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A web archivist is urging readers to make personal copies of websites they value, after finding that a longtime Ochaken fansite had disappeared and its domain was serving gambling ads. The report describes browser-based tools for saving pages and crawling larger sites, while noting that an archive can preserve only what the tools can access and capture.
A web archivist is urging people to save websites they value themselves, after a longtime Ochaken fansite disappeared and its former domain began serving online gambling ads. In a report published October 29, the author says the site had been online since 2004 and largely unchanged since 2005, but was not archived before it went offline.
The author describes the loss as a personal failure as well as a warning: they work in web archiving and had the tools to preserve the site, but had not done so before it vanished. The appeal is directed at readers who assume website preservation is something only a large institution can do. The report argues that individuals can save pages, posts and sites using accessible tools rather than waiting for someone else to archive them.
For a single page or a small site, the report recommends the ArchiveWeb.page browser extension, which records pages as a user visits them. The instructions are to start an archiving session, open the pages to be saved, interact with elements that need to load, and stop recording when finished. The saved session can then be previewed in the extension’s dashboard.
Readers who do not use Chrome can use the standalone ArchiveWeb.page app, which includes its own browser. For larger sites that would take too long to visit page by page, the author recommends Browsertrix, a crawler that follows links from a starting address and captures pages automatically. The report says the tools use the WARC web-archiving format and notes that an archived copy can be downloaded and stored elsewhere. The author discloses that the tools discussed are made by the company they work for, adding that most are free.
Why Personal Copies Matter
Websites can disappear or change without warning, taking with them information, creative work and pieces of online culture that may not be held in a separate collection. The fansite’s former address now serving gambling ads illustrates how a familiar site can become inaccessible even when its domain remains active. A personal archive gives its creator a copy that does not depend solely on the original site staying online.
The report also makes preservation more practical for readers: the suggested tools do not require them to run an institutional archive or understand every technical detail of the WARC format. At the same time, an individual capture is not a guarantee of a complete, permanent or publicly available record. Its usefulness depends on what the tool can reach, what is captured during the session and whether the archive itself is kept safely.
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From Lost Fansite to Archive
The site at the centre of the report was teapuppies.com, a fansite for Ochaken, an anime series and toy line featuring cartoon dogs named after kinds of tea, according to the author. The site had been online since 2004 and had changed little since 2005. The author says they visited it a few weeks before writing and found it gone, with the domain then being used for online gambling advertising.
The report is both a response to that loss and a hands-on introduction to personal archiving. Its example archive was made with Browsertrix from a separate address, teapuppies.mistys-internet.website, which the author says was crawled with settings close to the defaults. That distinction matters: the article describes the original domain’s loss, while the embedded example is an archived copy hosted at another address.
“Got a favourite site? Back it up!”
— The report’s author
Limits of a Personal Archive
The report does not establish who operated the original fansite, when it went offline, or who now controls its domain. It also does not say whether a complete copy of the original site exists elsewhere. The author’s archived example is hosted on a different address, but the report does not specify whether it contains every page or feature from the original site.
Personal captures can also miss content. The author advises users to interact with page elements so that data loads during a browser-based session, and presents crawling settings as adjustable. The report does not claim that any of the tools can preserve every website fully, including content behind access controls or pages that a crawler cannot discover. Nor does it set out how long a user’s copy will remain available unless the user stores and maintains it.
How Readers Can Start Saving
The report’s immediate next step for readers is to choose a scope: capture one page or a small group manually, or use a crawler when a site is too large to browse page by page. After recording, users can preview the archive to check what was saved. The author also encourages readers to download copies they want to keep independently of the hosting site.
No follow-up date or new preservation project is announced in the report. The practical outcome depends on readers taking action while the material they value is still accessible, then keeping their archive somewhere they can retrieve it. The article presents personal archiving as a way to preserve a copy—not a promise that the original website will return.
Key Questions
What happened to the Ochaken fansite?
The report’s author says the site had been online since 2004 and had changed little since 2005. When they checked it a few weeks before publication, it was gone and its domain was serving online gambling ads.
Can I archive a website without technical experience?
The report says the ArchiveWeb.page browser extension is intended for straightforward captures: start a session, visit the pages, and stop recording. It also describes a standalone app for people who do not use Chrome.
What should I use for a large website?
The author recommends Browsertrix for sites that would be cumbersome to visit manually. It crawls pages from a starting address by following links, with settings that can be adjusted to limit what it captures.
Does making an archive guarantee that every page is saved?
No. The report does not promise complete captures. Pages or interactive content may be missed, so the author advises previewing the result and checking whether the material you wanted was recorded.
Can I keep an archived copy outside the service where it is hosted?
The report says archives can be downloaded, and encourages readers to keep copies where they choose. It does not specify a long-term storage plan; readers remain responsible for retaining and maintaining their files.
Source: blog.mistys-internet.website
