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Dec 2015 Updates

Page Editor
  • New "Raw HTML" page type which allows you to specify a whole HTML page to be displayed within the content area, bypassing the default styling.

Nov 2015 Updates

Page Editor
  • The "Page Options" and WYSIWYG have now been split up into "Page Options" and "Page Content" tabs.
Custom Form enhancements:
  • Ability to "clone" forms (i.e. create new forms based on existing ones).
  • New submission types for forms:
    • Multiple Submissions: Existing behaviour of no limit to submissions.
    • Once per Member (editable): Members have one copy of a form per page, but can edit it up to a submission end-date (e.g. Dining requirements)
    • Once per Member (single submit): Members have one copy of a form per page, that can be submitted only once.
  • Custom form pages now have an "Allow submissions until" date.
  • Support for more than one form per submission, up to a configured maximum. This is useful for dining forms where members wish to enter dining details for guests.
  • CSV download now includes the name of the member who submitted the form.
Member List Filter Queries:
  • You can now specify whether to "AND" or "OR" the clauses within your query.

NOTE: Site Designer->Custom Forms can now only be used to manage Website Custom Forms. Member data forms are now managed via Tools->Secretary->Members or Tools->Accounting->Members.

Oct 2015 Updates

  • Support for custom Title and Meta tags per page.
  • Support for 301 redirects.
  • Default session timeout can now be changed within "My Account".

Sep 2015 Update

  • Submitted "Custom forms" on websites can now be downloaded as a CSV file.

July 2015 Updates

  • Accounting Module: Outgoing cheques can now be "aged" if unpresented.
  • Accounting Module: Outgoing invoices can now be written off if the recepient no longer requires paymnet.
  • Accounting Module: Various fixes to reports
  • Accounting Module: Extra breakdown on Overview tab.
  • Fixes to email redirection.
  • Hyperlink selection list is now alphabetically ordered.

May 2015 Updates

  • Updating Accounting/Secretary email addresses now updates the corresponding website member email address and vice versa

18 Apr 2015 Update

Within the accounting module:

  • Attachments can now be added to payments and invoices.
  • You can now edit the notes of closed invoices, and add attachments to them.

28 Mar 2015 Update

The new FreemasonsWeb Secretary Module is now available under the Tools menu.

Full help is available on the Help->Tutorials page, or via this link.

6 Mar 2015 Update

  • A warning message is now displayed at the bottom of the Site Designer->Menu Edit page if any of your pages contain links to files that no longer exist. This commonly happens when you've deleted a file and uploaded a replacement without updating the link on your page.

  • When the number of menu items grew more than the size of an empty page, the menu items would overlap the base of the page. This has now been fixed.

  • Within Member Options->Member List, there is now a free-text search filter on name/email address.

  • Within Tools->Accounting->Members, there is now a free-text search filter on name/email address.

  • A download file button has been added files items to the Site Designer->Files list.

Feb 2015 Update

Within the Accounts Module:

  • The total list of Lodge Members can be downloaded as a CSV file.
  • There are now "Member List Filters" which allow you to create member searches and download the result as a CSV file.

Dec 2014 Update

The following features have been added within Site Designer->Website Preferences->Skin Preferences:

  • You can now specify a hyperlink for your header title.
  • You can now specify a hyperlink for your header logo.
  • You can now choose your own favicon image after uploading a .ico format image via Site Designer->Images.

Nov 2014 Update

The accounting module has been updated to support accrual based accounting.

Please refer to the accounting help for further details.

5 July 2014 Update

You can now give images a list of tag words in order to categorise them.

These tag words can be used within the filter search, both on the Site Designer->Images page and on the Image Gallery Page editor to help navigate through your list of images.

4 July 2014 Update

  • Custom Event Types: In addition to the ten event-types provided for events, up to ten custom event types can now be defined within Site Designer->Website Preferences->Custom Event Types
  • Member Custom Fields: Custom member fields can now be included on your "Register as a member" page.

22 February 2014 Update - Twitter feed pages fixed

The twitter feed page type has now been fixed use the new Twitter API, as their old API had been deprecated.

Twitter feeds now appear as an embedded feed, which now also allow you to retweet and reply to posts if you are logged into Twitter at the time.

01 February 2014 Update - Integrated Image Editor

If your browser supports HTML 5, you can now edit your images via the Site Designer->Images page using the Aviary image editor.

