The Complete Webring Tutorial for Beginners

A webring is a group of websites that are linked together in a circular fashion, often with a common theme or interest.

Webring was created in 1994 by Peter Merholz, and it quickly gained popularity as a way for websites to connect with each other and share resources.

To start a webring, you'll need to create a hub site that will serve as the central location for all the member sites. This hub site is usually hosted by the webring creator.

The hub site will contain a list of all the member sites, and each site will have a link back to the hub site.

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A webring is a way of adding discoverability for sites in the ring. It's essentially a list of websites that are connected to each other.

Each website in a webring links to the next and previous website, creating a "ring" of connected sites. This is done through a doubly linked list.

In theory, it's possible to literally link to the next site in the ring, but this quickly becomes impractical as member sites join or leave the ring.

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To join a webring, you'll need to add the open-webring to your website. You can add it in many formats, but the simplest way is to add a single line of code.

You can also fetch and parse the webring yourself using JavaScript, but this requires more technical expertise.

To get started, add open-webring to your site. This will be validated later in the process.

Here are the basic steps to follow:

Once you've added open-webring, we'll merge your PR and welcome you into the community.

A webring is a box that sat at the bottom of a website, usually with a list of similar websites.

Webrings were a solution to the problem of finding great content online back in the 90s, when websites were difficult to build and search engines were slow to load.

A webring contained a list of websites with a similar theme, and a single moderator, known as the Ringmaster, approved and added each website to the ring.

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Websites participating in a webring would place the ring's navigation box at the bottom of their site, which would bring visitors to the next or previous site in the list.

If you're interested in creating a webring, you can link to the next link in the ring by adding parts of your site or domain in the hash of the request URL.

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A webring was a box that sat at the bottom of a website, usually containing a list of websites with a similar theme.

Webrings offered a solution to the problem of finding great content online in the 90s, when websites were difficult to build and search engines were slow to load.

A single moderator, or Ringmaster, was in charge of approving and adding each website to a webring.

Each website participating in a webring would place the ring's navigation box at the bottom of their site, which would bring visitors to the next or previous website in the list.

If a visitor was on the last site in the list and clicked next, the list would loop back and load the first website in the list.

You can link to the next website in the ring by adding parts of your site or domain in the hash of the request URL.

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Creating a Lustrous Home Page is a great starting point for your Webring. I chose to use Lustre for html templating, which allows for easy rendering of data into a visually appealing format.

Lustre's elements are just functions, making it simple to use them in a list.map over the members, as seen in the example of selecting members from a SQL query.

You can also use Lustre for backend templating, giving you flexibility in how you structure your code.

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A webring contained a list of websites that all contained a similar theme, which was curated by a single moderator, or Ringmaster.

To add a webring to your website, you would need to get approval from the Ringmaster, who would then add your site to the list.

The Ringmaster would typically place the navigation box at the bottom of your site, which would bring visitors to the next or previous site in the list.

This navigation box would allow visitors to cycle through the list of sites in the webring, with the list looping back to the first site once they reached the last one.

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A webring service can handle routing each "next" and "previous" link to the appropriate place, instead of having member sites link directly to each other.

To run a webring service, you need three things: a way to identify where someone accessing the service is in the ring, a /previous endpoint to route people to the previous ring member, and a /next endpoint to route people to the next ring member.

The /previous and /next endpoints can be powered by a simple HTTP 303 "See Other" redirect.

To determine where you are in the ring, you need to know who your neighbors in the ring are, but the article doesn't go into detail on how to find that information.

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Webrings are a great way to connect with like-minded people and discover new websites. The #1 Webring List on the Internet, maintained by Ray "brisray" Thomas, is a good place to start.

There are many different types of webrings out there. A large Webring Directory, updated as of 2025-10-05 by Tuffy, lists a variety of webrings.

Some webrings are focused on specific interests or hobbies. For example, the Retronaut Web Ring is a collection of websites about retro technology and culture.

Others are more eclectic. The Weird Wide Webring, for instance, welcomes websites that are "unique and weird in some way." This could be something as simple as a unusual layout or as complex as a website that changes its content every time you visit.

Here are some examples of webrings across various categories:

So, you're curious about Webring and why it's a thing. Webring is a network of websites that link to each other, forming a circular structure.

This circular structure is what gives Webring its name, and it allows users to easily navigate between related websites.

Webring was created to help users find and explore websites with similar content, and it's been around since the early days of the internet.

I've decided to use short hash ids, unique to each member site, to track where we're ringing from. This approach eliminates the need to worry about escaping web domains.

These hash ids are created using a SHA256 hash of the member's URL, converted to padded, URL-safe base64 with a known salt. This ensures that each member site only has to keep track of its own hash_id, and it's designed not to change as members join or leave the ring.

Here are the possible ways to keep track of which member site the webring is being accessed from:

An integer member number

A short hash id

Emojis

I chose to use short hash ids because they provide a unique and reliable way to identify each member site, without the potential issues associated with emojis.

The idea behind a webring is to create a cycle of recommendations between web authors. This is achieved by one author sending traffic and exposing their favorite ideas in a seamless way, making it more likely that other authors will reciprocate.

A webring is meant to be a virtuous cycle, where authors support each other's work by sending traffic and recommending interesting content. This can be a powerful way to build a community of like-minded individuals who share and discuss ideas.

By sending traffic and exposing their favorite ideas, one author can spark a chain reaction of recommendations between web authors. This can lead to a snowball effect, where more and more people discover new and interesting content.

Webrings are all about creating a seamless way for authors to recommend their favorite ideas to each other. This can be more effective than simply posting a link and saying "you should read this".

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To start making changes, you need to understand how habits work.

Habits are automatic responses to specific cues, and they can be changed by identifying and replacing the old cue with a new one.

The key to creating new habits is to start small, with tiny changes that can be easily incorporated into your daily routine.

According to research, it takes 66 days to form a new habit, but this can vary from person to person.

To make lasting changes, you need to focus on the process, not the outcome.

This means breaking down big goals into smaller, manageable steps, and celebrating each small victory along the way.

By doing so, you'll be more likely to stick to your new habits and make progress towards your goals.

Research shows that the success rate of new habits is significantly higher when they are based on identity rather than willpower.

This means aligning your habits with your values and goals, and making choices that reflect who you want to be.

By doing so, you'll be more motivated to stick to your new habits and make progress towards your goals.