Is it Web Revival?

This is a quiz and manifesto to help you tell if a website is a web revival site! Pick a website and try and answer yes or no to each question. Each question has a score at the end, add up your score and see how it works out!

• Could this page have existed 15 years ago? (No +1)
• Was there at least one idea on this page you've never seen on another site? (Yes +1)

The web revival is about reviving a spirit of exploration and discovery, that means trying ideas and creating things that are unlike anything that existed in the past.

• Does this page look weird, playful or unusual? (Yes +1)
• Are there assets or features related to something from before 2010? (Yes +1)

The web revival is about twisting history, and finding the ideas and materials the web abandoned, then remixing them into the modern age. History is a tool, not a destination.

• Is there something broken on this page? (Yes +1)
• Is this site clunky or lacking polish? (Yes +1)

Everyone has limited knowledge, how you use that knowledge is what makes a site unique. Its good for things to be broken, that's an opportunity to learn. There is no end or finished project; and if you finish your site, you may have missed the point.

• Is there a resource of things you can download for your own site? (Yes +1)
• Are there links to guides, or tips, on how to host your own site? (Yes +1)

The web revival is depends on generosity, it's a web without walled gardens or unnecessary restrictions. Go out of your way to share knowledge and materials, and support archives and community efforts to share knowledge.

• Does this page have credits or links to media it uses? (Yes +1)
• Is this page bloated, slow, or trying too hard to be a novelty interface? (No +1)

The web has a history, an aesthetic, and technical boundaries. Always respect the materials you use, the people who created them, and the context they came from. There is a difference between bending media into a new form, and forcing it to be something its not.

• Is this page trying to sell me something? (No +1)
• Do I feel refreshed after browsing this page? (Yes +1)

The goal of any new media should be to inspire and delight people. Money or usefulness are fine outcomes for a project, but they must be secondary to the goal of inspiring.

• Do I feel like I got to know the person who made this page? (Yes +1)
• Did I learn something about the world I never knew before? (Yes +1)

We all build personas for the world to see, but the web revival is about cutting those personas down to size, and creating web spaces that are honest and genuine to who you are. That does not mean sharing your real identity, but it does mean that the identity you do share should feel like its made for you, rather than fitting into someone else's mold.

• Does this page have links to other web revival sites? (Yes +1)
• Can you find this page via a link on a web revival site? (Yes +1)

Link to others, and ensure links to you don't die. Links are the lifeblood of the web, they are the web's most authentic feature. Its an honour to be linked to, and it's an honour to link.

• Does this page link to any external forums or communities? (Yes +1)
• Is this page hosting a webring or any other community project? (Yes +1)

The web revival is about collaboration. Ask questions and answer them too. Help build other peoples projects, not just your own, and when you do create projects, build them to last so that people can depend them.

• Does this page block me from accessing content or making archives? (No +1)
• Does this page offer archives of its own past media? (Yes +1)

The web revival is about remixing the ruins of older eras of the web. Everything you create will one day be a ruin too, and it will be remixed again. Design your site to be a graceful archive, don't delete it, don't break links; and let people know when you have moved on. Your site is a resource for the future, so make sure the future can reach it.

• Did this page require me to work in order to explore it? (Yes +1)
• Am I unsure if this page is safe? (Yes +1)

Mess with people, push them, force people to look at things differently, but do it with their best interests at heart. People deserve a web that's more than a polite novelty. People deserve a web that speaks to their chaos and shouts back, but does not bully them, put them at risk, bore them, steal from them, or treat them as metrics.

The total possible score is 22!

• If you got a score of 17 or more, then it's a web revival site!
• If you got a score of 12-16, then it's prob an IndieWeb site!
• If you got a score of 6-11, then it's a normie site!
• If you got a score under 6, run away! (or the website has not been made yet)