Ring-a-ring-a-Web-site

You must have come across Web rings, you know, those Web sites that share a common theme and point to each other.

The use of Web rings is a great way to bring together organizations with similar and mutually supportive interests, so they can achieve a greater presence than they would individually. I love Web rings as they often provide a fast way to find out popular views of a topic or market.

But while there are sites that provide the mechanisms for building Web rings you might find that their organizational methods are not compatible with your way of thinking. For instance, they might be tied up with advertising, or be managed too sloppily for your tastes.

If you'd like to manage your own Web ring, check out Ringlink, a Web-based Common Gateway Interface application that is free (GNU General Public License) and open source.

According to the Ringlink Project, which aims to further develop Ringlink and support its use, Ringlink offers several advantages over similar services based on propriety software. These are:

* Independence - If you've installed Ringlink yourself, you are in control.

* Unlimited customization possibilities for the advanced user.

* Ringlink hosts can opt between offering ad-free rings, or arrange advertisements from which they benefit themselves.

The Ringlink Project also explains that:

* Ringlink is free.

* Ringlink is open source, which means that a community of active users is in a position to ensure that the development of the program does not cease.

* Ringlink is "created by ringmasters for ringmasters", which should ensure that the program's features are selected and designed in the interest of the ringmasters and their members.

Written in Perl, Ringlink is highly customizable and is extremely well documented.

Let me know if you use Ringlink and please send me your thoughts on Web rings in general.

Mark Gibbs is a consultant, author, journalist, and columnist. He writes the weekly Backspin and Gearhead columns in Network World.

Mark Gibbs is a consultant, author, journalist, and columnist. He writes the weekly Backspin and Gearhead columns in Network World. Gibbs is also co-conspirator of the Vitally Important Information Web site.

Gibbs can be contacted at webapps@gibbs.com. Press releases to pr@gibbs.com.

Ringlink