Temple and Forum Rules
We prefer to think of them as guidelines or even just as good manners. Most of these are common sense and simple etiquette. But we have to post them and as such there are no excuses for not abiding by them. The guidelines cover all and every section of the site. To be clear, that means the forum, articles, Shout! box, chat rooms or any other official TotJO owned location or function, Facebook, Google+ etc, whether such mention is made or not.
All of these areas are subject to constant monitoring and disciplinary action will be taken at the discretion of the Council.
Any unsatisfactory behaviour is unwelcome and disciplinary action will be taken to address the situation. The rules listed below should cover the most obvious actions but unruly behaviour, whether it be threatening, carrying out some form of online attack or behaviour deemed grossly innapropriate, is a breach of the moral conduct we expect of all people here. We are a Church and you should treat us as such.
Disciplinary action is not something we like enforcing but if necessary we will implement it. This can range from a temporary or permanent account suspension, IP banning and, in the utmost extreme cases where the safety of our site or members is at serious risk, legal action.
Offensive Language and Swearing (and general abuse of other members)
TotJO is a place for spiritual enlightenment, self discovery and discussion of many varied and wide ranging topics. Here at TotJO we debate arguments not personalities and ideas instead of people.
Everyone makes mistake and it is not simply a case of one breach of the rules and your account is suspended.The people for whom this rule applies are those who are persistent and do so in a flagrant manner, even after unofficial and official warnings about it.
It demonstrates negative traits in an individual namely disrespect for fellow users and lack of control of oneself. 'Heat of the moment' is not a viable excuse, for as Jedi one must possess more control.
So, please think about what you have typed before sending. Show your respect and consideration for your fellow Temple members by simply maintaining the self-restraint to not swear. As it is much easier to control this behaviour when typing than it is in verbal conversation, there really is no acceptable excuse.
Post what you think is acceptable for an 8 year old to read (be it your own child or another) as this is in fact a family, and public, forum after all. If in doubt, leave it out.
Please note also that swearing is not the only way to offend. One can be just as demeaning and derogatory without resorting to swear words. These cases are as equally inappropriate and are covered under the same regulation on the forum.
Links & Linking
Blatant spam will be deleted if it is found on the site (with the possibility of your account being blocked).
If you’re unsure about the suitability of a link then please ask a senior member (Knight or higher) for advice. If the post, or material, could be considered 'mature' then please make this clear in the title (eg. 'WARNING 18 RATED), however blatant pornography will be deleted.
Please use the appropriate forum when linking material. If you want to post a funny video you can use the Humour sub-forum. The Miscellaneous Forum is considered an 'anything' goes area.
If you wish to post a link to your own site or a sales site then get permission from a Councillor.
There really is no 'limit' on the number of links, however generally the material linked to is the property of the original artist. It may very well communicate your feelings or thoughts however, continued linking and abuse of the ability is frowned upon. If it gets excessive enough we may ask you to refrain from making links.
Here are some rules of thumb to abide by: if you think it could offend then it probably will, or if you think whether or not you would be happy for an 8 year old child (your own or a relative etc) to see/hear the material then don’t post it. This is a family and public forum so please keep this in mind.
Advertising
We do not allow people to post any sort of for-profit advertising on the website, be it in signatures, on a forum post or otherwise. This includes any requests for donations or similar.
TotJO cannot be, and doesn't wish to be, held accountable for services offered by other websites that are not affiliated with TotJO but are advertised on on our forum or other owned official services.
If you wish to provide advertising of any sort please contact a member of the Council.
Stealth Advertising (Member Poaching etc)
Similarly to unsolicited links we do not tolerate the activity some resort to in order to increase membership of their own site, be this by using our private messaging system, the forum itself, the Shout! box or chat function.
TotJO cannot be held responsible (liable etc) for the content of websites to which links are found on the forum. Additionally neither is a link to another website a sign of approval or endorsement of its content by TotJO or its membership.
If you wish to provide advertising of any sort please contact a member of the Council.
Usernames
Please do not use ranks as part of your username. We do not allow usernames with titles in them such as 'Darth', 'Knight', 'Lord', 'Master' etc simply because such names can and do cause confusion with those who have genuinely earned the ranks within our temple.
The avatar box displays your appropriate rank and you can edit your signature box to display the same information or whatever if you so wish.
Multiple Accounts
The simple rule is one account per member. There is no point, need or reason for anyone (except appropriate administrators) to have more than one account with which to access this site.
Members found to have more than one account will be asked which name they wish to keep and the other accounts will be locked from further usage. If you have an unusual situation, for example sharing a connection or single computer then please contact one of the Council members for help with this.
If you have an account that has been (for example) temporarily locked for disciplinary reasons, essentially if another account is being used or has been setup in order to 'get around' that action, then all accounts will have a permanent suspension placed upon them effective immediate. This can include bans to that user's IP address.
In the immortal words of our founder “Membership is a privilege not a right” or in the not so immortal words of grump Grand Master Kana Seiko Haruki: 'If you don't like the way we do things here - you don't have to stay'
Journals
Journals are strictly for Jedi training and the only person who is to post in a journal is the journals creator. Knights and Masters are the exception to this and we have good reason for not posting within such journals too often, the whole point of said journals is to enable potential Teaching Masters (be they Knights or Masters) to look at prospective apprentices work and make informed and frankly important decisions. They are not a source of 'socialising' as such, you can do that in chat or off topic elsewhere.
Name Changes
Your username can be changed but it must be for a good reason and not “cos I feel like it”. If a username change is required please contact a Council member for permission. If you do have a name change then please post this information in the general section of the forum.
We have thousands of members and the administrators cannot be expected to remember who is who if they keep changing names; it causes confusion and disassociation with members and their journals.
Teaching
While we appreciate the knowledge that other members of the Temple have we, unfortunately, cannot allow those members to join our Temple with the intention of teaching their own material.
We like to get to know people before we allow them to start offering any sort of training to other members of the site so we would ask that you reach the rank of Knight before you offer your teaching services. We like to think of it as you getting to know the sort of people and the sort of place you will be teaching in before you begin.
If you feel able to offer any sort of training or teaching or service for us then please contact, either your current Training Master or, a Councillor.
Spam
We do not appreciate spam posts on our website. Spam could consist of many things such as blatant advertising of services under an account made purely for that purpose. Spam can also vary from persistent posting of a singular topic to posts that cannot be understood.
In any event the Council will contact the individual and explain the situation. Clear and unacceptable violations however may result in permanent account suspension.
We do not allow specific hateful, derogatory or otherwise uncivil and unwarranted behaviour. Sith or Anti-Jedi spam posts on our forum.
