PLEASE READ:
Before you complete the form to add your site to the "Southron Ring"
queue for consideration for membership in the ring, please ensure that
you have carefully read and considered the following definitions, rules
and guidelines. If, after thorough reading, you consider that your website
meets the criteria and you agree with our intent, means and methods, then
please use the form at the end of this page to submit your website to the
queue for consideration for inclusion in the Ring.
Once you have added your site to the "Southron Ring" queue,
you may visit the queue to ensure that your site is properly entered, with
particular attention to the website URL.
DEFINITION OF THE "SOUTHRON RING" AND THE PURPOSE OF A
RING:
The "Southron Ring" is a Web Ring operated on a non-profit
basis for the purpose of bringing together those websites which offer the
visitor the opportunity to wander through factual information about the
proud and honorable history and culture of the South, with a particular
concentration on the period during which the South existed as the sovereign
nation known as The Confederate States of America.
Travelers on the World Wide Web do use search engines, and keywords
offer them a selection of Southern sites from which to choose for their
travels. Establishment of the "Southron Ring," however, creates
a circular path which, once entered at any point along the ring, continues
the visitor along the path the members of the ring have chosen. If the
visitor continues along the ring, moving from site to site using the "Sally
Forth" or "Fall Back" commands on the navigation bar, eventually
he or she will complete the ring and arrive at the particular point of
entry. This will give many visitors, including visitors from countries
other than the United States, their first exposure to historical fact (versus
hysterical fact) about the South, the Confederacy, the War for Southern
Independence, Southern culture and the distorted image of the South resulting
from more than a century of unbridled propaganda.
GUIDELINES:
If you feel that your website falls within the broad definition of those
sites which should constitute the "Southron Ring," please continue
and carefully consider your submission to this Ring. Should you complete
your review of the following guidelines and wish to submit your website,
please submit your URL via the submission form. It will then be included
on the queue and current members of the Ring will have the opportunity
to review, discuss and vote on your potential membership. ALL Ring members
will be given the opportunity to consider all submitted sites. If your
site does not meet Ring criteria and guidelines, you will be offered advice
on how to bring it into compliance and you may then choose to make those
changes and resubmit, if you so desire.
A committee of three Ring members will be established to aid in administering
the Ring, to include site reviews on an ongoing basis. This Ring Advisory
Committee will be composed of Ring site Webmasters who serve on a rotating
one-month basis. The Ring Master will hold office for a period of three
months, at which point nominations for a new Ring Master will be accepted
and the membership of the "Southron Ring" will have the opportunity
to elect a new Ring Master.
1. Sites which are not "Southern advocacy" sites per se, but
which offer neutral and balanced historical information helpful to the
understanding of Southern culture and heritage may be included. Sites which
are anti-Southern will not be invited to join or approved to join the "Southron
Ring."
2. Member sites of the "Southron Ring" will not engage in
overtly aggressive and confrontational efforts to defend Southern symbols
and heritage and thereby further add to the negative connotation which
has resulted from a century of misuse of Southern and Confederate symbols
by those whose knowledge and understanding of the South and Southern culture
is nonexistent. The words of many who proudly served their country in the
War for Southern Independence charge us to remember what they fought for,
why they served and who we are - not to engage in mindless aggression to
no useful purpose. The old Southern adage which says, "When you wrestle
a pig, all that happens is that you get dirty and the pig loves it,"
rings very true.
3. Prejudice stems from ignorance, and ignorance stems from lack of
knowledge. The efforts of many to ensure that the truths about Southern
culture, history and the Confederacy remain hidden or distorted have extended
for more than 140 years . . . figuratively balling up one's fist and smacking
someone in the forehead for the "sin" of having been raised on
a steady diet of "official" lies accomplishes less than nothing.
Southern culture included the concept of genteel manners which were considered
by some almost a parody of proper manners; we should include those values
in our websites and our conduct. Reasonable and adult presentation of undeniable
history and fact accomplishes more to defeat ignorance and prejudice than
a sound thump to the noggin.
4. The "Southron Ring" will not consider or accept for membership
any site which promotes or supports any philosophy, practice or group which
advocates, espouses or otherwise supports any concept of racial, ethnic,
cultural or religious superiority or inferiority, or which advocates any
unlawful or immoral statements or acts against such other racial, ethnic,
cultural or religious groups.
5. The emphasis of the "Southron Ring" is on the presentation
of incontrovertible fact, and repetition or support of the "politically
correct" Federal government version of history is not compatible with
the intent and function of the "Southron Ring." Sites will be
reviewed on a regular basis and any such changes will result in one admonition
by private Email to return to compliance with Ring guidelines. If no response
is made within one week, the site webmaster will be advised by private
Email that the site is facing removal from the Ring. If no response is
received or the site does not come into compliance within one more week,
the site will be removed from the Ring.
