Comms 101: Website Navigation
Welcome to the Comms 101: Website Navigation course.
As the name implies, this course is designed to teach you about all the different pages and tools that are available to you on the Dark Jedi Brotherhood (DJB) website and to serve as a helpful guide anytime you need it.
Learning where everything is will make it easier for you to find competitions, make changes to your character and more. There's a lot of content to cover, but we’ve used screenshots and dynamic screen captures to help visually guide you through this course.
You may find it helpful to open a new tab on your browser while you are following the course notes so that you can follow along and find those pages yourself.
If you don't know how to open a new tab, find the Dark Brotherhood in the top left corner of your screen and click it with your mouse wheel or right-click it and choose open link in a new tab.
Let's begin at the top.
Header
Dark Brotherhood
The Dark Brotherhood text you see at the top left corner is a link that allows you to always go back to the homepage of the website, no matter where you are. So, if you happen to get lost while exploring, click Dark Brotherhood, and you’ll be back to where you started.
Menu
Main
From the Main drop-down menu, you can access several key areas of the website.
About the DJB
Get a brief overview of everything the Dark Jedi Brotherhood strives to provide its members.
Brotherhood Chat
The DJB uses Discord as its primary mode of communication between members. Here, you’ll find an invite link, where you can authenticate your dossier and join the main DJB Chat, specific chats for your Clan and even chats dedicated to activities like gaming, fiction and art! If you’re unfamiliar with Discord, take our course to learn how to get started.
News Archive
The DJB gets fresh news almost daily. While the most recent are displayed on the homepage, older news is stored here in the News Archive. Use this page to quickly find news by Date, Position (active or retired) or Category.
Activities
Competitions
From here, you can view all active, upcoming and closed competitions. Click on the name of any competition to learn more about that specific competition. You can even filter by type!
Shadow Academy
This page lists all of the Shadow Academy departments. Every new member should begin with Dark Brotherhood Fundamentals, where you’ll find more courses like this one to walk you through getting started in the DJB. From there, explore the other departments for courses on everything from Star Wars lore and warfare to improving your writing!
Notice that this page also has its own submenu to help you navigate the Academy:
Exams & Degrees - This section lets you return to continue any unfinished, saved exams, and also allows you to view exams that are awaiting grading. The Degrees page will show you your progress toward all available degrees and which courses you need to complete to attain them.
Departments & Courses - This section allows you to quickly go to a specific department within the Academy. Click List of Courses to view all the courses that are available in the Academy and their corresponding Academic Credits.
Reports & Feedback - This section gives you quick access to all the reports issued by the Headmaster. It also allows you to submit a feedback/troubleshooting form to the Academy staff.
Antei Combat Center
On this page, you can access the different halls for combat writing within the DJB. Learn more about the Antei Combat Center and how to participate through the ACC Combat Studies.
Gaming Information
This page contains information about gaming in the DJB, including the supported games, how the casual gaming queue works, and the Rites of Combat, an important set of rules applied to ensure fair gameplay.
Activity Records
This page lists all the fiction submission and the site-submitted matches played in with fellow DJB members, including the number of resulting Cluster awards. This list may also be filtered to show only your activities or only activity from members of your units.
Rosters
From the Rosters drop-down menu, you can access information about the Clans of the Brotherhood, the Council and various societies centered on different member activities like gaming, fiction, art and the Shadow Academy.
Clans of the Brotherhood
This page lists and briefly describes all the Clans that comprise the DJB. Clicking on the name of a Clan will reveal their roster of members, as well as current leadership, possessions and subunits (Houses and Battleteams). The icons beneath Clan slogans indicate how many members each clan has.
For every member on the roster, you can see their rank, character name and contact email. Click on a character’s name to learn more about them from their dossier.
At the top of the member list to the right of the Roster tab, you may find additional tabs for things like a unit’s NPC Roster, News and Reports, Possessions, Fiction and Contact Methods.
If you’d like to connect with other unit members on Discord or social media or you’d like to find others who play the same games as you, the Contact Methods tabs of the roster can be very helpful! Just click on the different platforms to view the usernames and IDs of various members who have elected to make those public for DJB purposes.
The Council
The Council roster is where you can find the names and contact information for the members who lead various aspects of the DJB, including Clan and Society leaders. Staff members and staff mailing lists are also included here, so it is a good way to quickly find out how to contact these different offices.
Rogues
This page allows you to view all the members who are not currently part of a Clan or a unit like the Council. These members are called Rogues. Most rogues are no longer active in the DJB, but some may simply choose to participate in the club independent of any unit.
Search
This page allows you to search for members by their character name, member ID (PIN), email address, gaming ID and former character names. To search by anything but current character name or PIN, you must click the appropriate checkbox. Note that the search will automatically exclude Novitiates (lower ranking members) who have been inactive for over a year unless you check the box to include them.
