DoDDSWolrld WebRing gone? also Military Brats WebRing

[Mike]

I'm wondering if WebRing.com hasn't bitten the big one. 31 sites are/were listed in the DoDDSWorld WebRing; another 8 in the Military Brats WebRing. Neither ring was being actively moderated; in fact the DoDDSWorld ring was up for "adoption" but no "adoption" offers were being entertained.

New site requests were not being acted upon; when I lodged a support ticket (per their explicit instructions) for "nonresponsive ringmaster", I was told that DoDDSWorld was receiving "community moderation" and I would just have to be patient; nothing ever happened. For the Military Brats WebRing, there was no response at all.

Today (1 July) they are not responding to URI requests (i.e. no web pages are being served) and their domain can't be pinged. Methinks perhaps they lost their hosting service.

If they don't return soon, I will provide an equivalent service for brats sites only. I already own an unused brats domain that can serve this purpose.

[Mike]

WebRing is back (sort of) with this message:

The WebRing Database is currently in read-only mode for system maintenance. It will be back online shortly.

I say "sort of" because for all practical purposes it was in read/only mode before, given that they weren't approving or moderating much of anything. It's in limp-along mode.

It's almost disappointing because it's hardly worth the effort to come up with a replacement for our sites if they're half there, yet they're certainly not worth the effort for those who need to change or add something. Their support is a joke.

Guess I'll keep my PERL & PHP manuals handy this holiday weekend in case I get bored.

[Mike]

Yesterday I received an automated email that this site's (Overseas Brats On-Line Community) pending membership in the DODDSWorld WebRing had been "expired".

So how does this work again?

• Day 1 -- enroll your site & add the navigation code (note to self: remove their useless navigation code from Overseas Brats On-Line Community)
• One week later -- no response, DODDSWorld moderator is out to lunch
• A few days later -- notice that DODDSWorld no longer has a moderator
• In fact -- DODDSWorld is up for "adoption", but if you click on the link to adopt it, you're told that no "adoptions" are being processed
• Day 15 or thereabouts -- file support ticket with WebRing
• No timely response from WebRing
• Eventually receive lame response from WebRing that DODDSWorld is being handled by "Community Management", so just suck it up & be patient, and with this they consider the matter "resolved and closed by Member services":

Originally Posted by WebRing Support

these Rings are being tended to, through Community Management. I'm sorry for your wait, but someone will get to your submission

• Filed support ticket with WebRing for non-response on pending addition to the Military Brats WebRing; after automatic acknowledgement, there was no follow up whatsover on that support ticket
• Day 31 or thereabouts -- receive email that Overseas Brats On-Line Community has been "expired" from DODDSWorld; have to conclude that "Community Management" isn't up to the challenge. I am also "sorry for [my] wait".

[Mike]

I did notice in Google Webmaster Tools that they are providing 3 of my top 10 backlinks at the moment. Although they are providing almost zippo traffic, they are influencing my Google ranking -- might as well use them for what I can get.

Meanwhile, the farce continues -- I can't request submission to DODDSWorld because the Overseas Brats On-Line Community is already submitted when in actuality it has been "expired" and is no longer listed in my active & pending ring memberships. DODDSWorld does in fact show 1 pending membership, so it would appear WebRing has a bit of a database integrity issue.

[Mike]

One month & 25 days later, "community moderation" finally got around to approving this site for the DoDDS WebRing.

Not swift, and I certainly would not ever consider any of their paid memberships.