Either the graphic itself can "click through" to its home (be sure to use border=0), or you can link a "birth certificate" next to the graphic, or have a text link right by the graphic. Follow whatever rules the site you're adopting from has!

If you have a whole page of animals, and all their links are together at the bottom of the page, it's very hard for visitors to your page to figure out which link goes to the animal they would like to get. I know, because it's happened to me many times! Even worse, a link that doesn't work (always test every link you put on your page by clicking on it), or no link to the site at all. That's just plain rude. It doesn't give credit to the cyberpet creator, and it's like telling your visitors, "I have these beautiful cyberpets, but I'm not going to let you find out how to get them!"

Also, do NOT modify or change the graphics unless you have been granted permission by the cyberfriend creator. It's still their work; you're ONLY borrowing it.

To find out what this means, and why it's bad, a couple sites that explain it are
Web Prestige
Web Guard
The basic problem is, if you use a graphic on my server to load on your page, it slows down the loading of my page. And, when many people link (instead of copying and uploading) graphics this way on a large cyberpet site that pays for their bandwidth, it can become very expensive for the site operator and even force the whole website to close. This is not a good thing to do to someone who is doing you a favor by making cute cyberpet graphics you can use!

In addition to being bad for the cyberpet provider, you can mess up your own site by linking. If the site you are linking your graphics from moves, or the images on it are moved or renamed, then you'll have a missing image!

• You need a web page to display your cyberpet.

  Most, adoption sites require you to have a page. Making a hompage is fun, and you can do a lot more then just have cyberpets. It's your way to say whatever you want to the world.

  That's the fun of the web. It's interactive. You don't have to just surf around, you can be a "creator" too! Some people put up their own poetry, talk about their family or their interests, whatever they want to say. Do what you want, it's your page! And you can get your own page free.

  You can find a whole list of free web pages here. You need one that will give you lots of flexibility in designing your page and allows you to use your own graphics. A few that I know of are:
  Geocities
  Angelfire
  Tripod
  
  You should learn the basics of how to make your page before you start asking for cyberpets. Have at least a title, background color, and some kind of introductory text, like maybe something about yourself. Then you have a home ready for your cyberpets. Read the next two items for more info.

• Learn HTML.

  There are many great tutorial sites. A good place to start is So you want to make a web page! You can find more helpful sites here. You can learn the basic commands in just a few minutes, and then work your way up to more complicated topics, like how to use tables. The more you learn, the better your page will look. Over time, as you learn, your pages can look as good as any professional site. Don't think, "I'm just a kid, so my page just isn't going to look any better then this." It takes time, like anything you have to learn, but the end result can be more rewarding then a good grade. You can say, "This is my page, and it looks beautiful!"

• Learn how to copy & upload graphics.

  To copy a graphic to your hard drive, right click on the image and choose "Save as..." from the pop-up menu.

  You also need to know how to upload graphics to your own website. To find out how, you have to get information from your own webpage provider (Anglefire or Geocities or whoever you get your page from). You should be able to find an "Information" or "Member Services" area. Some providers have volunteer "helpers" - you may need to ask one for help.

  With some providers you can upload by using just your browser (if you have a later version of Netscape), with other providers you may need to download and install an FTP (file transfer protocol) program. So "how" you do it depends on what software you have and what page provider you are using. I can't tell you a simple way that will work for everyone. You will need to research the problem for yourself by investigating the homepage of your webpage provider. Find out exactly what program you need. If you are using your parents computer, find out exactly what you need, and then you may have to ask them to upgrade the browser, or if you can install a new free program. (Some info for web TV users here.)

• If you are willing to help others you will end up getting the help you need, too.

  If you want people to sign your guest book, sign other people's guest books. If you want feedback about your site and how to improve it, give feedback to someone else about their website! Try emailing people with homepages that are just as small as your own homepage, rather then a huge supersite. They are just as anxious to get mail as you are - rather then being swamped with email like a huge site! People who have huge sites and full mailboxes probably won't have time to answer you even if they'd like to! Be sincere and helpful. Start your email by talking about the website you are emailing, rather then yourself and your own website problems. Then if you do find yourself in the position where you have to ask someone else for help, you will already have online friends who know you are also willing to help others. And whenever they find a neat HTML or graphics trick, you will be the first person they email! If you email one person and they don't seem to be online much and don't get back to you, don't worry about it or bug them again, just try emailing someone else.

If you don't make your own graphics - either because you don't have a graphics program or because you "can't draw" - you probably have no idea how much time it takes to make a graphic. The people who are kind enough to make cyberpets aren't professionals (at least most aren't!) We don't work for Disney! We're just people, like you, who actually spend hours trying to make a graphic that will look good, and then give it away, for free! It's not something that we can just whip up in a few minutes.

We don't ask for love or money in return. All we ask is that you play fair and follow a few rules. It takes cyberpet creators hours to make nice graphics for your pages. Asking you to take just a little time to follow the rules isn't asking too much! So, if the instructions say, "Email me after you have the egg on your page" - then email them AFTER you have the egg on your page, not before. It's so much easier to run a cyberpet site if people will be polite and do as asked. And follow all instructions promptly! It saves the cyberfriend creator a lot of time, and it's not hard!

Don't forget that there are real people on the other side of the computer. Anytime someone gives you an award, or lets you adopt a cyberpet, or makes you a free banner, or offers free clip art - it just takes a second to send off a quick email saying, "Thanks for the ______!" If they have a form with a comment box, it's even easier for you to say Thank You right there. Or you can mention them by name and say Thank You right on your webpage next to the cyberpet!