rootring months later
Months after its launch, rootring is still evolving and growing. At the time of writing, 169 blogs have joined the ring. Far more than I ever imagined!
A lot has happened since launch, so I'm using this post to go over the biggest changes and additions.
Search the Archive
This is probably the biggest addition to the original webring idea. When a blog joins the ring, I try to include all of its historical posts, which is something most RSS feeds don't provide by default. That gave me enough data to build a search engine around the archive.
It has most of the common features you would expect from a search engine. It's not perfect yet, especially when searching for partial terms, but it gets the job done. It's very easy to lose track of a good post, so hopefully this makes it easier to find one again.
Link Tracking
Another major feature is that rootring tracks when posts link to other posts from blogs in the ring. This provides some neat statistics, but more importantly, it helps with discovery.
The Explore page shows posts that have been linked across the ring over different time periods, making it easier to find posts that are being actively discussed or included in link roundups and newsletters. There is also an option to show lightly linked posts that have only received one or two links, which helps keep the page from becoming purely a popularity contest.
The Latest page also includes a small resurfaced interlude. It highlights an older post that was recently linked by a newer post in the ring. It's a small addition, but it means discovery isn't limited entirely to whatever was published most recently.
Blog Identities
The brickwall has been there since the beginning, but it was previously somewhat hidden inside the directory. It now appears on the homepage and is much easier to discover. I'm very happy that so many blogs are participating. The wall keeps growing with wonderfully designed little 88x31 buttons.
I also redesigned the individual blog pages. They now show more information, better navigation to other blogs in the ring, and support for a small web banner (468x60px!). This gives each blog a little more visual identity. When no banner is provided, rootring generates a simple SVG banner automatically.
To add or update a brick or banner, you currently need to contact me through email, Discord, or socials. I can update it for you, or give you access to a self-service page. The self-service option requires an email address though.
Announcements
I decided to deprecate and remove rootring’s announcement feature. The original idea was to use it for blog events such as bandwagons or challenges but in practice it felt awkward and didn't fit naturally with the rest of the site.
I may revisit the idea later as a more dedicated service, similar to the separate search site, but don't hold your breath. This is a maybe, if I feel like it situation.
Consolidated Feed
The feed provided by rootring has also changed. It is now a consolidated Atom feed containing recent posts from across the ring, including summaries where available.
Several people requested this. I had originally assumed most readers would simply subscribe to the individual blogs they liked, but apparently an all-ring feed is useful too. Who am I to argue? I'm not personally following the feed in a reader every day, so if anything looks broken or unusual, please let me know.
Still a Webring
Rootring is still, first and foremost, a discovery tool. It indexes enough information to help people find, revisit, and follow interesting posts, but the destination should remain the blogs themselves.
The goal isn't to replace independent sites with another platform. It is to make those sites easier to move between.
Future
Behind the scenes, I'm continuing to expand the admin dashboard so that I can eventually add trusted users as fellow admins or moderators. The ring is growing, and many people seem to enjoy it, so I want to make sure the project doesn't simply live and die with me. Once I'm happy with the moderation tools, I plan to bring a few helpers on board.
In the meantime, I'm making daily database backups. You never know.
I also plan to make the code open source. At the moment, development happens in a private git repository, and I intend to create a public mirror at some point, although I have been hesitant about using the usual hosting platforms. rootring isn't really designed to be self-hosted or copied as a standalone product, but having the source publicly available still seems valuable as documentation or as a backup.
At some point, I would also like to improve the search engine by using a dedicated search library or service instead of relying entirely on postgres full text search. I've also considered allowing blogs to opt into the search index without joining the ring itself. I don't want to simply scrape arbitrary blogs, so the process would remain opt-in. But the more blogs included, the more useful the search engine becomes.
Join the Ring
The current approval policy is fairly simple: you need to have a blog that's at least somewhat focused on ttrpgs. It doesn't need a high post count, nor does it need to be especially active. It can't, however, be excessively commercial—or run by a shithead, as judged by me and the community.
A note to anyone who applied and never heard back: some early applications were affected by email problems, and some included contact methods I couldn't use, such as social accounts with closed DMs. If you are still interested and never received a response, please contact me directly or apply again with a working contact method.
Another note to everyone I approved who is still stuck at the adding webring links to your blog stage: this is your gentle reminder! Take your time, though. It's okay. Just let me know once you've added them. If you are stuck or have questions, reach out as well. I can likely provide tech support :)
But yea! Join the ring!