Ringlink
If you can execute CGI code on your host server, then Ringlink is the best solution. This is a Perl CGI script which you can freely download and modify to your heart's content. Many rings have changed over to the new Ringlink system and most of them seem to be doing well.

Ringlink is as fast as your own hosts computer system. Presumably your ring is not conflicting with thousands of other rings on the same host site (as it is with Webring, RingSurf and Sitering), so your ring should run much quicker than the other alternative ring formats.

There are two ways to use Ringlink. You can set up your own Ringlink system on your own server or you can find someone who has done so and use their Ringlink system. 

Some advantages of using Ringlink:

  • You can do anything that you want, if you have the desire and ability to modify the Perl code. The developers are actively making changes and accepting suggestions, so if you ask you may get what you want anyway.

  • Even without modifying the Perl code the system is pretty flexible.

  • The people who designed and coded these routines are very, very good, which shows in how well the entire system is designed. It looks good and works exactly as needed.

  • Since everyone in the ring is directly linked to your site, this will help your popularity with search engines. This contrasts with the links from the old Webring.com system (if you used the CGI link to your homepage) which was indirect and didn't help your rankings. Webring code uses JavaScript and will not help your search engine rankings at all.

Some disadvantages:

  • If you are going to host your own Ringlink system:

    • You will need to find a host which supports CGI. There are not many free hosts which support CGI, but there are a few.

    • Ringlink is definitely more work to set up, as you must install the scripts, test them and so forth.

  • If you are using someone else's Ringlink system:

    • The only real disadvantage that comes to mind is your ring is dependant upon their system. Since that's true of any ring system unless, of course, you host it yourself, that's a minor issue.

These disadvantages are common to all ring systems which use client-side HTML ring fragments:

  • As with RingSurf and SiteRing (Bravenet), creating the ring fragment can be a challenge (this task is non-existent with the new webring style rings)

  • Modifications to the fragments on other users sites can be challenging as you have no control over the fragments once they are sent out to your ring members.

All right, here is a quick rundown on what I had to do to set up Ringlink on Internet Tips And Secrets. Note that before doing any of this I moved the entire site and domain to a new provider which supports CGI (from Bizland.Com to Addr.Com). This actually turned our to be a wonderful move, as Addr.Com is much more reliable, more responsible and actually has real people on their technical support lines!

One important fact to understand is Ringlink was my first exposure to CGI of any kind (my experience is with Windows NT and ASP scripts). This makes the quick installation and debug time even more astounding and really illustrates how well these scripts are written.

  • Download the scripts.

  • Read the various files on how to install.

  • Install the scripts using FTP on my server.

  • Spent some time wondering why my cgi-bin directory kept getting deleted until I realized FrontPage 2000 was deleting it because the directory did not exist on my system.

  • Spent some time determining my script kept getting errors until I figured out that FrontPage 2000 was uploading the Perl files in binary mode. The scripts worked fine when manually copied with FTP in ASCII mode.

  • Learned about protections on files and set Perl files to appropriate levels.

  • Scripts worked great

  • Spent more time figuring out why scripts stopped working - FrontPage 2000 again. 

  • Decided to manually load my web pages with FTP instead of using FrontPage ever again.

  • Script now works great, four rings defined and adding new members.

  • Modified options to allow others to create their own rings.

Even with the FrontPage 2000 errors, the entire process took about 4 hours. Subtracting the FrontPage mess means it all took less than an hour to install and set up.

Let's sum up quickly the advantages of hosting Ringlink:

  • You gain control of your rings (complete control).

  • Your ring navigation will be as fast as your host.

  • Your search engine rankings will go up.

  • You can allow others to create their own rings on your host.

  • You no longer care who buys RingSurf or what the Gestapo at Webring decide to censor next.

Some recommendations I would make for people who are considering using Ringlink or any other privately hosted service using PHP, Perl, non-Perl CGI, ASP or anything else:

  • Get your own domain. This way if you move your site you will not have to change all of your member sites ring fragments. My recommendation is to never even attempt to set up your own Ringlink system unless you have your own domain!

  • Stop using FrontPage to upload your site (unless your host uses Windows NT server) as this will corrupt your databases. You can still use FrontPage to edit your site, just don't upload with it.

  • Back up your Ringlink databases often as you do not want to lose your rings in case of trouble. Corruption does happen to files once in a while, servers do crash and errors occur. Be prepared and back up, back up and back up.

  • Delete your Webring rings except for one site, which has one page which explains why you've left Webring. Also, this page can have the Ringlink (or other system) sign up code!

  • Make sure that all members of your Ringlink rings store any ring graphics locally to their own servers. Otherwise, you will find your bandwidth being stolen.

Check these articles for additional information:

 

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