This has been tested and found to work on the following browsers:

  • Firefox
  • Google Chrome
  • Safari
  • Internet Explorer 10
  • Internet Explorer 9
  • Internet Explorer 8

22 January 2014 Update

  • You can now create multple sets of accounts (known as "Account Sets") within the Accounting Module.
  • Account Sets can be backed up, restored, and used as templates for new Account Sets.

13 December 2013 Update

You can now download your member list as a CSV file (for loading into Excel) from within Member Options->Member List, and using the download button: at the bottom of the list.

26 November 2013 Update

The number of email accounts has now been increased from three to seven.

The seven email accounts default to:

  • Webmaster
  • Chairperson (W.Master, 1st Principle etc)
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • Almoner
  • Charity Steward
  • Director of Ceremonies

Existing Site Adminstrators can enable these additional email accounts by going to Site Designer->Website Preferences->Email Accounts.

15 October 2013 Update

For now on, any pages that you delete can be recovered from within the Page Editor and Easy Editor pages, by selecting the page from the "Deleted Pages" dropdown and clicking the "Recover" button.

12 October 2013 Update

Facebook "Like" buttons are now available on news items and events.

These can be enabled within Site Designer->Website Preferences->News and Events

01 September 2013 Update

The CAPTCHA code in all form entry pages can now be specified as a mathematical question, rather than the rotated random characters.

The question is no more complicated than the "9 times table".

This may be useful if your members have trouble reading the random characters in the existing CAPTCHA codes.

24 August 2013 Update

You can now customise the headers and data rows within Member List pages, such as combining custom fields into a single row.

Full details can be found on the Page Editor help page.

13 August 2013 Update

The guestbook entry screen has the option of having email addresses validated before allowing entries.

This can be enabled by going to Site Designer->Website Preferences->Guestbook Settings.

18 July 2013 Update

  • When defining Role Groups with page editing, you can now choose specific pages to limit to a Role Group.

15 July 2013 Update

Member Role Groups

You can now define custom permissions for Site Managers, by creating a Member Role Group and assigning them to it. This allows you to limit them access to managing only the parts of your website that are applicable to them on the FreemasonsWeb CMS, for example:

  • Billing & Subscription / Accounting Module for Treasurers
  • Page Editing for your Secretary
  • News/Events for your Social Committee members

Member Role groups can be defined within Member Options->Member List within the Role Group tab.

Help with Member Role Groups can be found here.

3 June 2013 Updates

Updates to Accounting Module

  • Payment History can now be filtered on Bank Account.
  • New Options available on Reports page:
    • Include (or exclude) Profit/Loss statement on accounts.
    • Allow one account per page.
    • Ability to generate report for all accounts, or a specific account.

1 June 2013 Updates

  • Profile pictures are now supported as an additional custom member field.
  • A new "Member List" page type is now available, which lists your website members alphabetically showing the fields you specify.

14 May 2013 Updates

A group email address is now created for all Website Member Groups (Member Options->Member List page), allowing you to use this as a forwarding address when you wish emails, contact-us or custom forms to be forwarded to several people.

8 May 2013 Updates

  • Up to 10 custom member fields can be created for Members, allowing them to enter them on the "My Account" page. These fields are defined within Site Designer->Website Preferences->Member Custom Fields.
  • Custom field values can be used in URL links to other pages, allow you to use them to log onto another website for example.
  • The "My Account" page is now shown on websites above the "Logout" link, allowing members to change their password, email address and custom fields directly from your website.

10 April 2013 Updates

  • Gallery pages now have the option of using the Image Title as the header.
  • The Easy Edit page now displays a hint to remind you there are other options within Page Editor, for pages that are not of type "standard".

15 February 2013 Updates

Accounting Module: Payments are now "Banked" separately rather than being transferred to bank accounts automatically.

This allows your statements to show a single banked payment that may contain many different payments (as it's likely multiple payments would be banked as one amount). It also caters for an unpresented cheque scenario.

26 January 2013 Updates

You can now define "Website Member Groups", which you can use to email a group of members rather than having to send them messages one at a time.

"Website Member Groups" can be found on the Member Options->Member List page.

