Do you long for a simpler time, when America was Online and the only person you could Ask was Jeeves? Hotline Webring is bringing that time back, with Webrings!
In the 90s, search engines were of generally low quality, and people wanted a way to discover related sites. “I wish I could see more sites about puppies,” you might say to yourself over the sonorous clang of your modem, while waiting for a bitmap of a Clumber Spaniel to load.
So people with websites joined webrings, which were collections of sites where each site linked to their neighbors to form a ring. Sometimes there was one button on each site that'd take you to a random site in the webring. People got more traffic and less-popular sites benefited from being linked to more-popular ones.
Now, in 2025 C.E., there are search engines and aggregators so finding related sites isn't that hard, and webrings have fallen by the wayside.
We here at Hotline Webring traveled to the wayside, picked up The Concept of a Webring, dusted it off, and launched it to frankly astonishing acclaim.
How to Join
Here's our easy two-and-a-half-step process:
- Choose a unique "slug", or short code. For example, if your website were http://gabebw.com, you might use gabebw. Using something based on your website is a good idea because it's likely to be unique.
- Add links on your website to your slug. The links should be to
/nextand/previous, like this:- https://hotlinewebring.club/YOUR-SLUG/next
- https://hotlinewebring.club/YOUR-SLUG/previous
- A hot(line) tip: don't literally use YOUR-SLUG. It is already taken. Replace "YOUR-SLUG" with whatever you want your actual slug to be.
- Another hot(line) tip: put your links on your coolest page. We look at every site that joins and ensure visitors land on the page with the webring links. This lets people click through every site in the webring.
- You're done! When someone clicks on one of your links, you'll be automatically added to the webring.
FAQ
Q: Can I control who I link to? A: No, sorry, it's all automatic. But on the bright side it's easy to sign up!
Q: How can I reach the people who run this thing? A: Email us! We're always delighted to receive email: ringleaders@hotlinewebring.club.
Q: Do you allow any website into Hotline Webring? A: Hotline Webring accepts many sites, but not all. We want sites that show off someone's individual personality. We also draw the line at a few specific places:
- Hate speech
- Racism, sexism, any kind of bigotry
- Advertisement-focused sites
Q: Is my slug taken? A: You tell me: