner and the text and I'll customize it for you.