What is a webring

Asks paddy

A. A webring is a group of websites that have been linked together because they share a common link, usually their subject matter e.g. an Xbox gaming ring would feature about 20 sites all about the Xbox or�a New Labour webring would contain lots of sites about this political party and�its term of office.

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Q. What are the benefits of being part of a webring

A. If your website is linked to a webring it will attract more traffic, and the traffic is very likely to be more relevant to you than that attracted randomly through surfing the net, or indeed using a search engine - especially if you do not have priority ranking on a search engine (it is unlikely you'll attract much traffic on a search engine if there are 3000+ similar entries to yours listed before your site). Another benefit is that webrings deliver constant traffic (and return traffic) every day.

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Q. Who controls a webring

A. A webring is set-up and monitored by a ringmaster. Besides setting the webring up, a ringmaster will accept site submissions, ensures that any site that joins the ring has a relevant and associated topic, is the sole arbitrator of whether a site remains within a webring and that the site has installed its webring code properly.

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Q. What is webring code

A. Webring code or fragment is HTML code that allows each site within a ring to be linked together.

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Q. What would I do if I wanted to join a webring

A. Once you've found the webring you want your website to be part of you just click on the join button on its home page and fill in the details of your site. Once the ringmaster has checked out that its content is relevant to the webring, s/he will email you the fragment code, and then you just copy this code to your website and download any relevant graphics to your server that allow the links to take place (the graphics will allow surfers to link to other sites within the webring from your home page).

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Q. What happens if an irrelevant website i.e. its subject matter is not relevant others in the ring, is added to a webring

A. It will only be added if the ringmaster makes a mistake in assessing its content, or if its content changes after it joins a ring - and its inclusion will be to the detriment of the entire ring because once someone links onto an irrelevant site they will usually stop using that webring because its wasting their time - and it cuts traffic all of the sites in a ring.

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Q. Can you recommend any webring systems to check out

A. A number of webring hosts are now working on the Internet - and will be familiar to most ringmasters - but if you're new to the game it is worth checking out the following:

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Ringlink

Ringlink uses a CGI Perl programme to build and run webrings. To set up a webring with Ringlink you can download its free open source software that is intended for use only for setting up and maintaining webrings. Ringlink also supports its users by setting up a community to help in the setting up of rings and in exchanging ideas. It also has a few add-on features that distinguish it from other ring management programmes. These include its list page which avoids any concentration of ring traffic to the first sites listed in a ring; it is distributed in a number of programme languages and can be translated into other languages as required; and you can customise your pages using its open software.

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Bomis

Bomis is an Internet ring index and portal site - so it indexes existing web pages into rings or allows you to set up your own webring (using Bomis software). It is free to join and also offers free email, weather and news bulletins and discussion forums. Every Bomis ring has a navigation frame at the top of the browser window so that visitors to your site, and the ring as a whole, can move around the ring easily.

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Bravenet

Bravenet is another webring (or sitering as Bravenet calls them) system that allows you to use its software to set up your own webring. It is easy to use and generates a lot of traffic to your site.

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Ringsurf

This is another free ring management system that is really easy to use. It calls its rings Netrings, instead of webrings but they are exactly the same and Ringsurf advises its ringmasters in how to advertise and promote their rings to generate the most traffic possible. Its webrings cover a multitude of subjects including arts & humanities; business & economy; computers; entertainment; hobbies; games; health and the Internet.

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The Rail

This is a huge system that generates between 150 and 200 new sites for connection to a webring every day. Every site or webring that uses the rail carries a small rail icon. Its collection of sites are categorised into one of 35 different categories, based on subject matter.

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By Karen Anderson