31 December 2012 Updates

  • New "Events Calendar" page type which displays events entered under Site Designer->Events as a full-page calendar. The colour of events (by event type) can be defined under Site Designer->Website Preferences->Events Privacy/Appearance.
  • Administrators now have the option of using a pop-up date/time picker (i.e. calendar) instead of the standard drop-down for date/times. See Site Designer->Website Preferences->Editor Preferences

25 September 2012 Updates

  • Existing FreemasonsWeb members can be added by site administrators using the new Add Existing Member button on the Member List page.
  • Background music can now be more easily applied to any page using the new Background Music dropdowns on the Page Editor.

30th July 2012 Updates

Our new look homepage!

We've compiled some of your home pages to a slideshow on our homepage.

12th June 2012 Updates

The Page Editor / Easy Editor has been upgraded to the latest version of TinyMCE (3.5.2).

This will now be the default version. To set your preferred version (i.e. for support/compatibility of background music) go to your My Account page.

16th May 2012 Updates

We've now added support for The Commemorative Order of St Thomas of Acon.

28th April 2012 Updates

Include your Twitter feeds on your website!

We've added a new "Twitter Feed" page type. Similar to the RSS feed page type, this allows you to publish twitter feeds on your website.

24th April 2012 Updates

EU Cookie Regulations Conformity

An update has been applied to all sites created using FreemasonsWeb which means:

  1. From now on, all "visitors" to your website will have a cookie-free experience. No cookies are used until your visitor logs in as a member.
  2. Your Member Login page now has a statement explaining that a session cookie will be used if the user logs in.
    This gives them the option not to log-in (and hence not receive cookies), and also directs them to read the new statement added to your terms and conditions page. This new statement explains in detail how cookies are used on your site, and contains links on how to disable and/or remove cookies from their browser.
    This statement can be altered as appropriate within Site Designer->Website Preferences->Cookie Statement.
  3. Cookies that are used as part of a log-in or registration process are covered by EU Directives 2002/58/EC and 2009/136/EC. As the statement regarding cookies appears on the log-in page before the user logs in or registers, and cookies are now no longer used until the user proceeds, this is seen as an user opt-in situation. So you can now be rest assured that your website is fully compliant with the new EU e-Privacy laws with regard to cookies.

Note: If you are using additional scripts such as Google Analytics, then you should alter your cookie statement accordingly to ensure visitors are aware of any cookies any additional scripts may use.

7th April 2012 Updates

Easier Image and File uploads.

You can now upload images and files directly from the Easy Edit page, so you now no longer need to interrupt your page edits in order to upload images and files.

4th April 2012 Updates

Introducing the FreemasonsWeb Accounting Module

FreemasonsWeb is pleased to announce the release of our new Accounting Module, a tool for treasurers to keep on top of your Lodge or Chapter finances.

Until now most Lodges and Chapters were faced with the choice of a complicated commercial accounting package with it's steep learning curve, or a manual or spreadsheet based system prone to human error.

The FreemasonsWeb Accounting Module bridges the gap between these two systems allowing you to manage your Lodge or Chapter finances simply and effectively... and of course, it's specifically tailored for masonic organisations.

But the best news is that there is no extra charge for using the Accounting Module - any member with a level of Site Manager or Site Administrator can access the Accounting Module on the new Tools menu as long as their site has a valid trial or paid-up subscription.

Full information and help can be found here: https://www.freemasons-web.org/help_accounting.php

25th February 2012 Updates

Choose your editor version.

You can now choose which version of TinyMCE (the WYSIWYG editor used within the Page Editor and Easy Editor) you wish to use.

The support for media types (for example when using background music on your page), has changed between versions to try to keep up with the varying support of media types within browsers.

If you're having trouble with media support, try changing the version of TinyMCE until you find one that best suits your members.

Your preferred version of TinyMCE can be set within your My Account page.

15th January 2012 Updates

You can now see both current and past events from the Site Designer->Events page.

29th September 2011 Updates

News and Events now have members specific text, so you can vary your news and event text depending on the level of the member logged in.

The text works in two modes:

  • Append Mode: The member-specific text is added to the end of the public text.
  • Specific Mode: Only the text for the appropriate member level is shown.

26th May 2011 Updates

  • Support for Preceptories added
  • Default Square & Compass on craft websites is now without the "G" for EC websites.

15th April 2011 Updates

Better support for timezones within calendars.

