🌐 The Old Web Project · Bring back the human web · own your space, own your media, keep the web weird 🌐

Bringing back the internet that’s ours — one page at a time.

Projects & initiatives

What we’re building

The Old Web Project is part advocacy, part workshop. These are the things we run, maintain, and grow — with more on the way.

The Old Web Directory & Webring

A curated directory of independent websites, connected the old-fashioned way: a webring with prev / next / random navigation and an 88×31 badge members embed on their own pages. No algorithm — just people’s sites, linked to each other.

Now in the ring

Crypt Keeper Archive A 1996-style Tales From The Crypt fan archive, wiki & horror-news tracker.
Living Dead Archive A 2001-style shrine to Night of the Living Dead (1968) — watch the public-domain film in a CRT TV.
Hey Vern! A loud, 1997-style fan tribute to Ernest P. Worrell & Jim Varney. KnoWhutIMean?
Disco Bud Blitz A 16-bit arcade game in The Fox’s Lair — smash Budweiser bottles with a disco ball on a 1976 CRT.
ThwipNet A 1997-style Spider-Man fan site — movies, animated series, comics & heroes, with Spidey ripping through from another universe.
CyberSoda A free social blog platform for the old internet — profiles, blog posts, guestbooks & a top 8. No algorithm, just HTML and vibes.
Tommy-Land An independent site in the ring.
WEATNU: We Are the New Underground An independent site in the ring.
Arrogante Enten KI — die arroganteste Ente im Netz Eine KI, die nichts weiß, nichts hilft und es dir ins Gesicht sagt. Schreib ihr was, sie antwortet frech von Hand.
Pit Row Threads Dirt track, late model and stock car racing shirts from Georgia.
BossAtlas — Source-Led Game Guides & Notes An independent field guide to Phantom Blade Zero. Start with published systems and preview encounters, with a clear source behind every note.
Kol-Ut-Shan (IDIC) An independent site in the ring.
Poster Display for Plex Turn any Roku TV into an always-on movie & TV poster display, driven by your Plex library.
The Old Web Project — Preserving the Independent Web The Old Web Project is a cultural initiative dedicated to preserving the independent web, promoting digital ownership, and resisting the centralization of online life.
The Old Web Project — Preserving the Independent Web The Old Web Project is a cultural initiative dedicated to preserving the independent web, promoting digital ownership, and resisting the centralization of online life.
The Stranger Dollar Can 10,000 strangers send me $1? No charity. No product. No sob story. I'm James; a tiny team of AI agents helps me run it. Real count, no fake numbers.
Wusoup: random chat without the sleaze Thoughtful one-on-one clean text chats with friendly people. Free, strictly moderated, 19+. Bring real effort; no dating, sexting, hookups, bots, AI, or spam.
Webrings & Good Neighbors | Nicholas Proy · WT3O Webrings and independent websites connected to Nicholas Proy’s Hobby Workshop at WT3O.com.
Forward Bias An independent site in the ring.

🎲 Visit a random site · ring.json

The Old Web Project member badge

Add this badge + nav to your footer and you’re part of the ring.

« Prev Random Next »

Get the badge & webring nav

Paste this into your site’s footer (swap YOUR_SITE_URL for your site’s address), publish it, then click your own Prev or Next link once. That’s it — the first click adds you to the ring automatically. Put the links on the page you’d like visitors to land on.

<a href="https://theoldwebproject.org">
  <img src="https://theoldwebproject.org/badge.svg" width="88" height="31"
       alt="The Old Web Project member">
</a>
<a href="https://theoldwebproject.org/prev?from=YOUR_SITE_URL">&laquo; Prev</a>
<a href="https://theoldwebproject.org/random">Random</a>
<a href="https://theoldwebproject.org/next?from=YOUR_SITE_URL">Next &raquo;</a>

Preservation guides

Plain-language, no-jargon guides to owning your corner of the web. (In development — want to help write one? Get in touch.)

🏠

Build your first website

From a blank page to something that’s truly yours — no platform required.

🌐

Buy & keep a domain

Owning the address people type is the foundation of digital ownership.

💾

Back up your work

The 3-2-1 rule, in human terms, so nothing you make depends on one company.

📰

Follow with RSS

Subscribe to sites directly and escape the algorithmic feed for good.

📦

Archive endangered pages

Save what’s about to vanish to the Internet Archive and your own drive.

💿

Preserve physical media

Rip, store, and care for the discs and books you own.

Essays & research

Writing to make the case — for journalists, supporters, and the curious. (Forthcoming publications.)

  • The State of the Independent Web — an annual look at the health of the small web.
  • Why Personal Websites Matter — the case for owning your space.
  • The Problem With Platform Dependency — what you give up for convenience.
  • Why Physical Media Still Matters — ownership over rented access.
  • The Coming AI-Mediated Web — what happens when people stop visiting websites.

Future microgrants

As the project grows, we hope to offer small microgrants for archives and preservation projects — modest support for the volunteers quietly saving the web’s history. If that’s the kind of work you do, tell us about it.

🕐 The Old Web Time Machine

Type in any website and travel to its earliest surviving snapshot in the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine — see what it looked like back in the old web.

Or step into a classic: Apple · 1996 · Yahoo! · 1996 · Space Jam · 1996 · GeoCities · 1999

Snapshots courtesy of the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.