Terms Of Service

Welcome to Stepping Stones Support!

                   

Thank you for using our service (“service”). This service is provided by Stepping Stones Support of (“Stepping Stones Support”), located at Tirhomin, Milford, Co. Donegal, Republic of Ireland. By using our service, you agree to these terms. Please read them carefully.

                   

Using Our Service

Don’t misuse or abuse our service. Don’t interfere with our Service or try to access it in a way other than what we provide. You can use our Service only as permitted by law. We may suspend, ban, or stop providing our Service to you if you do not follow our policies or terms of service or if we are investigating suspected misconduct.

Using our Service does not give you ownership of any intellectual property rights in our Service or the content you may access. You may not use content from our Service unless you have obtained permission from its owner or are otherwise permitted by law. These terms do not grant you the right to use any branding or logos from our Service without written consent from Stepping Stones Support. Do not remove, obscure, or alter any legal notices displayed in or along with our Service.

Our Service may display some content that does not belong to Stepping Stones Support. This content is the sole responsibility of the individual who makes it available. We may review content to determine whether it is illegal or violates any of our policies, and we will remove or refuse to display content that we believe violates our policies or the law. We do not necessarily review all content, do not assume that we do.

In connection with your use of our Service, we may send you announcements, administrative messages, and other information. You may opt out of some of these communications. Some of our Service are available on mobile devices. Do not use our Service in a way that distracts you and prevents or diminishes your ability to obey traffic and safety laws.

THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF RULES WHICH HAVE BEEN PROVEN TO HELP CREATE THE SAFEST ENVIRONMENT POSSIBLE FOR OUR USERS. THESE RULES MUST ALWAYS BE ADHERED TO BY ALL USERS. THE MOMENT YOU CONNECT TO THE CHAT NETWORK, YOU ARE AGREEING TO FOLLOW EACH AND EVERY GUIDELINE LISTED BELOW:

This site is run by a private individuals whom reserve the right to censor, remove and ban any individuals that do not uphold all rules and regulations that have been agreed upon and listed. SteppingStonesSupport chat rooms (also known as 'channels') are watched and moderated, therefore, any individual that is seen partaking in any of the following content during conversation may be banned from all contact with this site. For example we discourage: *

  • Sexual Conversation
  • Racism/Anti-Semitism/Hate
  • Glorification of Alcohol/Drugs or Suicide
  • Politics
  • Software Piracy
  • Religion
  • Disrespectful discussion of another's Culture or Nationality

* Upon the discretion of the moderating team and subject to the amount of users active on the site at the time, what level of support is required and if any complaints are received concerning the subject of the conversation being carried out in main chat

The list above is not exhaustive, but demonstrative. Moderators will act on other topics that are deemed inappropriate and out of context with the philosophy of Steppingstonessupport.

Please note that these topics may be permitted in “The Pit” apart from matters which are deemed abusive.

ANY THREAT, DIRECT OR INDIRECT TO THIS WEBSITE, ITS OWNERS OR VOLUNTEERS, WILL RESULT IN AN IMMEDIATE AND PERMANENT BAN. WE WELCOME ALL REASONABLE AND MATURE SUGGESTIONS OR REQUESTS, BUT WE WILL NOT TOLERATE THREATS OR ABUSIVE REMARKS EITHER ON THE SITE ITSELF OR THROUGH ANY WRITTEN CORRESPONDENCE TO THE SITE. THREATENING US WILL RESULT IN ANY AND ALL CORRESPONDENCE BEING IGNORED. NEITHER VOLUNTEER OR ADMINISTRATOR WILL TOLERATE ABUSE OR HATEFUL COMMENTARY OF ANY KIND.

GENERAL GUIDE, SUGGESTIONS AND RULES

We urge you not to share any personal information and are not responsible for any type of harm caused due to sharing things such as, personal e-mail, telephone number and street address. Although most people on the site are here for help and support, there may be untrustworthy people out there who may not have the best intentions. Please proceed with caution.

