Hotline is a new style webring so you don’t have to do a lot of registration to join. In fact, this is one of the easiest webrings to join – you only have to do 2.5 simple steps and it just works. The webring code is straight HTML which you create, just follow the instructions. This is nice because the ring code does not take up much space. I have no idea how it’s coded but that hardly matters because it just works.
There is no subject theme for the webring but it mostly appears to be made up of personal blogs, websites and some cool retro Web 1.0 type sites. You will find a list of all sites in the ring at the link above, so you get an idea of who you are hanging out with.
It’s young, it’s fresh, it’s got a pink background. Why wouldn’t you check it out?
It’s been a busy Late Autumn but we managed to make a few changes and improvements to the directory in late 2019.
800 listings. Yeah we hit 800 with all sorts of new listings added. More to come. I’ve been removing dead listings (dead wood) as I find them, and there has been some. 800 links isn’t a lot in the big scheme of things but then we are not trying to be big or pretty: just useful, real and sometimes entertaining.
Added climate change category. This has not generated a lot of interest yet, but heck it’s an important topic and a handy place to find over 30 useful sites on the topic – all in a bunch.
Changed the way search works on the directory. I think this works much better because it makes it easier to find a category that matches you subject faster.
Added highlighting to search results. So now your search keyword(s) are highlighted in yellow.
Thank you to all who have used the Indieseek.xyz directory over our first year. And additional thanks to all who have added their websites. Feel free to tell your friends.
The main directory page and every category in Indieweb.xyz creates a unique RSS feed. So if you want to know when new Listings are added to Indieweb.xyz go to the directory main page and scroll to the bottom footer to find a link to the RSS feed.
Likewise, every category and sub-category in creates a RSS feed so if you only want to know when new listings are added to your favorite topic just go to that category footer to find a link to the category RSS feed. (ie. If you want to monitor new listings in the “Role Playing Games” category simply go to that cat and find the feed at the bottom. Repeat for other categories. Simple.) Makes a nice discovery tool.
Blog Only: Of course the blog has it’s own RSS feed just for blog articles and should not be confused with the directory.
I changed how the default search function works here on the Indieseek.xyz directory. Previously, when you searched, you got a list of listings only. I’ve changed the default to “Search All” which gives you a tabbed search result: Listings, Categories, Comments. The tabs are at the top of the search results page.
Listings is the default tab you see right away, but the Categories tab is the important one because if you find a category that matches your search query you are more likely to to find all the sites listed for that subject. (Example: try searching for “directory software”, “webrings” or “indieweb” and click on the Categories tab and you will see what I mean.)
Hopefully this will give you a better experience when searching the directory. Please let me know in the comments below.
The best way to use a directory is to find the category that matches your subject. Using the Category tab offers a shortcut to digging deeper into the directory.
Just like before, if you don’t find what you want you always have the option of continuing your search on one of six other privacy or Indieweb search engines or directories at the bottom of the search results.
Summer is really over here at the directory. My break from Indieseek.xyz, both the directory and the blog was intentional.
I wanted to gauge traffic and usage of the directory during a period when I wasn’t actively posting blog posts or syndicating to social networks.
I wanted to see if I got any submissions to the directory. Would it grow organically, without me adding URL’s?
It was summer and I needed a break from the computer. Also, I’m the lawn boy so I had chores.
What I Learned:
No search engine traffic to the directory itself, some search engine traffic to the blog. It appears (and I was warned by SEO’s) that Google does not like web directories and that appears to be true. Although, it is ironic that Googlebot hammered the hell out of the directory here at Indieseek.xyz when I first started. Google wants the info, but they don’t give back. I may follow through with my threat to ban Googlebot from the directory.
Some search engine traffic to the blog. Not a lot, because it’s not a popular site. Also the subject of “web directories” is pretty well dead in 2019. Just not a popular topic anymore, which is okay, I’m not complaining, I knew that when I started. Anyway, the blog is indexed and gets some small trafffic from search engines.
Not many spam URL submissions to the directory. This is good news.
More spam comments to the blog.
Some visitors actually use the directory to find websites! Yea! That is what we are here for.
Most of the above might sound discouraging but it’s about what I expected. Indieseek.xyz is a long term project and it takes time to grow traffic from scratch. The directory will never be huge, but it hopefully will be useful in finding non-commercial sites and pages on a subject.
