It's a sad fact of life that as things change, things, well, change. You can see this in the North American west; there are signs of vibrant old civilizations everywhere which must have been thriving communities of life some time in the past. From the Aztec civilization to the old west mining towns this phenomenon is evident.
Believe it or not, the internet is no different. One day there is a thriving web site, and the next there is a 404 error. Sites are created, grow, change, thrive and eventually die.
The internet is very much like the America old west. Small towns popped up here and there as people move into an area; on the internet, hosting companies get populated with web sites as they attract customers. Roads get built to allow people to get around; while on the web you see things like webrings, directories and link exchanges being created so that people get directed where they can get useful information.
This happened with the old (pre-Yahoo assimilation) Geocities web hosting. At it's height just before being sucked into the Yahoo black hole, this web host was a collection of some of the greatest personal web sites ever created. There were literally millions of wonderful, eclectic little creations, which was reminiscent of a huge Christmas tree with decorations hand-created and submitted by millions of people.
Many different pathways were fashioned to allow people to move from site to site in an organized manner. One of the most promising methods of connecting like-themed sites was the webring system; this allowed a surfer to move from site to site in a ring (hence the name), and if properly maintained offered a very fulfilling drive.
As people move sites to other web hosts, it is often true that the old site remains, totally unchanged. These sites may never again be updated by their creators, and they are often not removed by web hosts simply because it's cheaper just to ignore them. Besides, the sites are still being visited, so they continue to display ad banners and thus generate income. Web hosts are not generally interested in creativity - they are after profits.
These abandoned sites are known as ghost sites, just like abandoned communities in the old west are known as ghost towns. It can be an eerie experience surfing through the pages of a ghost site, reading about events of several years ago as if it were today. It's just like walking through a ghost town, looking through a window to see an old newspaper proclaiming a civil war victory as if it happened yesterday.
Sometimes someone has decided to preserve a ghost site for whatever reason, and they move it to a new location. They might also simply create a copy of a web site on another host and just forget about it. Eventually these sites might be found my surfers and search engines, and thus zombie sites are formed. These are the strange, uprooted sites which are not only out-of-time, but out-of-place.
A ghost webring is also a strange phenomenon. These are completely abandoned pathways which formerly allowed surfers to move from site to site in an organized manner. Webrings must be maintained, as sites are added, removed and changed on a regular basis. Ghost rings become very tattered, with missing sites and fragments all over the place. Before long, the ring simply ceases to operate, and is reminiscent of the old Roman roads, their bridges collapsed and overrun with weeds, still visible but hardly usable.
Some webrings are created and grow to incredible popularity, but then for whatever reason the ringmaster gives it up for adoption. The ring may be taken over by another person, who, of course, introduces changes and injects new life. This may occur many time, and results in some strange phenomenon. It's similar in concept to a river which has changed course. If you look from space you might see the areas in the land where the river used to flow, and it's the same with these webrings.
Link exchanges are subject to similar events. A webmaster typically creates a link exchange program because he wants to add value to his site for visitors. By giving them a selection links, he is effectively recommending additional sources of information. ON occasion a webmaster ceases to maintain these lists, and a disease known as link rot sets in. Every site, almost without exception, of any size will have some outdated links, but a true case of severe link rot is a wonder to behold. It is the result of years of neglect and lack of care. And it's very sad.
During your surfing you may also come across a site which obviously would be beautiful (and perhaps was at one time), but now looks like a moth-eaten bedspread. This is usually the result of a lazy webmaster, one who has remotely linked graphics to his pages. As the remote sites move or change the graphics slowly disappear as well, replaced by transparently, ghostlike boxes with a red X in one corner.
All of these things are signs of unprofessional webmasters. A professional cleans up after himself and ensures that his creation is always tidy and works well. An amateur creates something, then abandons it and allows the thing to decay and decompose, stinking up the surrounding neighborhood.
So what do you do? Well, if you create a web site, then keep it maintained. I know it is difficult sometimes - my own site has over 3,000 pages and it is a real pain to check it over for errors. Nevertheless, I check it thoroughly every once in a while and fix any broken links and missing graphics that I find.
Link exchanges are a real pain to support, as they tend to decay rapidly without constant care. While it's true that a link exchange is possibly the best traffic generator of all, it's also true that they quickly become useless unless you check them at least once a month or so. Automated tools can help, but you do need to check the links yourself occasionally - I remember more than once being surprised to find a perfectly good site replaced by a pornographic nightmare when a domain name expired and was re-purchased by someone else.
If you move your web site, be sure and delete the old one. In fact, it's often a good idea to leave a redirect page so any visitors to the old site get directed to the new one. This also prevents an old site from decaying and rotting as it ages, abandoned.
And if you manage a ring (a ringmaster) then check it occasionally for completeness. If your site is in a ring, be sure you've added the fragment and that it's correct.
Believe me, adding that touch of professionalism doesn't require that much effort, but it sure does make you look better and improve the image that others gain of you.
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Unless otherwise noted, all photos and text is Copyright © Richard G Lowe, Jr.