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A Short Guide to the Small Web

Behind the big platforms there is still a web of personal sites, hand-built pages and odd hobby projects. Finding it takes a slightly different set of tools.

What people mean by the small web

The phrase usually refers to personal and independent websites: built by individuals, without much advertising, often on a single subject someone cares about. Movements such as the IndieWeb encourage people to publish on sites they control rather than only on large platforms.

Directories, the original search

Before search engines dominated, people found sites through web directories: hand-sorted lists grouped by topic. A directory cannot match a search engine for coverage, but a human choosing each entry finds things an algorithm ranks poorly. This site is a small directory in that spirit.

Webrings

A webring links a group of sites on a shared theme in a loop, with "previous" and "next" links on each member. Webrings have quietly returned among personal-site builders, because they offer discovery without an algorithm deciding what you see.

Ways to wander

• Follow the links page, or blogroll, of a personal site you like.
• Look for "random" buttons; many communities and wikis have them.
• Read the sources at the bottom of an encyclopedia article, then the sources of those.

Leave it as you found it

Small sites are often run by one person on a modest server. Read, enjoy and, if you link to them, link to the page rather than copying it.

filed 2026-10-22