Decide on a Topic for your webring.
Decide on a Title for your webring.
Make or obtain a Logo for your webring.
Make a Home page for your webring.
Create the Navpanel(s) you wish to use for your webring.
Optimize your webring's website and navpanel for Search Engines!
Go to the Create Ring page and fill out the form completely. Once installed, go to the Ring Admin page, login, and then customize your Webring's Admin pages as follows by clicking the 'Customize' button!
Edit the HTML default code Navpanel to your requirements, set up the join and edit forms on your home page, and then be the first to join your webring, so as to test everything out.
Edit if necessary, the e-mail messages that are to be sent out to new applicants.
Using your e-mail software, create the message templates that you will be sending out to these various applicants once they have joined (Examples of which can be found on the message templates page).
Post your webring's website to at least 2 search engines.
(http://www.google.com/addurl.html, http://dmoz.org/, and ....)
Announce your webring in the Show and Tell Forum.
Once your webring has at least 3 member websites, then list it in the Ringlink Webring Directory, and the WOW Webring Directory. You can easily do this for the Ringlink Directory in
Ring admin by clicking the "Directory" button.
Do a search on the topic or theme of your web ring. Visit the listed websites. If they are a good fit, send them an invitation.
Search for other webrings on your topic at the other less reliable webring systems such as WebRing and RingSurf. Visit some of the websites in those webrings. Send invitations to those websites that you would like to have them join your more reliable webring.
Maintain Your Webring at least once a week. Visit the Queue, and check all inactive websites regularly. Add those with the HTML code for the Navpanel on the correct page, and delete the duds. Send an appropriate e-mail to the ones that can't be added yet (Examples of which can be found on the message templates page). Check applicants that have been in the Queue for your allotted time. Delete those that have exceeded your limit, and send them an appropriate e-mail.
Check the entire webring for correct HTML code Navpanels. You can use the "Check Sites" function. Sites move. Sites close. Member websites are not always careful to change their website's information when moving to a new website. Do not let them "break" your webring. Set those websites to "inactive" and e-mail them gentle reminders that they need to update their information.
Keep your home page updated and error free, and consider setting up a forum or a mailing list for your members.
Backup your webring's data on a regular basis by clicking the 'Backup ring' button in ringadmin, and then store the backup file in a safe place. Also consider having a domain name for your webring, this allows you to move your webring to a different webhost without having to ask your members to update any of the navpanel's URL addresses.
This website is best viewed by Firefox, which is also the perfect browser with which to surf any webring. Another great tool for ringmasters is Thunderbird, which makes organizing your ring's emails a very easy undertaking.
- And have fun,
