diff --git a/ring/index.php b/ring/index.php
index d8d3f0a..b31aafa 100644
--- a/ring/index.php
+++ b/ring/index.php
@@ -6,7 +6,11 @@ $users = array_map(function ($f) { return basename(dirname($f)); }, glob("/home/
 if ($action !== "index") {
     // handle webring redirects
     $me = $_GET["me"] ?? "";
-    $i = array_search($me, $users) ?? 0;
+    if (!in_array($me, $users) && $action != "random") {
+        header("Location: https://tilde.team/ring/?error");
+        die();
+    }
+    $i = array_search($me, $users);
 
     switch ($action) {
     case "random":
@@ -50,6 +54,9 @@ else {
     include __DIR__ . '/../header.php';
 ?>
     <h1>how to join the webring</h1>
+    <?php if (isset($_GET["error"])): ?>
+        <div class="alert alert-danger" role="alert"><strong>ERROR</strong> please be sure that me=USERNAME is set to your user and have created a <code>~/.ring</code> file.</div>
+    <?php endif; ?>
 
     <p>this webring can be joined by any user on tilde.team.</p>
     <p>first, add the following links to your page, replacing USERNAME by your username (no ~):</p>