Today we're going to be talking about websites, and the logistics, coding, and design challenges– and benefits!-- that come with them.

Why a website?

Websites provide a lot of flexibility to customise and meet your personal needs, unlike other hosting platforms.

Why is it good to have one?

Control over how your comic is presented.

No need to rely on the stability of the hosting business; ie: Smack Jeeves, Webtoons, Tapas, etc.

Lots of features available to improve and enrich the experience of your webcomic readers.

What makes a good functional site?

• Easy and self explanatory navigation:

  Includes obvious “First Page” button, Archive button, etc.

• A good CMS helps with site maintenance and ease of uploading
• A good host ensures people can reach the site, that traffic runs smoothly and that everything loads properly.

What are some website no-nos?

• Problem: Long loading time. Can be caused by large file size, poor hosting, etc.
  Solution: Save your website specific upload files in smaller size. Get a hosting plan that accommodates the amount of traffic you have.
• Problem: Website aesthetic overwhelms the functionality.
  Solution: Utilise the common terms like Archive, Cast Page, etc rather than custom terminology. Don’t have too many animated icons that will detract from the page on display.
• Problem: Not being mobile compatible
  Solution: Utilize good CSS to change the style based on screen size.

Any tips for people starting out?

Start with the basics. Practice HTML and CSS. Don’t be afraid!

Starting Steps

1. Obtain Hosting and Domain Name
2. Choose your CMS
3. OPTIONAL: Use CSS to personalise.
4. Upload!

Terms to Know:

• CMS: Content Management System - What translates your backend code into the frontend (visible) display of your website and comic.
• Host/Hosting - Refers to a web server where the files for your website are stored.
• HTML: Hypertext Markup Language” - This is the language that is used to build your website pages and display content like content, images, video, and links on the web.
• CSS: “Cascading Style Sheets” - This code that tells the browser how to display your website. This includes global styles for fonts, colors, images, menus, etc.

Resources

jsfiddle.net - Sandbox type site comicfury.com - Free webcomic specific hosting and CMS, that allows html and css customisation. Good starter point. W3 - Learn to Code

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Episode Release Date: March 22, 2023

Episode Credits:

Kristen Lee (@feathernotes) - she/they, ghostjunksickness.com lunarblight.com

Renie Jesanis (@renieplayerone) - she/they, kateblast.com

Christina Major (@delphina2k) - she/her, sombulus.com

Guest Host: Alyssa - she/her, Check out Alyssa’s work on the Grawlix webcomic CMS on Github

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The Intro "DO IT (feat. Shia LaBeouf)", and the Outro "It's Good To See You Again!!", both by Adrianwave, have been used and modified in good faith under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Licensed. Edits include: Fade IN/OUT, and a repeat added to the beginning of "It's Good To See You Again!!". For more information on this creative commons use, please reference https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.