1. Introduction
A.
Background
This website houses the Central Council's Framework for method ringing ('the Framework' or 'FMR').
The Framework provides common language and terminology for describing many aspects of method ringing, and it also contains the Central Council's requirements for adding new methods to the Central Council's methods library, for classifying and extending methods, and for record length performances. The Framework is provided to support effective communication within the ringing community, and its use by all is strongly encouraged.
The Framework is a Standard (a type of Policy under the Central Council's rules). It is mandatory for anything included in the CC's various collections and records (methods, variations, calls, extension processes, record lengths), including how things are recorded, classified, analysed and reported. The Framework is implemented by the Central Council's Executive.
B.
Material
This website contains both (1) the Framework, and (2) supporting material that assists in the understanding of the Framework, expands upon certain definitions and requirements in the Framework, and further assists ringers in communicating about method ringing.
The top level parts of Sections 1 to 9 of this website are the Framework. 'Top level' means the parts of these sections excluding the expanded material that displays when the '+' buttons are pressed.
The appendices of this website, as well as the expanded parts of Sections 1 to 9, are supporting material. This supporting material is not part of the CC Framework Policy, and is updated by the relevant Central Council team whenever the need arises.
Method ringing terms that are defined in the Framework are capitalised wherever they are used elsewhere in the Framework.
The Framework is a living document. Its aim is to capture the current essence of method ringing practice, and as that practice evolves, so too will the Framework. Developers of software that embeds any aspect of the Framework (such as method classification or method extension) may therefore wish to take into consideration how their software would handle any future changes to the Framework.
C.
Overview of the Framework
Section 3 provides definitions of core method ringing terms that are used to describe methods, compositions and performances. The further explanation in Section 3.D.1 includes a diagram that shows how various core terms relate to one another. The Framework doesn't attempt to define all terms related to method ringing -- for this, see the glossary of ringing terms at http://jaharrison.me.uk/Ringing/Glossary.
Section 4 describes how methods are classified (i.e. grouped according to common features). Section 4.A.1 links to a diagram that shows the various classes and sub-classes of method.
Section 5 contains the requirements for naming new methods and recording them in the Central Council's Methods Library.
Section 6 gives best practices for reporting method ringing performances (notably reporting in The Ringing World and on BellBoard), with the objective of avoiding ambiguity and making explicit anything of significance that would not reasonably be assumed.
Section 7 states the requirements for a performance to be added to the Central Council's register of record lengths.
Section 8 describes how methods at different stages can be related to one another, and thus may be eligible to share the same method name.
Section 9 describes functions performed by the Central Council and The Ringing World related to the Framework.
D.
Framework Principles
See Appendix F for information on the principles that were employed in the design and development of the Framework.