Moving to Ringlink??

[SandridgeFarm@aol.com]

Hi!
     I have been getting allot of email recently from Webring Ringmasters who 
are wanting to Join a Ringlink System, or who have already joined a Ringlink 
System.
     Those looking to join a Ringlink System usually go like this:
>>>......I am RingMaster for a WebRing with 850 members and am looking to 
move it to one of these open systems, which do you recommend? I visited the 
home pages for them but very confusing they don't tell me nothing? I know 
RingLink program is good, but don't want to host my own system. So I want to 
know which is most reliable because I want to be damn sure I only have to 
move my Ring once! I am also considering RingSurf.....>>>
     Well, I'm hardly in a position to recommend anything seeing that I had 
been hosting an Open Ringlink System with Netfirms(Need I say more??) which I 
have now moved to a Closed Ringlink System! :(
      I can thus certainly understand their concern! For example I recently 
created a new Ring, and instead of hosting it on my own System I had decided 
to host it on Gunnar's System which I know to be totally reliable! But you 
wouldn't know that from visiting his System's homepage, which is mostly about 
the Ringlink Program and not about his System...... The stuff they want to 
know is who are the other Member Ringlinks (So that they can ask them their 
opinion/experience of/with that System): "is the Server reliable", "can it 
handle the Traffic", "can we get help directly from the System's Manager when 
needed",  "is he a nice guy", "is this System going to be around for the long 
term", and.....
     Those who have already joined a Ringlink System want to get comments 
about their Rings included in the Systems Directory. I've been getting so 
many, that I have now had to add this to the Submit page:
"Note: A Web Ring that joins a Ringlink System posts it's Comments if any 
with that Ringlink System, and not with the Ringlink Systems Directory"
    Some also even ask why all the Rings in the Ringlink System that they 
joined arn't listed......I tell them that it's up to the indivdual 
RingMasters or that System's Manager.... I've even had someone submit all the 
member Rings of a certain Ring System, only to have that System's Manager 
tell me later to remove most of them and that I should ask him first....
      Well, the person I quoted above did go to RingSurf as I'm sure have 
others....:-(
So I think maybe if each Ringlink System (At least the Open Systems) had it's 
own Directory where all member rings were listed with comments and a link to 
it's Ringmaster, and also had more detailed info about the actual System that 
is hosting that Ringlink System more RingMasters would feel more confident in 
moving their Rings to Ringlink?? :-)
     Pete