I've just spent the last week or so auditing the AmDram web ring to support Jane and every link in the ring is now working now and only a few sites were removed for noncompliance (or because they were dead).

The web ring is something that helps build an amateur dramatics community and also brings traffic to your site that possibly wouldn't otherwise have found you. If anyone here has an amateur dramatics web site that isn't already registered with the web ring then I encourage you to join. It's a simple joining process that starts at the url below:

http://www.amdram.co.uk/RobRing/ring.html

Note that it is possible to customise the look of the web ring code so that it fits well with the look of your site if necessary.

If you have any questions or issues you can get help from ringadmin@amdram.co.uk

Rgds
Kenny

Thanks for pointing this out Zorro. I have no idea what all this is about (well, I kind of do) but what the heck, I have registered us anyway! Will go and have a nose around another time.

Maureen,

Dont forget to update your website with the code provided by Zorro!

Otherwise you will break the webring!

I agree that joining the Amdram webring is an excellent idea!!

Its a good way of getting traffic moving between sites, which we all know is of course good news!!

The more traffic the more interest!!

However, make sure you update your site to reflect your membership otherwise it will be of no assistance to you!!

Zorro will need to remove sites that do not enter the code quickly because they effectively break the ring of websites.

JOIN NOW! - I think this is an important topic so I am pinning it for everyone to see!

Sorry if this appears a bit thick but I'm a bit unclear as to what is involved. Will there just be an icon on our website (due up shortly) that links into the webring? Will this need to be on every page, home page, link page?

I'll need to sell this to the committee so I just want to arm myself with some ammunition.

Plus I need this post.

(99, one more, off to Miscellaneous - point scoring)

If you go to the Amdram front bage and scroll down to the very bottom you'll see a small table with "Amdramers Of The World Web Ring" and "Previous/Random/Next" links inside. Something like this will need to be placed on the page that you register with the ring (or more pages in addition if you want).

Note 1: The format/style/look of the table can be changed to suit your preference as long as the basic content/information is retained and the link code isn't changed (or broken). For examples browse round the ring or look at my site (link below) or look at this site for an extreme example..

Note 2: For an example of a "more pages" version goto my site and look at the right hand margin menu - every single page on my web site has the ring in the right margin. That's not compulsory, I'm just fanatical (plus I use the same header/footer file for every page so it's easier for me).

Rgds
Kenny

Cheers Kenny, I get it now. The one on your own site is good. Some of the example are far too big but yours is a good size. I will pass the details to our 'gatekeeper of the web'.

When joining the web ring you are sent some simple html code to add to your site so that it provides links for continuing around the web ring. Some webmasters have used artistic license and been quite created with the web ring code in the way they have integrated it into their site or presented the ring links while maintaining the continuity of the web ring.

Since some of these examples are quite good I've taken the liberty of pasting links to them below for your to peruse at your leisure. This is not an exclusive list of "all the good ones" but just a few of the better ones in my opinion. Hope you like them, and perhaps be inspired by them.

http://www.adlingtonmusicandarts.com/

http://crowthornemusicalplayers.org.uk/

http://www.shakespearelive.com/

http://www.catswebsite.co.uk/

http://www.lutonphoenixplayers.co.uk/

Rgds
Kenny

Zorro, been looking around the webring and I got to Coalville Adult School Drama Group and they didn't have a webring link to go any further. I went about 10 in the other direction and found a "can't find this page" site so was stuck.

You reached the point in the ring where new ring members have just recently applied to the web ring and been accepted but haven't got around to adding the web ring code yet.

I do try and leave around a week for the new members to add the code before I send reminders then remove them shortly after if they still don't update. Coalville (you know who you are Maureen) joined on the 27th Jan are are about to be removed!!!

We've had a flood of new members within the last couple of weeks so that means that there's going to be a few sites without link code for a few days but this only affects a few sites already in the ring and only for a very short period.

Kenny, your link to Luton Phoenix Players not only had no webring code, but no site - it's on a holding page (with some very nice looking servers though)!

Unfortunately this seems to be a major part of Kenny's battle.............

If a site goes down then the webring becomes incomplete. If you were to go all the way round the ring then you would come accross this site and not be able to proceed any further.

The same applies when a new site enters they must ensure that they enter the ring code into their page as soon as possible.

I know Kenny does check the ring regularly and therefore he may have to consider deleting this site....

Hopefully this is just a temporary problem and the site will be back online soon

I can guarantee this is a relative recent (and probably very temporary) situation as I've been traversing the web ring weekly and proving it works. I'll contact the manager of the site. If you have any more of these please email me directly at ringadmin@amdram.co.uk

The Luton site is back by the way. Don't know when it came back but it's working fine today.

I didn't realise we could customise the web-ring code.
Choices, choices, choices - what style to choose?
I think Cuddington Players website will have to remain with the standard code for a while longer until I decide.

Claire

As long as the links are clearly displayed, work, and it's obvious it is the amdram web ring.

Having just discovered this thread, I went straight to our homepage (http://www.liskeardmusicaltheatre.co.uk) and discovered (horror of horrors ) that our link is dead! Trouble is, whenI visit the site I just click straight on the enter button and never scroll down! A lesson learned! I'd better sort this out, just as soon as I've sorted my FTP problems...

