About Worlio

Welcome to Worlio! We are a small archivist community intending the archive and preserve as much as possible the early internet age. Our goal is to try our best to keep old software, websites, services, and web technologies archived and saved from the sands of time, while also providing a place for members of old communities to take part in.

The goal of Worlio has always been to bring people stuck in the past together. The web is ever-expanding, but to many it feels like it is expanding in the wrong directions. This place serves as a portal to the earlier internet in the world of today.

While Worlio is an archival site, it is also very much a home to any user, providing a community to any who want to talk or discuss. In the end, the ultimate goal is to relive an older part of the web and it's technologies without giving up the ease and use of technology today.

Origins

While my origin story isn't insane and my experience with the older internet isn't quite reliable, my purpose and it's goal shall stand. While only having a small interest in older machines and computer technology previously, the video titled "Cult in a Dead MMO" by the youtuber Nexpo brought attention to me a realm of early internet software that haven't been explored in a long while. The video itself was annoying, clearly done without much research, and it's main points of talking were of no interest, but the very topic of the software and it's community was something interesting.

While many used the internet back then around 80s - 90s, from Usenets to AOL chats, the population of the internet was much smaller than it is today. Today, you can find your grandma and your cousin 5th removed on popular social media sites. Back then, it was still a very new thing, with many people in the world seeing it as another 'fad' or trend, and would scoff at anybody who thought it was more than that. The internet was reserved more for hipsters, computer nerds, or those with a curiousity.

The early internet is still very interesting today. Very many things were attempted in an effort to experiment with the userbase of the internet and see what worked and sticked. Many failed attempts, many successful ones. Despite this being an integral part of our history, the internets history is fading out. Things with no archives, places with no backups, programs never to be seen again.

Upon watching that terribly create video and coming onto a place called Worlds.com, it made me realize this, and that something must be done. Even before I started this site, I looked at other similar programs, dead and offline, with a dwindling community, and nobody taking the time to archive. I wanted to do something about it. It's one thing to know what happened, but to be able to experience it ages from now into the future, and load up an old program just to see it again.

Team

Worlio is the product of one person, with the help of many contributing their archives, helping with developments, and assisting in research. You can check out the contributors list to see all who have assisted.

Contributions

Software

Worlio wouldn't be possible without an ever expanding list of products and open-source software.

Mumble/Murmur
Inspircd
Icecast2
X_Ite
MidiPlayer
Ruffle
three-rwx-loader