Statistics
If you like numbers and knowing how members are doing in areas of the DJB like course completion, ranks and awards, the Statistics page is the place to go. You can even see how you stack up in the Trophy Ranking and view an Event History of events like member awards, promotions, transfers and character updates like name or path changes.
GMRG Society
The GMRG stands for Grand Master's Royal Guard and is the name given to the society that focuses on gaming inside the DJB. Here you can find the rank of every member that is a part of the GMRG, as well as the Guardsman Leaderboard and Guardsman Competitions.
Aurora Collegium of Sciences
The Aurora Collegium rewards all students who complete Shadow Academy courses and gain degrees with high marks. Here you can find the rank of every member who is a part of this society.
Inquisitorius
The Inquisitorius is a society within the DJB that focuses on writing. They reward members who take part in fiction activities such as fiction writing or participating in ACC combat writing matches. Here you can find the rank of every member of the Inquisitorius.
Shroud Syndicate
The Shroud Syndicate is a society within the DJB that focuses on art, graphics and multimedia. It rewards members who take part in graphic competitions or work on the Herald staff. Here you can find the rank of every Shroud Syndicate member.
Resources
As the name suggests, the Resources drop-down menu includes a variety of useful resources such as information and tools you may use throughout your time in the DJB.
DJB Wiki
The DJB Wiki is the club’s personal wikipedia! Here you can find a wealth of information about pretty much everything that exists in the DJB universe, including character biographies, unit histories and homeworlds, location descriptions and more – all created by our members! Learn more about using the DJB Wiki in our introduction course and learn how to create your own character page in this course.
Fiction Center
This page contains the latest fictional developments that are happening in the club’s fictional storyline, as well as past important fictional events, factions and characters. It is a great tool for writers, as well as for new and returning members to get up to date with “current events.”
Codex
The Codex contains all the basic information about the DJB. It can be a useful tool to use when trying to better understand some aspects of the club's infrastructure and functioning.
Covenant
The Covenant is one of the club’s most important documents. It contains information about the responsibilities and limitations of leadership and details all the rights and obligations of members to ensure fairness and the protection of all who are a part of the DJB community.
Policies
This page is where you’ll find the policies and guidelines that govern various aspects of the DJB. These policies are not included in the Covenant, but they may be enforced by it.
Factions
This page contains information about the Factions that inhabit the DJB’s fictional universe, including the Dark Brotherhood itself. These factions are often used in major club events, so it’s a good idea to become familiar with the information you can locate here.
Once you open a faction’s page, you’ll see it’s very similar to a Clan roster. In addition to the faction’s roster of NPCs (and/or PCs in the case of the DJB), each faction page includes a brief description along with a list of its leadership, subfactions and possessions.
Item Stores
This page contains several different stores that sell items available for use by your character in fiction and ACC battles. In these stores, you can spend credits (the club’s fictional currency) to acquire items to outfit your character with weapons, armor, starships and more!
Item Research
This is a search tool that provides you with several filters, like those you would find on an online store, that facilitate the search for a specific item.
To learn more about earning credits, purchasing items from stores and the possessions system that uses these item stores and research tools, take the Character Sheets 102: Possessions & Loadouts course.
Member Search
At the top of the page to the right of the menu, you’ll find a magnifier icon. Click this to search for other members of the DJB using any portion of their character name or PIN.
Login or Name
When you’re logged out of the DJB website, you’ll see the option to Sign In next to the search icon. When you’re logged in, you’ll see your character name. Click your name to reveal a drop-down menu to access your Dossier or Administration page, or to Logout.
My Dossier
Your Dossier is where all your basic information, achievements and awards can be found.
Summary - This default tab of your dossier displays your custom graphics like robes, weapons, warbanners and accessories, along with basic information on your order, rank, positions, units, societies, master and students and contact information.
Characters - Visit this tab to view any of your active character sheets.
Awards - All the awards you have received during your time in the DJB are shown on this tab. Click on any award to see when and why it was awarded.
Training - Use this tab to keep track of your completed courses, degrees and scores.
Possessions - Here you will find a list of all the items you have that are for public view.
Trophies - Your trophy case! Trophies are earned through a variety of club activities; you can use this page to see what you’ve earned so far and learn what you need to do to achieve the next one by clicking the Incomplete and Progress filters.
DJB History - Pinpoint exactly when a certain event happened like your latest promotion or your first Diamond Crescent. All significant awards, promotions, appointments or changes are stored here for reference and may be filtered by type using the white filter icon at the top.
Activity - Click through the submenus under this tab to view competitions you’ve organized, competitions in which you’ve competed, news and reports, ACC battles and gaming activity.
Comments - This is the small speech balloon icon. It is typically used to allow leaders who have worked with you to leave notes about your activity for later consideration for awards and promotions.
Administration
It is important that you familiarize yourself with all the available tools you are offered on this page. All administrative actions you can take will be conducted via this page, from a simple name change to the submission of gaming scores.
