Even if you have already decided to have a website, please read our reasons for having a website if you have not already done so. This may give you some further ideas about what to put on your website.
Below are some frequently asked questions, regarding both FreemasonsWeb websites and masonic websites in general.
Why does my website say,"This website it is not currently available"?
How can I keep my website offline, but allow Provincial and/or Grand Lodge to view it?
How do I remove the "Login" menu item?
Will my name and picture appear on the website?
Does having a FreemasonsWeb website automatically mean I'm conforming to my governing body's guidelines?
Our lodge/chapter already has a domain name and/or website, can we host a FreemasonsWeb website?
What domains are available, and what will my sub-domain be?
What skin styles are available?
How do I access my email?
I already have my own email address, can I use this instead?
I'm worried about viruses and SPAM - what protection do I have?
Will guest-book entries automatically appear on my website?
What types of membership are available?
What would I use the membership levels for?
Do I have to offer membership on my site?
Why should I choose FreemasonsWeb when there are free sites available?
How can FreemasonsWeb offer websites at a cost less than other providers?
Will you be offering a wider choice of skin-styles and product features in the future?
What guidance do you provide in using the FreemasonsWeb CMS?
I'm having problems viewing Freemasons-Web and/or my website on my browser
How do I get my site to appear on a Google search?
How do I insert a Google Map on my page?
Can I use Google Analytics?
This message can appear for one of two reasons:
For this you'll need to create a member account for the person viewing the site.
Note that the person who wants to review your site may already have a FreemasonsWeb account, so first try to add them by:
If the member for that email address cannot be found, you'll need to add them yourself:
Now that your member has been created, you'll need to ensure the Site Manager member level has access to your site whilst its offline:
Finally, contact the person letting them know your site is ready for viewing by logging into www.freemasons-web.org, and clicking on the link to your website on the Member Options page.
If you've created a user account for them manually, make sure you let them know their username and password.
Back to topTo do this:
Your members can still log in by appending ?pageId=login to your website URL, for example:
If your website URL page is: www.lodge12345.masonic-lodge.org.uk
The login link will be: www.lodge12345.masonic-lodge.org.uk?pageId=login
Back to topYour name, picture, or any contact details should only ever be published with your specific consent.
If you think your details have been added without your consent, you should contact your webmaster and ask that this is remedied immediately.
This is a requirement laid down in the website-guidelines of the governing bodies of all orders in every constituency.
Back to topWhilst your website will conform to most governing bodies' guidelines as standard, there is still much under your control that you will need consider.
Below are some of the main points you should keep in mind:
Note this list is not exhaustive. You should refer to your own governing body's website guidelines if in any doubt.
Back to topThe short answer is yes, however there are several options open to you.
A sub-domain is automatically created for you when you purchase a FreemasonsWeb website. As all the information on your site is held centrally on our web-server's database, you cannot simply "copy" the site over. However, you have the following options:
The preferred option is to alter your DNS entries.
You should use the contact form to contact FreemasonsWeb for instructions on how to set this up.
Back to topYou have the choice of one of the following domains:
You have complete choice over the name of your subdomain, as long as it is not already in use. We recommend one of the following formats:
Below are the skins currently available, with an example thumbnail representation of the home page.
Note that skins can be changed at any time by selecting a different skin within Site Designer->Advanced Styling.
You can use up to two skins per site, an each skin can be customised either on a site-wide or per page basis.
Back to topYou can access your email through your browser, or via an email client such as Outlook™
Browser Access
For browser access, point your browser at http://webmail.my-subdomain
Your subdomain will be the last part of your site's website address, e.g.:
For website address: | Email access is at: |
---|---|
www.lodge-example-1234.masonic-lodge.org.uk | http://webmail.masonic-lodge.org.uk |
www.example-1234.ra-chapter.org.uk | http://webmail.ra-chapter.org.uk |
Your username is full email address, e.g.: secretary.lodge-example-1234@masonic-lodge.org.uk
Your password is the password that was entered when ordering your website.
Email Client Access
For Email Client access, you will need the following information:
Server: | Enter the part of your email address AFTER the "@" sign - e.g. masonic-lodge.org.uk |
---|---|
Username: | Enter your full email address, e.g.: secretary.lodge-example-1234@masonic-lodge.org.uk |
Password: | Enter the password that was entered when ordering your website. |
Note that you should use the 'POP3' protocol for reading your emails.
The 'SMTP' protocol can be used for sending emails, but you must ensure that your email client is set to log-in using the same login details as above.
Back to topNote however, that if someone else replaces you in office, you should let them know so they can change the forwarding address.
Back to topAll our email accounts offer virus and SPAM protection as standard.
Virus protection can be applied to both incoming and/or outgoing emails. Note however, that although virus protection will shield you from most viruses, you should avoid opening any email attachments unless you know exactly where they have come from.
