Fliterati

Preserving the human web

Simply put, it's getting harder to discover original, human-created content online.

Search engines, and their AI derivatives, are largely geared to providing one-stop answers, and less about stumbling across interesting content within a particular niche.

That's where web rings come in. Content creators can use them to connect with similar sites and, hopefully, find new visitors. Visitors can use them to fall into rabbit holes of human-created content they might not otherwise found.

In a nutshell, this web ring is a collection of links to cool content humans have written and published online, and which is at risk of vanishing from view.

How does it work?

Sites that are part of a web chain (a.k.a web ring) display a shared navigation bar. Visitors can use the "next", "prev" and "random" buttons to visit other sites in the chain. That's all there is to it!

Who should join?

The intention is to curate and link independent sites (passion projects!) that aren't already served by SEO, ad networks, corporate funding, etc. There's no cost to join the chain; the only requirements are detailed below.

Sites and content

• This web chain is for sites that produce written content. How you host or style that content is up to you. Blogs, websites, self-hosted, or on community pages, coded from scratch or from templates: all are welcome.
• Sites should offer original commentary, analysis or theories of film, TV or books (not just reviews or news). It can be any or all of those art forms, but should include at least one as a named category on your site.
• For now, content should be in English, to make it easier to review sites that want to be added.

Webmasters

• The site's webmaster, whether that's the owner, a writer, developer etc, must be able to add a html snippet to their site, as this is how visitors will travel around the chain. You'll also need a Github account.
• Adding the widget to your site, and keeping it and your site active, are necessary for continued membership of the chain.

Rules

• No AI generated, structured or suggested articles.
• Content shouldn't be locked behind paywalls, restrictive cookie notices, or anti-adblock tech.
• No homophobia, transphobia, racism, or other kinds of hate speech.
• Like it says above, this web ring is for curiosity-filled indie sites, rather than blogs built to support products, companies or film / book releases, or to serve advertising.

How to add your site

If you've read the instructions and rules above and think your site is a good fit, here's what to do next.

1. Add the widget

Add the html snippet below to your site. The widget should appear on every page of the site, so ideally pop it somewhere like the footer or a sidebar.

<div id="FliteratiWebChain">
  <script type="text/javascript" 
    src="https://hc8c.github.io/fliterati/onionring-variables.js">
  </script>
  <script type="text/javascript" 
    src="https://hc8c.github.io/fliterati/onionring-widget.js">
  </script>
</div>

When you first add the code, it will appear on your site like this:

Once your site is added to the chain, the widget will appear like so:

You're free to style the widget to suit your site, using css, or however you normally style your content.

2. Add your site to the directory

• Once you've added the code, head over to the Fliterati repo on Github.
• Click on the file called sitelist.js and look for the pencil icon. Click it to edit the file.
• You'll be prompted to fork the repo (basically, to copy it to your Github account).
• Edit sitelist.js to add your site details to the bottom of the file in the format below. Remember to leave variable names like "siteName", and commas, as they are - just update the details for your site after each colon.

{ siteName: "yourdomain.com",
  siteUrl: "https://www.yourdomain.com",
  siteDesc: "Describe your site (30 words max)",
},

• When you've made your changes, create a pull request.
• If you've followed the instructions above and your site is a good match, I'll add your site to the chain and the directory (hopefully within a couple of days to a week).

Leaving the chain

• You can leave the chain at any time. Just remove the widget from your site and then delete your site details from sitelist.js (i.e., the reverse of the above).
• I'll also review the list occasionally to remove sites that don't have the widget or no longer fit the niche.