Editorial and inclusion policy
The Knight Life is a curated field guide for people deciding where to fight, train, ride, commission equipment, teach, demonstrate or build a serious knightly practice. It is selective rather than exhaustive.
What belongs
- Events must contain meaningful practitioner participation, instruction, competition, living history or historically grounded martial activity. A Renaissance or Viking faire is included only when the fighting involves genuine participating groups rather than hired theatrical actors alone.
- Training programs must publicly support fighting in armor, Harnischfechten, armored Armizare, mounted martial work or another clearly identified armored curriculum.
- People and groups must have a relevant public professional record, verified organizational role or consent to be profiled.
- Makers must have an exact identity and produce or supply material relevant to historical knightly practice.
Evidence and editorial judgment
Official claims, organizer statements, identifiable firsthand reports, public community reports and editorial conclusions are labeled separately. A social-media mention may justify research, but it does not by itself prove quality, safety, price, availability or current activity.
Research depth, verification and present activity are separate. Placement near the top is an editorial travel recommendation based on current access, martial value, clear expectations and rarity of experience—not a purchased position or universal judgment.
A person, maker or organization whose exact identity cannot be established remains in the private research queue.
Conflicts and commercial influence
The editor is a proprietor of Darkwood Armory. That relationship is disclosed on Darkwood listings, and Darkwood reviews or ratings require moderation by someone without that ownership interest. Any future sponsorship, free attendance, affiliate payment, advertising or other material relationship must be plainly disclosed. Payment cannot purchase a better rating, editorial conclusion or directory placement.
Corrections, appeals and right of reply
Organizers, subjects, customers and readers are invited to correct facts. A correction request does not automatically erase a supported editorial conclusion or an honest firsthand report.
A useful request identifies the listing, the exact statement at issue, the proposed correction and the evidence supporting it. Privacy and immediate-safety concerns receive priority. Other requests are reviewed as editorial resources permit.
- Clear factual errors are corrected and materially important changes may receive a correction note.
- A changed date, price, instructor, order status or venue is attached to the correct time period rather than silently replacing historical information.
- When credible sources conflict, the listing may be marked disputed, qualified or temporarily withheld.
- A named organizer, maker, school or practitioner may submit a concise response to a published review. Responses are subject to the same rules against threats, private information and unsupported accusations.
- Requests intended only to suppress an honest negative account will not be granted.
The future correction form will issue a reference number and preserve an audit trail of the decision.
Reviews and ratings policy
Numeric ratings will begin only after the reviewer and the relevant experience are privately vetted. The directory will not accept anonymous drive-by stars.
Who may review
A reviewer must have firsthand experience as an attendee, participant, student, customer or other clearly disclosed role. The review must identify the particular event occurrence, training period, product or commission. Family, employment, sponsorship, gifts, discounts, rivalry and other material relationships must be disclosed.
Verification and moderation
- Receipts, registration records, dated photographs or correspondence may be examined privately. Sensitive portions may be redacted.
- Evidence verifies that an experience occurred; it does not automatically prove every opinion stated in a review.
- Reviews may be edited for clarity, relevance, threats, harassment, unlawful material or private personal information. Meaning is not changed without the reviewer's approval.
- Truthful negative reviews are not removed merely because the subject objects.
- Fake reviews, reviews written for someone else, undisclosed conflicts and incentives conditioned on positive or negative sentiment are prohibited.
- Old prices and delivery reports become historical. Event reviews remain attached to the edition attended.
Review subjects may respond. A published response does not change the reviewer's score, and a reviewer may not be pressured or paid to change an honest review.
Privacy and retention policy
The directory will collect only the information needed to evaluate submissions, verify claims, relay messages and maintain trustworthy records. It does not sell or rent personal information.
Information that may be collected
- Name, email address, organizational role and contact preference.
- Listing submissions, corrections, claims, reviews and correspondence.
- Private verification evidence supplied voluntarily.
- Basic security and service logs produced by the hosting system.
Private email addresses, receipts, identification, home addresses and verification files are not public directory fields. A listing's contact route is shown only when it is already public, deliberately authorized or handled through the future contact relay.
Use and sharing
Information is used to operate the directory, investigate corrections, prevent fraud, forward requested messages and protect the integrity of reviews. It may be shared with service providers needed to host, store, secure or deliver the service, or when legally required. It is not sold for advertising.
Retention
- Closed contact messages are normally deleted within 12 months.
- Unapproved submissions are normally deleted or anonymized within 24 months unless needed for a dispute, safety issue or audit record.
- Uploaded identity, receipt and transaction evidence is normally deleted within 90 days after verification. A non-public verification note may remain.
- Claim and contributor records remain while the relationship is active and may be retained for up to 24 months afterward for security and audit purposes.
- Published editorial records and their public source trails may remain as an historical archive.
Choices and protections
A person may request access, correction or deletion of private information they supplied, or ask for review of a public personal profile. Some information may be retained when reasonably needed for fraud prevention, disputes, legal obligations or the integrity of the editorial record. The site does not intentionally create profiles for minors. Strong safeguards are used, but no online system can promise absolute security.
Photographs and media policy
Credit is required, but credit alone is not permission. Every published image must have an identified source and a defensible right to use it.
Accepted rights basis
- Owned by The Knight Life or the contributor.
- Used with written permission from the rights holder.
- Published under a compatible Creative Commons license with its required credit.
- Confirmed public domain.
- Used under a lawful exception after case-specific editorial review.
A contributor retains copyright but grants The Knight Life a nonexclusive right to store, crop for layout, display and promote the submitted material in connection with the directory. The contributor must identify the photographer and rights holder and must not upload material they lack authority to provide.
- Images of identifiable minors require appropriate permission and may be refused even when permission exists.
- Private addresses, documents, medical information and other sensitive details must not appear in uploaded images.
- Captions may describe what is visible but may not identify people or make accusations without adequate support.
- AI-generated scenes are not used as evidence of a real event, person, product or historical occurrence.
- A rights holder or identifiable subject may request review or removal by identifying the image, page and basis of the request.
The listing can remain useful without the disputed photograph.
Limitations
The directory reports available evidence and informed editorial judgment. Verification is not a guarantee of safety, legality, insurance, suitability, quality, availability or future performance. Users must confirm current rules, prices, travel conditions, contracts, equipment requirements, horse arrangements and insurance directly.
These policies are operating standards, not individualized legal advice. They may be revised as the directory, applicable law and submission systems develop. Material changes will receive a new effective date.
Submit a correction or new listing: use the moderated submission form to receive a reference number and place the information in the editorial queue. Direct policy correspondence may still be sent to swordteacher@gmail.com.