Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania



WEB SITE

GUIDELINES AND PROTOCOL

GENERAL

Subordinate Lodges and other fraternal family members pursuing the use of web technology for Internet or Intranet development, shall use the following standards, styles, and structures in the development of their web sites. These standards and guidelines shall be used whether Web Sites are developed internally or externally. Vendors that develop sites for Lodges or other fraternal family members free or otherwise shall also conform to these standards. These standards and guide lines were adopted by the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge Computer Technology committee for use by the subordinate Lodges and other fraternal family members working under the jurisdiction of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania, and were approved by the Most Worshipful Grand Master.

All efforts to communicate and project Prince Hall Freemasonry should reflect the goals of the Fraternity, and its principles of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. It is essential that the image of Freemasonry be preserved in all that is communicated to the public. It is not the intent of the Committee to restrict the creativity of the members, or to ignore the many positive features of the Internet, but these must not conflict with the Ancient Landmarks, or the customs of the Craft.

POLICY

All Subordinate and fraternal family members under the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge will comply with all Computer Department development standards, styles, and structures.

The Director for the Computer Department has functional responsibility for over seeing policy and enforcing procedures related to:

Computer system configuration and utilization Data integrity and security

Internet Protocol

ADVERTISING and SPONSORSHIP

Lodge web sites are not to be used for advertising or the promotion of individual business, lodge projects are acceptable. Some lodges may choose to use commercial web-hosting services that flash advertisements to the viewers. These advertisements are not within the control of the Lodge, however, if they are inappropriate, the Lodge must seek another hosting service. This holds true for any additional services, such as Guest Books, or links to other sites. No individual or group is authorized to represent or use the Name of this Grand Lodge its concordant or appendant bodies to advertise or promote chat rooms, group debates, or any other online internet activities. The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge offers free hosting service to all Lodges in Pennsylvania. For information, send an e-mail to the Web Master.

IMAGES

The download time should be considered when including graphics on a web page. Graphic file sizes should be limited to 30k whenever possible and contain "ALT" statements for text browsers. It is suggested that you save the graphic in a gif or jpg format. List the actual width and height information in the anchor reference to the graphic to improve the page formatting time. (Ex. Img src="/sample.gif" width=360 height=150 alt="Sample") .

There are many different Masonic emblems available, if you copy one to use on your page, please be sure to include the registered mark ® (a circled R) or the copy right mark © (a circled C) if included in conjunction with the graphic.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge will not violate the confidentiality of its members by revealing their names or addresses to any outside source without their consent. Selling of mailing lists has never been condoned, and marketing to members has been selectively approved by the Grand Master. The Grand Lodge web site, and the sites of subordinate Lodges, may not be used for marketing purposes, except in conjunction with the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania special projects and other programs. It is not permissible to publish personal addresses and phone numbers of members and officers of the Craft, without their expressed permission.

All contacts for information about the Fraternity, and the Craft, should be made via an e-mail address. However, even personal e-mail addresses should not be listed on web sites unless written consent (received via e-mail, online form, US mail, or otherwise) has been given by the holder of that e-mail address.


WEB DESIGN

When considering the content for a Masonic Web Site, there is a wide range of material available. The viewable area of most W.W.W. clients is about 24 lines of text, or 320 vertical pixels. The page length should be limited to no more than two or three 640 x 480 screens' worth of information and contain local navigational links at both the beginning and end of the page layout. Every page should state the title, the author's e-mail or contact information and at least one link to the lodge's home page. All subordinate lodge web sites will be linked to the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge home page upon approval of the site. It is important that a positive image of Freemasonry be presented, as this is a window through which the entire world can inspect our workings. The inclusion of high-quality graphics, photos, sound and video clips can add variety to a Web Site. Caution: streaming media require higher bandwidth availability for satisfactory performance. However, whether or not a Web Site represents the latest in cyberspace technology, it is the message of Masonic benevolence, fraternal care, and rich history that must be displayed on every page. Be careful not to over load your site with animation or shockwave that take a long time to download. Always keep in mind that what you include on your Web Site is visited by persons who may know absolutely nothing about the Craft. Your Web Site is a prime opportunity for potential candidates for Freemasonry to obtain a favorable impression of our ancient and honorable institution. Include only those materials (text, photos, videos, music) that you believe send a positive message about the Fraternity, such as information on parades, fairs, car washes, charitable dinners, sports tournaments, etc.

DUPLICATE INFORMATION

Each Lodge is responsible for the content presented on their respective web site, however, duplicated material should be kept to a minimum. If the content already exists on the Grand Lodge web site, the Lodge should provide a link to that content, instead of duplicating the information. This will provide a single source of input, revision, and ownership.

HOME PAGE

The home page is the first page of a Web Site. It should include, but not be restricted to, the following information:

The Lodge originating the site

The e-mail address of the site's Web Master for response to any technical or operational questions.

The e-mail address for a Lodge official to answer public questions and concerns.

Please do not send greetings from the Grand Master, or duplicate his picture and title on your site

CREDIT

All material (written or recorded) copied from another source must appear with a credit line acknowledging the source of the original material, if known. This is both a courtesy to the original author(s) and protection against misquotes and claims of copyright infringement.

GUEST BOOKS

Guest Books are a popular addition to web sites in which visitors can make comments regarding the site and interact with other Guest Book signers. If there is no review or monitoring of Guest Book messages before they are posted in public, it is critical that the Webmaster review the site daily and have means to delete inappropriate messages.

Guest Books signers are prohibited from posting messages that are inappropriate or personally offensive to another. Such offensive messages relating to sexual harassment or race discrimination should not be posted to web sites. Any and all messages which are determined as inappropriate will be deleted from the Guest Book.

LINKS

By linking to other web sites, a home page provides each visitor with the opportunity to visit other Masonic sites, within and without the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Be sure that the Masonic sites to which you link maintain a high quality and adhere to principles of common decency and courtesy. You should not link to sites sponsored by so-called Masonic entities with which we are not in fraternal communication. If you are not sure, ask the Grand Secretary's office for clarification. Links to general interest sites should only be included if they do not conflict with the principles of the Fraternity, or present controversial, political, or otherwise inappropriate content.

PHOTOGRAPHS

One way to enhance a Web Site is to include photographs of Lodge members doing things in the community. Just like a newspaper, it is a good idea to have the permission of those in the photograph for publication on the web. In some cases, it will be more prudent to have very general captions that describe an event, but do not identify the individuals pictured. Always be sure to respect the privacy of those who may benefit from the Lodge's charity.

OWNERSHIP

Lodge web sites are the property of the Lodge, even if they are hosted on a member's ISP allocated server space. The control of that web site is always the responsibility of the Worshipful Master, who is accountable for all material placed in public. It is a good policy for the Worshipful Master to approve everything that is posted on a Lodge web site. If the Worshipful Master does not have access to the Internet, it should be the Web Master's responsibility to get approval of a copy of all material before it is posted.

©1999, Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania


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