What are Octothorpes?

Octothorpes are hashtags and backlinks that can be used on regular websites, connecting pages across the open internet, regardless of where they're hosted.

What does “octothorpe” actually mean?

It's one of the many synonyms for the number sign, or hashtag, with dubious origins.

What is this website?

Welcome to the first Octothorpe Protocol relay server!

This site is a hub that connects independent websites using the Octothorpe Protocol. So, sites that are registered with this OP server can use hashtags on their own pages, and other sites on this ring can see what they hashtagged, just as if they were on a shared platform like X or Instagram. The platform in this case is just the world wide web, and you don't have to give anyone your personal data to use it.

An OP server keeps track of info that registered sites have sent it, and gives them ways to use that info. It has a basic interface for browsing its hashtags and domains, including RSS feeds for every hashtag so you can follow them as if you were on a platform.

What is the Octothorpe Protocol?

If you just think of octothorpes as "hashtags for independent websites", that's great. But the system that lets you put a hashtag on your website can do so much more than that. The Octothorpe Protocol is what makes it work.

Read the docs to find out more.

How Can I Use It?

There's no app or account to create -- all you have to do is paste a couple lines of HTML into your website. If you can do that, you can use octothorpes.

First step is to register your site here. Then check out the quickstart page to, well, get started quickly.

If you want to get more in-depth, check out the documentation.

Why Did You Make This?

Lots of reasons! We're collecting them here as we think of them: why-we-made-octothorpes

I'd prefer a nerdier, more detailed summary

Great. Here ya go.