6. Sites submitted to the "Southron Ring" should be of the
highest possible quality in order to present the best possible image of
Southern capabilities. It is important that sites show great care in their
presentation within the limits of the capabilities of the Webmasters' experience,
software and equipment. Such seemingly minor considerations as "typos"
can make an otherwise excellent site seem less than it is. Ring members
will offer applicants and other members constructive feedback on minor
errors and also offer help when requested. Please DO NOT spell the Southern
contraction for "you all" as "ya'll" . . .let's leave
that to the Yankees.
7. No site considered for membership in the "Southron Ring"
will have any existing links with any sexually-explicit "adult"
sites or alcohol sites, nor will they have links to personal home pages
which have such "X"-rated or alcohol links. Violation will result
in an applicant site's removal from the queue and expulsion of any member
site found in violation.
8. Members of the "Southron Ring" will remember to conduct
themselves in a manner consistent with Southern graciousness. Racist or
sexist remarks in public forum or private Email brought to the attention
of the Ring Advisory Committee or the Ring Master (whether in communication
with a member of the Ring or anyone else) will not be tolerated at any
time for any reason and can result in summary expulsion of the Webmaster
and his/her site if the transgression is of great offense. No Ring member
has exclusive license on what does or does not constitute a "Southern
Patriot" and no member has the right to question the motives or integrity
of any other member of the Ring. Violations of Ring guidelines and good
manners are the business and responsibility of the Ring Master and the
Ring Advisory Committee.
9. Sites considered for membership and member sites must ensure that
any graphic, sound file, article or link is used only after obtaining necessary
permission and offering proper credit, if so requested or required. If
such violation occurs as a result of lack of knowledge of the item's origin,
the Webmaster will be allowed to remove, change or credit that item properly
without repercussion. Apparent blatant misuse or failure/refusal to make
necessary changes will result in summary removal from the Ring.
10. No "Southron Ring" member will engage in any public conduct
or activities which casts question or shame on the "Southron Ring."
If such documented behavior is presented to the Ring Advisory Committee
and/or the Ring Master, the Webmaster of that site will be afforded the
right to present a defense of his/her actions, after which the Advisory
Committee and Ring Master will make a recommendation to the Ring membership
and the membership shall, by two-thirds majority vote, accept or reject
the recommendation.
11. Use of the term "Civil War" should be minimized and, when
used, an explanation of the error in use of this term should be offered
somewhere within the website. Alternate terms include, but are not necessarily
limited to: The War for Southern Independence; The War of Northern Aggression;
the War of the Rebellion; and The War Between the States.
12. Once the applicant's site has been reviewed by the members of the
Ring, vote will be taken via Email and a two-thirds majority acceptance
vote by the members of the Ring will result in the applicant site's addition
to the Ring.
Join us in baiting the Bull!
If, after reading this vast tome, you feel that your site both qualifies
and belongs within the community of the "Southron Ring," please
use this form to submit your site to the "Southron Ring" queue.
You will be contacted by the Ring Master to acknowledge your application
and you may expect member comments via Email as they use the submitted
URL to review your site.
Please make a wise choice in your password, as it will enable you to
make changes to your site information at a later date.
Site URL:
Site Title:
E-mail:
Password:
SITE SETUP
This is the logo/navigation bar that you will install on the first page
of your site in a readily visible location. Please note the three graphics
and the HTML fragment below the navigation bar which you will use to properly
install this link. Please make sure that you place your site number in
the appropriate areas, that you change the "Mailto:" to your
proper Email address and insert your name as the owner of the site. Use
your cursor to explore the proper linking of the navigation bar.
The HTML fragment listed below will create an empty table of the proper
size and also create the linked text beneath the graphical table (remember
to change the appropriate values!). The table will be empty until you insert
the graphics.
Capture the graphics you see here (separate from the navigation bar)
by placing your cursor on each graphic separately and holding down the
mouse button until the "Save Image" function is enabled. Place
these graphics files in the proper folder of your HTML generator/editor
and in the "image" folder at your Website's ISP (or in the proper
place to allow your opening page to access the graphics) and paste the
HTML code in your opening web page at the location you have chosen. Place
the graphics in their proper cells and do not forget to link the graphics
to the appropriate URLs .
The Navigation bar MUST be properly installed on your opening page before
your site will be added to the "Southron Ring."
The graphics links are (from left to right):
"Fall Back" should be linked to: http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/web
ring?ring=wona&id=Your_Site_Number&sprev
"Southron Ring" should be linked to: http://www.37thtexas.org/html/Southron.html
"Sally Forth" should be linked to: http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/web
ring?ring=wona&id=Your_Site_Number&next