Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions about Hosting Your Club Web Site for FREE on the D26 Web Server

Q: How much does hosting cost if I go through District 26?
A: Hosting on our server is free as long as you stay under 3Mb in total site size.

Q: I have never created a web site before. How do I start?
A: The easiest way is to find someone in your club that has even limited experience producing a Web site. Ask them to produce a simple page for you and show you how to make simple text changes.

Q: I'm not much of a graphics designer. I'm afraid my page is going to be pretty boring!
A: People looking for a Toastmasters club care much more about the information you display rather than how fancy your Web site is. Don't get bogged down with glitz and glare.

Q: What are the server specs?
A: Our account uses Unix/Linux technology. If you need more specific details, send an e-mail to the Webmaster and we will supply you with what you need.

Q: Does the D26 server support Front Page?
A: Yes. Part of the sign-up process is to let us know if you will need Front Page access or standard FTP.

Q: We already have hosting services provided by an ISP. Can a link be added to our site from the "Clubs" page?
A: Absolutely! Just send an e-mail to the Webmaster with that request.

Q: What programs can I use to inexpensively create my club's Web site?:
A: If you have MicroSoft Office, you have a few options available without buying anything else. Technically, you can "Save As" any MSWord or PowerPoint file to an HTML document and voila you have a Web page. I'm personally not a big fan of using Word, though, because of the sloppy way it converts it's text tables to htlm tables. They look very different on some monitors than they do on others.

You also likely have access to Front Page if you own MicroSoft Office. Again, not my personal choice for corporate Web site creation, it's just fine for the level of site you would create for a Toastmasters club. I suggest taking at least a one-day class at New Horizons to learn the basics of Front Page. Some focused training will save you a bunch of time and aggravation.

The least expensive way of all, in both time and money, will be for first-timers to find someone in your club or a friend outside the club to publish a basic site for you. That way, you could use something as simple as WordPad to just edit simple text after the layout of the site is created for you.

Q: In what format should I save my Web site files?
A: They can be named anything you like; but the home page needs to be called index.htm if you're using FrontPage or index.html or index.php for other applications. Of course, your home page could be the only page.

Q: How do I actually upload the site from my computer to the d26 site?
A: If you use FrontPage, we need to create a sub-web for you to publish to. Instructions how to "publish" your site to the sub-web will be forwarded to you when we setup your site location. If you use anything else to create your site, you will use either a transfer utility built-in to your software or a separate program called FTP. When you complete the form, you will supply us with the information we need to setup your account correctly. We will in turn supply you with your access instructions.

Q: What will our web site address be?
A: www.D26Toastmasters.org/YourClubName will be your assigned location. You are strongly encouraged to register a domain name like YourClubName.org and re-direct it to your web site location. It's much easier to promote a short domain name than a long file name. And, for less than $9 a year, it's well worth it! Visit our domain name hosting page for more details about the domain name registration process and URL Forwarding.

Q: Does D26 offer e-mail with its web site hosting?
A: No. The district does not offer any e-mail support. If you would like an e-mail account, the best thing to do would be to register a domain name for your club and then purchase an e-mail account with your domain name included like Contact@YourClubName.org. Such e-mail accounts are around $10 a year. The benefits of doing this is discussed more on our domain name hosting page.

Q: How do I get my club Web site listed on search engines?
A: Each search engine accepts submissions differently. You'll need to visit each search engine individually and see what their requirements are. Many of the "for-pay" searches will allow you to get your site listed for free because TM is a non-profit organization.

Q: What is my next step for getting a site hosted on D26?
A: Simply complete this form to have a club Web site location setup on our server.

Have questions about getting a web site for your club?

E-mail the Webmaster

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