What do I need to make a simple site to post my comics?

Wuddupz

New Member
Hello,

I'm fairly new to web-design with very very basic (and outdated) html knowledge. I plan on making a website where I can post web-comics, and where each comic would have basic features like comments, share on facebook/twitter/etc..., things like that.

I don't really know where to start though, and if it is possible for me to do this myself. I guess in general my questions are:

1) What scripts would be required to learn in order to make a site like this, and to what extent?

2) What software can help me with the basic layout of the site and such so that I don't have to do all of the tedious code writing myself?

If anyone can help me get started with a general idea of what I need to do it would be much appreciated. Thanks!
 

Wuddupz

New Member
Awesome, I've looked a little bit into Wordpress and it seems like all the features I want and more can be incorporated into whatever I make. Is it a WYSIWYG kind of program though?
 

Edge

Member
Awesome, I've looked a little bit into Wordpress and it seems like all the features I want and more can be incorporated into whatever I make. Is it a WYSIWYG kind of program though?
Not exactly - it does use a WYSIWYG editor. Go to wordpress.com and get yourself a free blog and see for yourself.
 

chrishirst

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Is it a WYSIWYG kind of program though?

Not really ^^^ see above.

You still have to build the "look and feel" template (called a theme), Chris Coyer has a "Blank Theme" that you can 'take apart' and build the one that you want for your website.

http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development does make it sound much more difficult that it actually is and reverse engineering one of the default themes apart is NOT the best way to start.
 

AsheSkyler

New Member
Do NOT use WordPress! WordPress creates a lot of lag and that can drive off a lot of readers because they will already be waiting on the image to load. If you absolutely must use it, get the ComicPress or ComicEasel extension. Blogging software should never be used for a comic system. Anybody who thinks it's a good substitute needs their head examined.

Actually, no software is needed if you have the patience to do it all yourself. All you need to know is HTML and CSS. Maybe a little PHP or JavaScript if you want to get fancy. The only real bonus to having a CMS is if you want to upload pages before the day they are due to appear.

btPHP is my favorite. It's simple, straightforward, and has a much better control panel than WordPress. WordPress will have you jumping through a minimum of three pages just to upload ONE comic. btPHP lets you do everything from one page.

ComicCMS has high recommendations from its users.

And there's no shame in using a free host! Drunk Duck, Smack Jeeves, Comic Genesis (previously known as Keenspace), and Comic Fury are some of the better known ones. Comic Dish was my first host and they're still my favorite.
Drunk Duck doesn't allow much customization, and it and Smack Jeeves cover your site in ads. Smack Jeeves, Comic Fury, and Comic Dish all have premade site-templates available if you don't want to make one yourself.
 
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chrishirst

Well-Known Member
Staff member
WordPress will have you jumping through a minimum of three pages just to upload ONE comic.
Not so much in 3.5, WordPress has evolved into something more than a "blogging" tool.
 

Wuddupz

New Member
But with WordPress I'm planning on making the site and loading it onto my own server instead of using their blogging site. Would that still cause lag?

I don't want to use other comic hosting sites because I eventually plan on expanding the site into a sort of portfolio with my other work as well.

ComicCMS seems really cool though and seems like it's exactly what I want. As a beginner especially since it pretty much sets everything up for me. If I were to start using ComicCMS, would it be possible to switch things over to something more complicated after once I've figured out the basics?
 

AsheSkyler

New Member
All WordPress comic sites I've seen still have lag because of the excessive scripting. Depending on the reader's machine and connection, some won't notice. Some may see a second or two delay. Others could be sitting there for a bit.

If the different systems record entries from the database the same way, it'll work. If they name the tables and rows differently, you'll have to edit either the database to match the CMS, or edit the CMS to match the database. It'd be safest to make a few separate folders, load a copy of all the ones you want to try into its own folder, and then give them each a test run to see which you're most comfortable and patient with.

chrishirst said:
Not so much in 3.5, WordPress has evolved into something more than a "blogging" tool.
My community recently experimented with switching to WordPress as a quick solution for webcomics and it was still unnecessarily complicated. They've certainly come a long way in the past few years to where it doesn't take over fifteen minutes to post one page, but they have a long way to go still.
 

chrishirst

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Never played with webcomics so I'll defer to your experience on that, and I've never figured out why people add pointless overhead by including entire javascript libraries on every URL when all they need is a cross-fade on one of them.
 

Deb

New Member
In the Wordpress theme like you can see in the my annual credit report blog (there're lots of them to choose from) you will be able to install plugins for installing sharing buttons like Twitter, Facebook, etc. That'll not be a problem.
 
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enest

New Member
I believe wordpress is what you are looking for. Bunch of plug-in. You can find some nice themes with beautiful cartoon background as well. :)
 

chrishirst

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Bit impractical though to have a preview for EVERY plugin that is listed, and usually going to the author's or the plugin website will have a demo installation running.
 

FrontPage97

New Member
WordPress and Joomla = content management systems -- not so much website editing programs.
If you want something really simple that doesn't have the learning curve of Dreamweaver then there's always FrontPage. It's 10 years old but easy to rip together an HTML site from scratch quickly.
 
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