Note that as you progress through the club and take on different roles, you may notice new options appear on this page. Because these can vary widely by position, we’ll just cover the options available to most new members.
Subscribed Competitions
When you subscribe to a competition on the website, it will be listed here with a link to the competition details and a reminder of the time you have remaining to upload your submission.
Competitions Menu
Manage Competitions - When you’re ready to host your own competitions, visit this page to create a new competition and return here to judge and assign placements. You can also view previous competitions that you have organized or co-organized.
Competition Participation History - This is a handy tool that allows you to view all the competitions you have subscribed to and/or participated in, as well as any placements.
Submit Gaming Scores - If you game in the DJB, you’ll use this tool frequently to submit gaming scores for PvP, PvE or PvO modes that do not use dbb0t in #gaming-matchmaking. To learn more about how this is done, take Competitions 102: Gaming.
Progress Menu
Degree Progress - View your progress toward every degree currently offered by the Shadow Academy. Learn what it takes to earn each one by clicking on Details to the right of the degree.
Society Progress - See what activities and achievements you need to complete in order to advance through the ranks of the GMRG, Aurora Collegium, Inquisitorius and Shroud Syndicate.
Activity Assessment - Here you can view everything you have done in the DJB from the moment you joined or since other milestones like your last promotion, medal or recognition. You can even check your activity numbers from a specific date to current day.
Account and Profile Menu
Manage Account - This allows you to update your email and change your password.
View Dossier - This takes you directly to your dossier.
Edit Dossier - Set your timezone, country, site layout preference and even add a quote to give a little character flavor to your dossier. If you wish for you or your character’s gender to be displayed a certain way, you can set your preference here. You’ll also use this page to add contact methods, including gaming IDs, which are required when you submit to gaming competitions.
Newsletter preferences - Choose whether you'd like to receive occasional (no more than twice a year) news from the DJB when you are rogue (not actively involved in the club).
Characters Menu
Request Name Change - Visit this page to change your character’s name. You must provide a reason for the change. To be approved, your name must meet MAA guidelines.
Request Clan Transfer - You may request to transfer to a Clan from the rogues or from your existing Clan from this page. Note that inter-Clan transfers may require approval from summit members.
Change Order - When you join the DJB, you are asked to choose an Order for your character. You may change that from this page.
Change Tradition - You may choose or update a Tradition for your character, such as Mandalorian, Rebel, or Imperial.
Character Sheet Administration - View, edit, create or archive your character sheets. To learn how this is done, take Character Sheets 101.
Possessions and Loadouts - View a list of all your character’s possessions and use those items to create or edit the loadouts and snapshots required for fiction competitions. Character Sheets 102: Possessions & Loadouts will walk you through this section.
Credit Accounts - Here you can check how many credits you currently have, how all your possessions are valued and your total net worth. You can also create a savings account if you're trying to save some credits for a specific item you wish to buy.
Additional Character Slots & NPCs - This page allows you to activate and manage the character sheets and loadouts for your allowed alternative character and NPCs.
Profile and Custom Graphics Menu
Weapon/Robe/Accessory Construction Tool - These options allow you to select the weapon, robe and accessory you’d like displayed on your dossier page from a variety of options based on your rank and other achievements.
Submit Avatar Change Request - Update or request a new avatar to represent your character on your dossier. These requests require approval.
Request Custom Graphics - From here, you can request the creation of custom robes, weapons, accessories and war banners from the [Herald] staff. Different options will become available to you as you progress through the club. Leaders may also request graphics for their units or offices.
Recruitment Menu
This tool allows you to create a personalized link you can send to people outside of the DJB to invite them to join. If someone joins the club through your link and reaches the rank of JM1, you will be awarded with a Scroll of Indoctrination.
Logout
This allows you to exit the website.
Homepage
News
The News section comprises the majority of the homepage of the website and should be viewed regularly for reports and updates from your units and the Dark Council. Every article contains a short preview and will link to the full article on a new page.
The news articles are presented in chronological order from newest to oldest and may be filtered to suit your preferences.
Leadership
The current leadership of the Brotherhood can be found on the bottom of the homepage. Here, you can hover your mouse over the character icons and the symbols above to quickly know their names and the position they occupy. Clicking the character icons will also redirect you to their dossier for more detailed information.
Date and Time
The Date and Time box in the bottom right corner tracks the fictional year for the DJB and the “site time,” which is used as a reference point for competition deadlines since our members are located all over the world.
Social Media
The DJB maintains a presence on a variety of social media platforms, as indicated by the icons usually found beneath your character name in the header. Just click on the icons to find us!
Conclusion
Now we've covered all the important aspects of navigating the website. With this course, you are now able to tell exactly where to go if you wish to find a specific page, like your Clan Roster page. There is still much to discover, but nothing too hard because now you can explore the website easily.
Feel free to always come back if you're not sure what a specific page is used for.
Good luck on your exam!
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