Sample Navigation Page 1a

This is a second page for the first sample site. Notice that there is a COPY of the navigation code on this page too. Why? Well, it makes it easier for people to keep on navigating the Ring. The navbar is relatively small, and can be placed at the bottom as this page does, or off to the side perhaps if you use frames or even just tables.

The Importance of Navigation Code

A "Ring" is based on the concept of being able to easily "navigate" from one site in the Ring to another. WebRing provides a very simple to install bit of HTML that will cause a "navigation bar" to appear on your page allowing people to navigate all the Rings your web site participates (and is active) in. You install the code once on each page you register with WebRing, regardless of the number of Rings that site is a member of, and WebRing will handle displaying the correct navigation code on your page. We do not use this to show ads, nor do we track the traffic in any other way. All we ever do is display the correct navigation code for your Site.

It is very important for the Ring to operate properly that you place this code where people navigating the Ring can see it easily. In fact, you may want to place it on each page of your site if you have more than one. The size of the navbar is relatively small (usually 250 pixels by 80) and loads quickly, so you should place it in a prominent location on your page(s). The traffic you and other sites return to WebRing is traffic that is more likely to return to your web site. The better each Ring works the more traffic you will see to your site.

Once you have completed the application to join a Ring you can go to your View Web Sites page to get this navigation code. It is commonly called "SSNB code", or Server Side NavBar code. You can place it on your page whether your Site has been approved for a Ring or not. The WebRing system knows whether it is OK to display a navbar for a Ring or not. Also, WebRing will show, unless you turn the feature off, is smart enough to show the one navbar a person is navigating, even if your web site belongs to many Rings! This way the correct navbar shows and never takes more space than necessary on your page!

Is it OK to use a "links" page to show my navbar(s)? Sure it is. Is that the best experience for users of the Ring? In some cases perhaps it is. For most sites, however, it is best to have a single, prominent, navbar available on the page they want to visit - YOUR page. A links page generally means a person navigating the Ring will either arrive at the links page and have to click a link to get to your content or, they will have to find, and click, a link to get from your content page to the links page. That's more work than many surfers would prefer to go through. If your navigation code is placed where your content is then they can arrive, view your page(s) at their leisure, and then easily continue to the next Site in the Ring. Similarly, they will be arriving from the previous Site (and others) if other members of the Ring do the same. By placing the navigation code on the same page, or pages, as the content surfing the ring is easy. Once you are done examining this page, just use one of the navigation links in the navbar above to move along.