Actually, you're not in our web ring but in another. I don't recall you ever being in ours (hint hint) ;-).

Hi@All

After a week of being a member of the ring and spending 8hrs a day at the weekends and 2-3hrs a night during the week reading all the topics in the Forum (well nearly all) I've got round to this one and tried the ring out.

It didn't work, got as far as Shinfield Players Theatre (Next direction) and <_< couldn't find the ring link on their page. Went in the Previous direction and after Richardl (his link is there) the page was blank .

I suppose the best way to carry on surfing the ring is to click on random and hope you jump past the site that doesn't comply.

If this is due to new members surely it would be better not to activate a new members ID until you checked their website to see if the Ring link (htmlcode) has been added.

Shinfield Players is Dogsbody's group.

Dogsy - What you got to say about this?

I thought Zorro wizzed around the ring weekly to check things out - probably wearing his home made super womble costume

Has the mighty Zorro been caught out? Perhaps he needs a new super hero costume

Answers on a postcard too...

Both RichardL and it's "previous" site have web ring code on their pages.

Shinfield Players accidentally found a loophole. Their previous site required that I specify a html code location that was different from the actual home page (frames or something) so that my web ring code checker would work. They recently (within the last 1-2 weeks I reckon - last updated 20th June) massively updated their site and it's also at a new location. The web ring loop takes you to the new direction but the html code checker is looking at the old one (which is still there, with working web ring code). I've temporarily deactivated their membership of the web ring and contacted the webmaster.

I typically check the ring evry 1-2 weeks - it's software driven for most sites so I only have to manually check a few.

1/105 errors during 1-2 weeks of a year is not a bad performance.

I do appreciate the splendid job you do here,

I think I might of had a Cache problem when going previous on RichardL Webring link

had an awful lot of E things open on the taskbar

Keep up the good work

Course I just found one of the cat sites is now offline and have had to deactivate that as well .

Hi Zorro

Just clicked on the link in your last post ref Shinfield players, is that their old site?

Just realised I knew that area quite well as I did my Basic & Trade training in Arborfield.

As I'm a newbie I am looking for ideas to improve my website. I would say it's looking slick and easy to the eye at the moment.

My son set it all up, I've just added the text. I do not accept responsibility for the "Ticket Reservation" page, that was another member who set up our first site (a freebie provider but too many pop-ups). I am insisting on doing it the hard way, straight HTML coding, no website builder software.
Although I have been told Dreamweaver is the best around

There are some excellent sites on the Webring, I'm going to try it out again now

Hey, don't knock coding the hard way (directly with raw HTML), it's what I use for for all my design work .

p.s. Shinfield have confirmed they were having host trtansfer and FrontPage4 vs 6 issues but have manually recoded their site to work again including the web ring code so they're membership has been reactivated.

p.p.s. the CATS site is back up as well and I've managed to get Plays For Playtime back into the web ring.

Got to agree that Dreamweaver MX is a top piece of software. I've just recently started using it and find it very easy to use.

I still can't resist playing with the HTML though, after all that's all part of the enjoyment of building these things.

I think I speak for all of us in saying what a fantastic job Kenny does with the webring.

Having been on a NODA marketing workshop yesterday, and raved about his hard work, I expect all of those groups to contact him in the next few weeks in order to make him work even harder!!


Well done, Kenny - keep up the good work.

Definitely.

Yup

Sorry Folks it was all my fault.

Sorry super Kenny for B.....ing the system by way of explanation we Originally opened up Shinfield Players site in my ISP's personal web space hence we bought up the www.shinfieldplayers.co.uk and www.shinfieldplayers.org.uk titles and redirected them to face the home page.
Another couple of members then set up our newsletter on their personal webspace and we linked both.

Recently we have gained our own host and migration has been undertaken.

Now the problem the main site was in DTP Serif and converted to code by the package, the other site was coded in Micro Soft Front Page 4.

I have over the last week been attempting to deal with the deaded CODE ( Oh how I envy you Kenny being so clever with this mumbo jumbo!!) but when I attempted to download the site for amalgamation of the links etc my Front Page 6 took a dim view of the navigation system!!
So I have had to resort to editing the Web site in code in notepad to get the links onto it.
I have been working thought the day on the site (on disc) and I am almost ready to launch my FP6 Navigation system to the world.

For Roy's information the site is indeed not far from Arborfield, part of which I recently demolished as part of my daytime activities as a Site Manager, but more interestingly the Theatre is the remaining part of the RAF Bomber Training Command NAFFI.

Happy smurfing everyone

keep watching for the web site to reach its full potential...

Sorry folks I posted am appology and it was listed in the web section but didn't appear on the page.
Cant do anything right this weekend

woof woof

Now its pops up !!!

Computers GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Hi Dogsbody

Does this mean they've finally got rid of the Nissen huts, I think there were still 12 standing when I was there 26 years ago.

Sorry getting off Topic.

So to get back on Topic, judging from the posts generated today, I would like to apologise if any critisism has been construed in Zorro's direction, this was certainly not intended.

He's doing a very good job

I've just tried to take a look at the new Shinfield Players site and i get blank grey boxes where i think the buttons should be, so I can't browse the site

I have just checked and all seems well but the site is not yet fully updated as I now have to talk to my server site about LINKS!!!!

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