Prohibited Behaviour:

  • Foul language. Please refrain from using swear words, even in a disguised form. Less offensive curse words will be tolerated, but with discretion and only when deemed necessary by the moderators. Failing to adhere to this rule will result in a kick and possibly a ban.
  • This site is English speaking only. Any user that repeatedly uses other language(s) (especially with the intent of causing irritation to others), will be kicked and possibly be banned.
  • Flooding and Spamming will not be tolerated. This network's definition of flooding and spamming is overusing any word, letter, number or symbol with the sole intention of disrupting the flow of a chat room. Continued flooding and spamming can result in a permanent ban.
  • The consistent use of CAPITAL letters is also discouraged. Using capital lettering infrequently to make a point is fine, but refrain from using capital letters as much as possible; this will prevent others from assuming that your attitude is hostile. Continued use following a warning may cause a permanent ban from this network.
  • Unsolicited invitations to any other websites are also prohibited and will result in a permanent ban. No exceptions.
  • Any action that results in the disruption of this network will be handled immediately and without leniency. You will be permanently banned. Disruptions include hateful and intentional actions which hinder the safety of other users, verbal abuse, spamming/flooding, any breaking of the above listed banned content, hostility, and not following the moderators (Operators/Ops) instructions. Along with a permanent ban, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) will be contacted.
  • Steppingstonessupport will not tolerate attempts to ban evade. If you are caught attempting to evade a ban, you may be exterminated from the entire site, a shun, server or network ban, or an extension of a server ban will ensue. If such behaviour continues, your ISP will be alerted of your ill-intentioned behaviour. THIS WILL BE SEVERLY ENFORCED. The safety of the Steppingstonessupport community is our first and only priority.
  • Attempts to steal passwords or to take over channels to serve your own personal goals will also not be tolerated and will result in a permanent ban from the site.
  • Any sort of illegal activity which takes place on Steppingstonessupport, for example, pirating or hacking, will result in the site calling your local law enforcement agency and giving them all useful information for prosecution, including all connection logs, all public conversation that has occurred on our chat network, your ISP's contact details and naturally your IP.
  • Steppingstonessupport encourages the use of creative and expressive nicknames, and only asks that they are not offensive or hateful, and that you continue to use the same nickname each time you visit. Changing nicknames prevents friendship and trust from occurring. Please refrain from using foul language as part of your nickname.
  • Links to any other site for the purpose of advertising as opposed to helpful information will not be tolerated. It will result in a kick and possible ban from the entire network. DO NOT ADVERTISE ON STEPPINGSTONESSUPPORT.
  • Harassment and abuse of Steppingstonessupport users will not be tolerated. Harassing or abusing anyone, including users, moderators, or any other staff will result in immediate action. Actions taken will include, kicking, banning or permanent expulsion from the site. The severity of the punishment will depend on the severity of the abuse.
  • Impersonation of any Steppingstonessupport administrator or chat room moderator will not be tolerated, and will result in a ban, either channel specific or network wide.
  • We do not accept the use of any automated scripts or bots on the network. If you wish to run either a script or a bot of any nature please Contact Us explaining why automated processes would be advantageous to this chat network. Steppingstonessupport will either approve or decline your application after careful consideration of your request.

PRIVATE MESSAGING

Private Messaging (PMing) is allowed and encouraged. The rules regarding private messaging are:

  • You must first ask permission before you PM anyone.
  • If you accept any PM, please proceed with caution. Private Messages are just that – private. They will not be moderated.
  • When in a PM, please show respect at all times and do not advertise. It is highly likely the recipient of your PM will report abuse to a moderator.
  • Three complaints of PM abuse will result in a kick and possible permanent ban from the network.

SELF MODERATION

It is expected that each user of Steppingstonessupport will make attempts to moderate their own environment before seeking a moderator or network administrator. It is suggested that if you have trouble with another user, you use the Ignore function. To use the Ignore feature:

Steppingstonessupport will do all it can to protect you, but you must take efforts to protect yourself as well.

CHAT ROOM SPECIFIC RULES

Any chat room/channel may have additional rules and conditions than expressed in this document. If a chat room has additional rules you will be alerted of their existence when entering the specific chat room. Always read and adhere to any and all channel specific rules.

IF YOU ARE BANNED

If you feel that you were banned from the site in error, please Contact Us directly. Please include the moderator who banned you, your nickname and a written record of the incident which caused the ban. Without that information, nothing can be done. Furthermore, if your correspondence includes hateful, disrespectful language, your communication will be ignored, and your ban will not be lifted.

These Terms of Service can and will be changed at will without notice.

Steppingstonessupport welcomes everyone over the age of SIXTEEN for respectful and considerate conversation.

RAGNAROCK

Ragnarock is our teenage site for those seeking support and friendship.

This room is for the use of 13-19 year olds and there are rules specific to this room which any user implicitly agrees to adhere to upon joining the room.

As per COPPA Regulations (US) and the Digital Age of Consent in EU Countries regulations – the minimum age of users for this room is 13.

We will cooperate with ALL law enforcement agencies in the investigation of users over the age of 19 in contact with minors and/or suspected of a crime.

Steppingstonessupport disclaims responsibility for the actions of any visitors on this site. Neither the site owners, nor it’s moderators, will be liable vicariously or otherwise.