TiO2 hierarchical nanoporous ring arrays are constructed on a solid surface by an annealed template-induced sol-soaking strategy. The ring size can be controlled by changing the sol concentration andvarying the annealing time of the polystyrene sphere colloidal monolayer. The sol-gel process generatesporous nanocrystalline networks in the ring walls, which can be modified by incorporating functionalparticles into the pores. This strategy allows the fabrication of specific metal oxides and semiconductorring arrays on both flat and curved surfaces.