Join The Ring

Rules

The sites accepted into the ring must:

• contain information related to music;
• be more than merely lists of links to other sites;
• not contain offensive material;
• be comprehensible, appealing and updated regularly, minimizing outdated information and dead links.

All sites that are part of the Ring will contain a piece of code that will enable visitors to skip from site to site in the chain. After following the procedure for joining you will receive an email message containing the code you need to insert in your page. The code has to be inserted on the main page of your lyrics site, or on a more general main page, from which the lyrics section is only one, easily found, click away.

Procedure

1. Read the rules and make sure you are able to comply with them.
2. Fill out the form below and click the Add to Queue button. This will place you in the queue of sites waiting to get into the ring. You will shortly receive an email with further instructions, including the HTML code you will have to insert in your page. All sites will be evaluated by the ringmaster prior to activating them in the ring.
3. Refer to the Frequently Asked Questions section or email me if anything is unclear.

Change Site Info

Music Ring FAQ

• When I insert the HTML code in my page, will I then immediately be part of the ring?
• If I join the Lyrics Ring, does my page have to contain the exact same code as the other sites in the ring?
• Does the code on my page have to contain someone else's name in the link "This lyrics ring site is owned by..."?
• Can I join the ring via email instead of having to use the online form?
• Is there any control over the type of sites that are in the ring, or can anyone join the ring?
• Only part of my site is dedicated to lyrics. When joining the ring, should I specify the URL of my main homepage, or of the page dedicated to lyrics?
• Can I join the ring with one URL from my site, but insert the code for the ring in another URL?
• Can I put the graphics that are mentioned in the lyrics ring code on my own server and access them from there?

When I insert the HTML code in my page, will I then immediately be part of the ring?

   No, joining the ring is a two step process. After you fill out the form, you receive the HTML code via email. After you have inserted this code in your page, it will not be fully functional yet. The links "Previous", "Next", and "Next 5" will not do what they promise, but they will take the visitor to the Music Ring Homepage instead (this page). Only the "Random site" link will take the visitor to a site in the ring. Your site will become part of the ring after it has been approved by the ringmaster. Therefore, after inserting the HTML code in your page, you need to reply to the email that was sent to you,containing the HTML, asking to be officially activated in te ring. If your site complies with the Lyrics Ring rules, this will normally happen within 48 hours (and often a lot sooner).

If I join the Lyrics Ring, does my page have to contain the exact same code as the other sites in the ring?

   After you fill in the online form to join the ring, you will receive a piece of HTML code via email, that has been customized for your page. If the format of this code does not look nice in combination with the layout of your page, you may change the code and/or graphics around, or even delete the smaller of the two graphics in the code. Before activating your site in the ring, I will have a look at it to see if it is working ok. I ask you not to take out the larger of the two graphics, to maintain a consistent look among the sites in the ring, so that visitors will recognize the ring links easily when hopping from site to site in the ring. I am always open to suggestions though. And I make an exception for people who want to keep their page text only.

Does the code on my page have to contain someone else's name
in the link "This lyrics ring site is owned by..."?

   No, the code you will receive via email, to be inserted in your page, will be customized for your page. Due to restrictions of the script that generates this code, it will not contain your name, but your site's name, e.g. "This lyrics ring site is owned by The Lyrics Parade" (if your site is called The Lyrics Parade). You can modify this code if you like, so it will contain your own name instead. This name will be a link to your email address.

Can I join the ring via email instead of having to use the online form?

   If you have problems using online forms, you can email me with the name and URL of your site, your name and email address, and the password you want to use for future modifications. I will then perform the online registration for you and you will receive the HTML code for your page via email, plus further instructions.

Is there any control over the type of sites that are in the ring, or can anyone join the ring?

   Joining the ring is a two step process. Only the first part of this process is "uncontrolled". Anyone can enter the queue for the ring and insert the HTML code in his or her page. But only after I have reviewed and approved the new site, I will activate it in the ring. Until then, none of the existing sites in the ring are linked to this new site.

Only part of my site is dedicated to music.
When joining the ring, should I specify the URL of my main homepage, or of the page dedicated to lyrics?

   Please enter the URL of the page dedicated to lyrics. The idea of the ring is that visitors can hop from site to site, looking for sites about lyrics. They might get confused if suddenly they end up on a different type of homepage. Of course your lyrics page can contain links to your main page and other pages.

Can I join the ring with one URL from my site, but insert the code for the ring in another URL?

   If you do this, people will end up on a page that doesn't contain the lyrics ring code and this might confuse them, when they just want to hop from site to site in the ring. Also, the to manage the ring, I use a utility that checks the ring integrity by checking if all sites in the ring actually contain the code. If you have a specific reason for wanting to follow this approach, please email me to discuss this, and we can work something out.

Can I put the graphics that are mentioned in the Music ring code on my own server and access them from there?

   Sure, please feel free to download the graphics and alter the code on your page accordingly.