What I did
I found some sites that have deleted their content – dead wood – and deleted them. I need to start spot checking and clearing dead wood.
I added some sites that were submitted. (Those are only the last 30 days.)
Forward
I’ve got a lot of good sites gathered over the summer, in my bookmarks, so I’ll be adding those. Also I’ll try to fit in more blog posts. The problem is, other than announcements, I’m running out of directory and search engine stuff to talk about.
I’ve also been wondering if we need a mailing list or a forum or something for parties interested in linking/directories who can’t seem to get on the Indieweb.
Indieseek.xyz got listed in the official Indieweb wiki at Indieweb.org/directory. We’re there along with directories made by Joe Jenett and Kicks Condor.
Rearranging Categories
Created a new top level category Books. Made Fiction and Nonfiction sub-categories of Books.
I was showing some friends of mine my new Kobo ebook reader and realized they knew very little about ereaders. If they had questions, maybe others have them too. So I created two new categories under Books: eBook Readers and eBook Sources.
Top Categories
I changed the lineup on the Top Categories page. Much to my surprise, the News category has proved very popular.
Additions
Added a few new author sites
Added lots of listings to those new ebook categories, including a good mix of sources for free ebooks, because free is good and we like free.
Plus added a couple of vintage sites.
Submissions
Chris McLeod submitted his weblog Mr.Kapowski to the directory. Thanks Chris! Chris talks about web development, miniature painting and war games.
Hyperlink Nodes Directory
Over at nodes.indieseek.xyz I managed to add a blogroll, a linkblog and a niche directory. We add them as we find them.
Many thanks to the many people that support Indieseek.xyz. If you would like a way to support Indieseek I would ask that you link to us. Thanks.
We had our share of excitement here with part of both Indieseek.xyz and Nodes.indiseek.xyz directory scripts partially down for awhile. The problem was the Php errors would only show when logged out of the sites and I, being the Admin, am almost always logged in. No telling how long that was going on. Fixed now.
Listings
I’m no longer rushing to to seed the directory with listings. This is good because it gives me more time to work on more detailed descriptions. I have also started writing Comments for listings to give my thoughts on things, like: why it’s listed, my experience with it, my recommendation, etc. This lets me editorialize while keeping descriptions more neutral.
New listings will be added through new submissions and websites I find along the way. I have added a few blogs and other websites. I always keep my eye out for blogs.
Meanwhile at Nodes.indieseek.xyz
Over at the link clump directory, I’ve added a couple of linkblogs to the listings.
I also added a new category of traditional web directories. I added these to show younger people how we found stuff on the Web before search engines got good and before Google. Since they are still around, I thought they should be acknowledged in some way.
I launched a new tiny directory of link clumps. Announcement here.
We Gotcha News Feeds Right Here
It’s an easy guess that the blog here on Indieseek.xyz has a news feed but did you know that the directories also have RSS feeds of the newest listed sites? Well we have links to them all below for your feed reader, in a bunch.
It’s been slow here at the directory. Real World and holiday fuss has been getting in the way of my schedule. But the good news is that directory listings have a fairly good shelf life so they won’t spoil.
WordPress 5.0 and Gutenberg
The blog part of this site is powered by WordPress and the recent update to WordPress 5.0 has forced plugin developers to push out a rash of updates to their plugins. Despite that some things are broken here: widgets have had fatal errors and died, and other oddities. All that is a timewaster, trying to correct things and track down the causes. As I write this I’m not sure this post will even publish correctly.
Submissions
Blogger Ton Zijlstra submitted his blog Interdependent Thoughts to the directory, so thank you Ton! This is good because Ton was able to write his own description for the listing which summarizes the subjects and themes of his blog far better than I could do.
Additions
I added a few more podcasts, couple of blogs, music sites, news and vacuum cleaner collector sites.
Comments
You may have noticed, there is a comments link for each listing in the directory. If you particualarly like the website, software or whatever listed I encourage you to comment on it. My hope is that we all can help guide others to the good stuff.
Featured Catagories
Society>>Emergencies – handy links from US Government guides.
Society>>Emergencies>>Preppers – Some prepper stuff, which I tried to filter out the extemes and go for useful info. But also a lot of living off the grid sites which could be useful in case of a widespread, extended power outage (ie. Puerto Rico).
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah or Happy Solstice.
