What is a Webring?

A Webring is a way to group sites with a similar interest together in a "ring". Links on
each page in the ring allow you to move from one site to the next, allowing one to
(eventually) traverse the entire ring and end up where they started. 

What is a Ringmaster? 

The ringmaster is the person in charge of a particular ring. They are (typically) the
ones who create the ring, create the homepage containing information about the ring,
and perform various management tasks associated with keeping the ring running smoothly.
These include answering questions about the ring adding sites to the ring removing
old or inactive sites from the ring.

What is a Ring ID?

The Ring ID is a string (sequence of characters) that uniquely identify a particular
ring on the Webring server. Ring ID's are composed of letters and numbers, contain
no whitespace or punctuation, and are case insensitive (FISH = FiSh = fish).
(Our Ring ID is mwt)

What is a Site ID? 

A Site ID is simply a number that uniquely identifies a particular site in a Webring.
Site ID's start at 1 and go up from there. Sites are assigned a Site ID when the site
information is submitted to the Queue. 

Site ID's never change. They also have absolutely nothing to do with the "order" that
sites are arranged in ring. Their sole purpose is to uniquely identify sites in the
Webring database. They are listed next to the site in the ring index
(http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=___;index). Site ID's are used ONLY
on the sites that they were assigned to. Doing this lets webring know where to move
FROM in the ring. 
	 
What is the difference between the Ring and the Queue? 

The Webring maintains two lists of sites for each Webring. The first contains all sites
that are actually part of the ring of sites. "Next" and "Previous" links on sites on
this list should move people from one site to the next. 

The other list, called the Queue, is a sort of waiting area for sites that want to join
the ring but haven't been approved yet, or have been temporarily moved out of the ring
for some reason or other (missing URL, etc.). 

When a site wants to join the ring, the site owner will typically fill out a form on the
ring homepage with the site title, URL, a description, their e-mail address, and other
random information. When this info is submitted, the site is added to the queue and they
are assigned a Site ID. It is then up to the ringmaster to verify that the new site is
actually appropriate/eligible for ring membership and then insert them in the ring.

How do the links on a typical Webring site work? 

In essence, the links on each site in the ring provide a means for the webring database
to know what site the user is coming from, and where they want to go.
(ie, next site, prev site, etc....) By having the proper information on each site
(ring id, site id#) the database then checks to see which site is next in line, and most
importantly, what ring. When the user clicks on one of these links, webring will search
the database for the proper information and then send the user to the url of the next
site in the ring. 

The same goes for the list option. The webring will call up a list of all the sites
currently in the ring from the database, according to the ring id that was in the link. 

The random function works in much the same way. But when it gets the id#, it makes sure
that the random number that is chosen will not be the current site. 
	 
	 
How do people submit their sites for consideration? 

The most common way is through a form on the ring homepage
(http://www.mwt.net/~bandit/ring.html) that sends all of the sites information to the
webring to be placed in your rings database.
   
Who decides what sites get into the ring? 

The sole responsibility for that is on the ringmaster of the ring. If he has any helpers,
they can help them decide on sites to admit. No matter how you slice it though, it still
comes back to the ringmaster to make the final decision.