You have various options available to you to strengthen your SPAM settings and how your SPAM is dealt with (e.g. marked as SPAM, or deleted).
As an additional deterrent, try not to publish your email address anywhere on the site. Certain individuals "crawl" web-pages looking for email addresses to send SPAM to.
There is a "contact-us" page facility, which your visitors can use to send you emails. This page includes a "captcha" security code which helps to stop automated emails being sent via your website.
Back to topBy default, all guest-book entries must be checked and authorised by you before they will appear on your website.
Although this option can be turned-off it is not recommended, and may contravene your governing body's website guidelines.
Back to topThere are two types of visitors to your website: public visitors, and members.
By default, all the content of your website is visible to the public, but you are free to limit pages or events to certain levels of membership.
For someone to become a member, they must first register on FreemasonsWeb, which is free for anyone to do so.
Being a member of FreemasonsWeb does not grant them membership access to your website. The member must first "request" to become a member of your site at any of the following levels:
Only Site Administrators can authorise or deny membership requests. You may also choose to authorise membership, but at a lower membership level than requested.
There is no limit to the number of websites you can become a member of, but you are only a member at the level you have been authorised at. For example, you can be a Site Administrator of your own lodge, but a Basic Member of another lodge.
Back to topA typical use of membership levels is as follows:
Of course this is just an example, you are free to assign membership access as you see fit.
Back to topNo. Member login can be turned off, in which case all of your website will be visible to the public.
Back to topThere are many companies offering free web-hosting, however most use advertising banners to support the cost of that hosting. Having adverts or links to commercial companies on your sites is forbidden under the guidelines of most governing masonic bodies, who strongly advise against the use of free web-hosting.
However, your hosting is not the only thing to consider:
If you decide not to use a web-designer, you have all the web-design, content and maintenance to carry out yourself. Also, there are inconsistencies in how different browsers display web-pages which is additional consideration when designing your website.
Compare this with a FreemasonsWeb website:
FreemasonsWeb appreciate that the secretaries, scribes and recorders of many lodges/chapters are generally not technically minded, and our product is designed with them specifically in mind.
We believe that FreemasonsWeb offer a professional website solution at a highly competitive cost.
Back to topFreemasonsWeb offer websites for masonic organisations, and masonic organisations only.
In doing this, we have been able to:
Absolutely! Almost all our income is going towards our running/hosting costs and further development.
Any updates will be announced on our website.
Back to topGuidance in using the FreemasonsWeb CMS can be found in the form of:
Internet browsers can differ the way they handle Javascript and display HTML content. A considerable amount of effort was made to ensure that FreemasonsWeb and its websites behave consistently between the various browsers available.
Therefore, FreemasonsWeb and the websites produced by it are designed (and tested) to work with at least 95% of the most popular browsers.
These statistics are based on the January 2018 statistics provided by www.w3schools.com.
If your browser isn't in the above list, or has a popularity less than 3.5%, it is possible that you may have issues using the FreemasonsWeb CMS, although it is less likely that you will have issues with the sites produced by FreemasonsWeb.
If you are having issues however, we recommend downloading one of the following browsers for administering and/or viewing FreemasonsWeb sites:
Both these browsers are free to download and use.
In addition, Javascript is required to use the membership and administration side of FreemasonsWeb. If you are uncomfortable with enabling Javascript for general internet use, consider downloading one of the above browsers for administering your FreemasonsWeb website, and continuing to use your existing browser for general internet use (be sure to click No to making your new browser your default browser if you go down this route).
Back to topTo get your site up on a Google search (or via the Google search bar), does take some time.
Google works by following links to your site, so unless you've got other sites linking to it, it's not going to pick it up. It also looks at how many "relevant" sites are linking to yours - the higher the number of links to your site, the higher your site will appear on Google's search results. By "relevant", I mean other masonic sites. Google penalises links from unrelated sites, such as general directories etc.
There's a couple of things you can do however to speed things up:
Spreading your URL around the fraternity, and also on social network sites such as facebook or twitter will help to get it on Google quicker.
Please note that SEO (Search engine optimisation) is a big subject, with sites constantly competing to get the top hits within Google, Yahoo and Bing.
Back to topTo insert a map on your page:
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d1116.9167128247411!2d-3.2029963497634846!3d55.95225897026093!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x4887c79705b3b925%3A0x6cbf84b545215376!2sGrand+Lodge+of+Antient%2C+Free+and+Accepted+Masons+of+Scotland!5e0!3m2!1sen!2suk!4v1519337401859" width="600" height="450" frameborder="0" style="border:0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Yes, but it must be set up in the following manner:
<meta name="google-site-verification" content="dfgsdfkgjaswgj12346jhsadf8524590adsfsd8845A" />
<!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-987654321-1"></script>
<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
gtag('js', new Date());
gtag('config', 'UA-987654321-1');
</script>