9th September 2010 Updates

"Custom Form" page type has been added, allowing you to create your own custom input forms.

This can be used for a variety of purposes such as a request to join, hall bookings or dining preferences.

Full help can be found here: https://www.freemasons-web.org/help_customforms.php

8th September 2010 Updates

"Image Gallery" page type added, allowing you to publish slide-shows of your images on a page.

Full help can be found here: https://www.freemasons-web.org/help_imagegallery.php

1st September 2010 Updates

Page Templates

A number of pre-defined page templates are now available on your Easy Edit and Page Editor, making the creation of pages even easier!

To select a template, use the "Insert Predefined Content" button on the TinyMCE editor toolbar.

31st August 2010 Updates

Page History

The last five versions of your pages are now stored, allowing you to go back to a previous version should you make any mistakes.

23rd August 2010 Updates

Visit Counters

A visit counter can now be shown on your website.

To enable and set the position of your counter, go to Site Designer->Website Preferences->Skin Preferences

9th July 2010 Updates

There's been quite a few updates over the past six weeks, but we've been so busy we've not had time to update the site!

  • On 24th May, we added "Alternate weeks" (i.e. every other week) for defining lodge meeting frequencies.
  • The 30th May saw the launch of our Affiliate program.
  • The 4th July saw the launch of our 3-month free trial offer.

In addition, we've added a range of new skin styles:

Big Space
Big Space
Simple Blue 1
Simple Blue 1
Simple Blue 2
Simple Blue 2
Old Manuscript 1
Old Manuscript 1
Blue Boxed Keystone
Blue Boxed Keystone
Red Boxed KT Cross
Red Boxed KT Cross
Simple Red 1
Simple Red 1
Simple Red 2
Simple Red 2
Clean Blue
Clean Blue

To change your skin style, go to Site Designer->Advanced Styling and use the drop-down list at the top.

Remember to click Save to apply your new style.

17th May 2010 Updates

You can now alter what is shown in the Member Landing Page when a user logs in to your website.

This can be used for special member-only announcements.

This is specified within Site Designer -> Website Preferences -> Member Landing Page (Basic Members) and Site Designer -> Website Preferences -> Member Landing Page (Full Members).

For more details, refer to the help on the Site Designer -> Website Preferences page, or from Home -> Help & Tutorials within the Changing the Style of your Website section.

14th May 2010 Updates

Sub-Menu's are now supported on all Freemasons-Web websites.

For more details, refer to the help on the Site Designer -> Menu Bar page, or from Home -> Help & Tutorials within the Managing your Website's Menus section.

5th May 2010 Updates

A new Help & Tutorials page is now available: Home -> Help & Tutorials

This page contains all the online help in textual form, and some video tutorials.

More video tutorials will be added over the next 2-3 weeks.

3rd May 2010 Updates

The following new features have now been added to Freemasons-Web:

  • Personal "Favourite Events" List

    You can now keep a track of all the events you're interested in from member sites.

    When logged into a lodge/chapter web-site, you can now add an event from their event page into your own personal list of favourites.

    This list can be viewed by logging on to www.freemasons-web.org and selecting Member Options -> My Favourite Events.

29th April 2010 Updates

The following new features have now been added to Freemasons-Web:

  • Member Lists & Member Messaging

    You can now see a list of all the members of the sites you're a member of (but only the sites you're a member of). This is available on the Member Options -> Member List page.
    There's also the option to send a member an email by clicking the send email button next to their entry on the list.

  • Email Privacy Options

    As part of the messaging functionality mentioned above, you can decide whether your email address should be visible to Basic Members, Full Members, Site Managers or Site Administrators. This option is available on the My Account page.

    By default, your email address will only be visible to Full Members of sites you are a member of. Your email address is never visible to the general public within Freemasons-Web.

  • News Item Security

    You can now apply membership security to News Items, as is currently available with events.

    This may be useful should, for example, a brother pass away and you wish to let your members know.

  • Multiple Date Ranges on Sign-Up

    When signing up for a new website, you can now enter any number of date combinations for your regular meetings.

    This is to cater for lodges/chapters that have a number of irregular dates, or exceptions in their schedule.


We would like to thank all the members who have given feedback on Freemasons-Web, and especially for the suggestions of future enhancements.

Should any of you wish to suggest a new feature for consideration, please contact us.

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