Gemini

Gemini is a webspace that exists on a protocol other than http. This means you need a special browser to view websites hosted on Gemini. There are other protocols like Gemini that you may have heard of, such as Gopher and Finger. Many refer to these spaces as the "smallweb", and essentially are stripped-down text-based websites.

On Gemini, you can create your own text-only website, called a capsule. You can put whatever you like on there, and share it with others who use Gemini. You can also read other people's websites, and 'surf' by clicking links, much like the old web.

You will need a Gemini browser. Some good suggestions are Lagrange (Linux/Mac/Win) or check the clients list here. Don't want to install a whole browser? You can use a web proxy to view sites or just browse, but you won't be able to edit your site this way.

You can sign up by accessing this webpage from a Gemini-compatible browser: gemini://cities.yesterweb.org/signup. You can enter your desired username and password, which you will need to edit your site.

Gemini pages are text files saved with the .gmi extension. You can upload your files using a browser at gemini://cities.yesterweb.org/filemanager. Otherwise, you'll need file management program with WebDAV support. Some recommendations are WinSCP or PuTTY for Windows. If you're on Mac or Linux, you can make a connection to the server right from your file manager. On Linux, it's File > Connect to Server and on Mac it's Go > Connect to Server. You can find instructions here for the correct hostname and port. Once you make a connection, your 'homepage' will be a file named index.gmi. You can create folders and more .gmi files as additional pages.

You can use the {{GUESTBOOK}} command to display your guestbook comments wherever you like.

Then, create a link to: gemini://cities.yesterweb.org/guestbook/USERNAME making sure to replace your username in the link.

Gemini formatting is called "gemtext" markup. You can find a complete guide here or use the quick guide below.