What is a webring?
What's the u.m.r. webring then?
OK, how do I join?
HTML: The Final Frontier.
Adding your site to the queue.
What do I need to do after I've joined?
How do I change my site details?
I've forgotten my password.
What is a webring?
A webring is a way of grouping together web sites. Put simply, each page in the ring has links to the next and previous member of the ring; if you keep following the links, you'll end up back in the same place.
In practice, it's slightly more involved than that. The links point to a central location where a database is queried to find the appropriate site to redirect you to. This requires three pieces of information: the name of the ring, the site from which the request is coming, and the direction (next, previous, random, etc). The link on your page provides all three pieces of information, as the examples later will demonstrate.
The u.m.r. webring uses webring.com as the central location - this service is provided for free. If you want more information on webrings or webring.com, their site is worth a visit. In particular, the What Is A Webring? page will give you a general overview, and the Ringmaster FAQ will give you a lot more detail on most of the topics covered here.
Joining a webring is a two-stage process. You add your site to the webring's queue which contains those sites awaiting admission to the ring. You can do this further down the page. Your site is checked out to make sure it's ready to join the ring, and if everything's OK you're in.
What's the u.m.r. webring then?
Most webrings are based on a specific theme; Sheryl Crow sites, knitting pattern sites, that sort of thing. The umr one is slightly different. It's just a ring of sites maintained by people who post to, or lurk in, umr. There's no requirement that the site be about raves or music. It can be about anything, or just be your homepage.
Webrings need someone to manage them: they need to be set up initially; pages need to be checked out to make sure the links work; and sites which have disappeared need to be removed. The title given to the people doing this is Ringmaster. You shouldn't assume such a grand title means they are overbearing and dictatorial, although in practice this may be the case. Your host for this journey is Phil Costelloe. Any suggestion that he is the public face of a secretive Cabal will be treated with the contempt it deserves (but probably not denied outright).
OK, how do I join?
The first thing you need to do is read this page. There will be questions later, so make sure you read all of it.
Secondly, you need a web page. Pretty obvious I know, but I thought it was worth saying.
The next two stages are to add your site to the queue waiting to join the webring, and to add the webring code to your chosen page. These should be done at roughly the same time. Your page should be working by the time we visit it to make sure it's OK, but you can't complete the links until you know your Site ID (your unique identifying number in the webring) which will be sent to you in the email confirmation. So you should only add your site to the queue when you've got most of the code ready on your chosen page.
That's it.
HTML: The Final Frontier.
Or what you need to add to your page to make this webring stuff work.
The information about the webring is held at webring.com. Each member of the ring puts links to webring.com on their page and, based on the information supplied, the database is queried and redirects you to the appropriate site in the ring. You need to supply three pieces of information for the query.
So if your site is in the umr webring, your Site ID is 1, and you want to put a link to the next page in the ring, it would look like this:
- Ring ID
- selects the correct ring - in our case this is umr666
- Site ID
- identifies the site from which the query is coming - you get this number when you add your site to the queue
- Direction
- where you want to travel in the ring - e.g. next, prev, skip, random. Check one of the examples below for the full list, or look at the Webring commands page for a complete explanation.
http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=umr666;id=1;nextI've put together three examples to show how this works in practice. A few general points first though.
You can just cut and paste the code examples into your page, but remember to change the Site ID from "your_ID" to the one you are assigned for your own page. If you don't change it, the links won't work. Because the lines are fairly long, the HTML examples look quite odd in some browsers. Don't worry about this, it'll still be OK when you cut and paste it.
The colours of the text and links are controlled by the page they're on. So if you cut and paste the code into your page, you'llll almost certainly end up with different colours than the examples unless your taste is as poor as mine.
If you want to use one of the graphics from the second or third example, you'll have to copy it to your PC and then upload it along with your web page. Most browsers allow you to save a local copy of an image by right mouse clicking on it, selecting Save Picture As... or Save Image As..., and then choosing where on your PC to save it. Note that the code examples assume the graphic will be stored in the same directory as the web page. If you organise your site differently, you'll have to change the path as appropriate.
If your site uses frames, you should make sure that the next (or whatever) page isn't loaded into the frame but takes over the browser window completely. You can do this by adding TARGET=_top to each of the links. I've already put this in the example code since it does no harm if you're not using frames.
The text links in the examples have every possible webring option. You don't have to use them all, but bear in mind that a webring where you can only go to the next and previous pages is very boring.
If you only remember one thing from the above points, make sure it's the bit about changing the Site ID. OK, here's the examples.
Example 2 - graphic with text links
Example 3 - imagemap graphic plus text links
Adding your site to the queue.
You can go to http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=umr666;addform, or you can use the form below.
As soon as you submit your site, an email will be sent to the address you give confirming the details you entered. It will also contain your Site ID. I'd suggest keeping this in a safe place for future reference. An email will also be sent to the ringmaster to let him know a new site has been submitted. He'll check out the page to make sure that the links work and that the content is suitable (remember the bit about being overbearing and dictatorial?). If everything is OK, your site will be moved from the queue to the ring. You'll get another automatic email at this point to let you know you've been added to the ring.
What do I need to do after I've joined?
Nothing, as long as your site stays at the same location. Because a central site is used, the individual pages in the ring don't need to be altered however many new sites are added. In fact, the order of the sites will be periodically rearranged so that the next and previous site relative to your page will change; again this needs no amendments by the page maintainers.
How do I change my site details?
If you do need to change the URL of your site, the description of the site, your contact email address, or password, go to
http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=umr666;id=your_id;pw=your_password;edit
substituting your Site ID for your_id and your password for your_password. When you do this for the first time, it's probably a good idea to bookmark it to save typing it in again. Alternatively, just put your ID and password in the form below and press the button.
I've forgotten my password.
Lost that email, huh? If you go to
http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=umr666;id=your_id;mailpw
the password will be sent to the contact email address for that site. Don't lose it again. You can also use the form below.
Any problems with, or comments about, this guide should be sent to webring@drbob.co.uk.