This article contains additional Information about the use of the Froglife Toad portal in 2024 and was written in response to questions raised by Toadwatch patrol managers. Froglife have also published some Help for the portal.
Please see the index to the right for a list of topics that have been raised by patrol managers, some of these topics cross reference each other so please read them all!
Inviting Patrollers to register
It is up to the patrol Manager whether or not to invite the Patrol members to register on the Portal. There is a button on the Person's details that will send a Registration invite from Froglife. Once the Patroller has confirmed their registration by clicking on a link in the registration email then the Patroller can submit their own site reports. If the Manager would prefer to receive all the reports and submit a daily summary then there is an option to do that.
Insurance forms
Patrolers who register on the portal do not need to also complete an Insurance form. Managers can use the portal to see which patrollers are linked to a patrol and which of those patrollers have registered. Patrollers only have to complete the insurance form once, unless their details change.
The form issued by Froglife spread over two pages, here is a form that fits on one page. Please scan or take a picture of the competed forms and email to
See also the section on Risk Assessments
Risk Assesments
New for 2024, the portal has a page where you can create a Risk Assessment for your patrol. See example below. If you are inviting your patrollers to register on the site then please create a Risk Assessment. Registered Patrollers will be notified when there is a change to the Risk Assessment.
Toadwatch Records
In previous years we have used a shared Google Sheet for Patrol Managers to update their daily site reports. This has worked better for some people than others as it depended on the device in use and whether or not people had a Google Account. We have some new site managers this year and it would be best if everyone can use the portal to input their numbers directly - this should be easier to use and removes the possibility of accidental corruption from someone's cat walking over the keyboard (it has happened!). The numbers will then go straight into the national totals that can be seen by all patrollers.
Patrol Managers have the choice of asking patrollers to enter their own records or of entering a daily site summary themselves - see Inviting Patrollers to Register. Because Toadwatch numbers are of interest to a wider audience and because not all patrollers will register, the Toadwatch website will continue to show a year to date summary and a daily report by site but the data will come from the Froglife portal.