This site was designed and optimized for computers running Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox at 1024x768 resolution and 32-bit colour.  I've tried to make the site as easy to navigate as possible, but browsing from a cellphone or PDA is not recommended.  Technologies used here include PHP, Javascript/AJAX, SQL, Flash, and CSS.  Enabling javascript and installing Flash player are highly recommended, though not necessary.

Photography by Thaddeus LoveJoy and Felix Lockhart.
Site design and graphics editing/assembly by Felix Lockhart.

Special thanks to LilPup, CodeCat, and Richard K. Niner for assistance with the PHP coding of this site, I couldn't have done it without you guys!

Built using Adobe Creative Suite 3, and the occasional bit of Notepad.

In the interest of making this site as easy-to-use as possible, I've taken several design considerations to improve the site's appearance for those who have trouble reading the colour scheme or the text size.  Unlike most sites which use CSS sheets, I've written this entire site using relative font sizes, instead of absolutes.  This allows the text to be easily re-sized based on your browser's Text Size feature.

The second accessibility feature is the ability to change the colour scheme in the Viewing Options.  I actually wrote this feature for another purpose, but I decided to apply it to this as well.  If you have trouble reading the text on this site due to colouring, simply go to your viewing options and choose one of the other colour schemes.  There are several available, including High-Contrast Black (white text on black background) and High-Contrast White (black text on white background).

The third isn't one that's often thought of as an accessibility concern, but that's the option to disable Flash content.  The navigation banner on this site displays as a Flash object when the site detects the ability to display Flash content on your PC.  However, if you're unable to use a mouse, the Flash banner would be rather difficult to navigate, even with the matching text links at the bottom of every page.  So, if you need to disable Flash content site-wide, for any reason, simply go to your viewing options and click the Disable Flash button.  This will disable all Flash content from being displayed, and the Flash navigation banner will be replaced with a standard image map, easily navigable using the Tab key.

For more information regarding website accessibility, including the checklist used on to verify the accessibility of this site, I recommend reading the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Simply put, there is no advertising on this site, and there never will be.  This site is a non-commercial not-for-profit hobby, and I very strongly oppose putting ads on any of my websites.  So, there are no Google ads here, no popups, no banners, none of those annoying cover-the-whole-screen flash clips.  Nothing.  I also don't impose ads on any sites I host, and I discourage their presence.  If any hosted sites have outside advertising, they're limited only to text-based Google ads, and nothing more.  Running this server is not a business, it is a hobby, and a service to the various communities I consider myself a member of.

If you see any ads on this site, or experience any popups, I promise you they didn't come from me.  And if you're seeing these things, you might want to scan your system for spyware, because that's the only possible way they could get here.

That said, the costs of running this server are a bit on the high side.  If you like what you see here, or you'd like to support a site that's hosted here, I humbly ask that you consider making a donation to the server fund.  I enjoy doing this, but it's not free, and a donation of any amount would be a large help to the continued existance of Lupinia, both by easing the server costs, and by helping me feel better about pouring money into this place every month.

As I mentioned in the Advertising Policy tab, this site is a not-for-profit non-commercial hobby of mine.  So, there are no outside advertisers to leave cookies or other tracking information on your computer.

This site collects no personal information about visitors (except for the gallery and forum), aside from the information available in the server logs (IP, browser, operating system, same as every other site on the internet), which I seldom read.  The Gallery and Forum collect information, but only if you register an account there.  All information gathered will never be shared with anyone, ever.  I have no interest in selling data, nor will I release it willingly to anyone without a US court order.  There are other server admins who may have access to the information gathered, but they are very few in number, and they're trusted long-time friends of mine who have to agree to this policy before accessing the server.

Cookies are used throughout the site in various applications, but cookies are not inherently bad (here's why).  The three cookies used by the main site, "LupiniaFlashDetect", "LupiniaSplashBypass", and "LupiniaStyleSheet", contain only singular variable values, and are stored in plain-text if you need to verify their contents.  The cookies for the gallery and forum are a bit more complex, but they contain only enough information to maintain a login session when you're logged in.  None of these cookies are used to track your behaviour, nor are they accessed from outside this site.

The email form on the Contact page collects the data you put into it, including your email address.  This data is used for one purpose only, which is to send me an email.  You will probably receive a response, since email is often used for two-way communication, but you will not be added to any mailing lists of any kind, nor will it be given/sold to any third parties.  It also collects your IP address, for security purposes, and uses cookies to figure out whether you've already sent a message, to prevent spam.  Its source code is not publicly available on this site (again, for security reasons), but you may request it if you're concerned about its functionality.