Site Input Needed
By Byron Wilkins on January 4th, 2010Posted In: Uncategorized
Happy New Year!
That term is a bit overused sometimes, but it applies to Webcomic Planet.
Okay some serious business. I want your feedback on the following items. They are not in any particular order. I will be discussing these topics with the Board and want to know what you all think as well.
My goal for Webcomic Planet is it be a source for webcomic news, information, tutorials and reviews. It is my opinion we have to give the visitors a *reason* to come to the site besides just being another vanilla webcomic listing site. Not that the listings are not important, but it is my feeling they are not primary, but secondary. If people are visiting, then they’ll see the listings as well.
With that said I am already planning on a new twice monthly feature in the form of a entertainment news video. I will be producing this with Tom Racine’s help (Tom is from Tall Tale Radio podcast if you did not know this).
But I will need news, site information and tutorials from our members and other webcomic creators. I want this news to be something other than “see my latest comic post” as that’s what twitter is for. A perfect example is the tutorial or “how to” that Dawn Griffin produced for her site today. I plugged this into WCP and this gives visitors a reason to drop by and also makes them visit Dawn’s site as well. I don’t want to simply repost her tutorial, but make note of it and link it. Win-win for both sites.
Now for the real meat of this email: Redesigning the WCP & WCPC websites. (Let me add that this is my *opinion* and not carved in rock, that’s why I want your input)
The WCP website needs a new look that will include a page(s) for the Collective Member sites. It should be a colorful site that let’s visitors know they have come to a professional site that is not another stock WordPress/ComicPress design.
- The Collective website should be an informational site for the members and not designed for the general public (though they’d be welcome to visit it to see what we’re up to). The Collective site should be a way for us to communicate and post projects the Collective works on. The Collective Member banners page need to be on the WCP site as well.
- WCPC badges/banner. Okay, I am not in favor of a widget like we use to have that listed a rotating banners of the Collective members. I am in favor a new, distinct Collective logo and banner that drives visitors to the WCPC page on Webcomic Planet. As such, they’ll be able to view *all* the Member links on a single page and not just 6, 8 or 10 at a time on your site. The old widget ate up a bunch of space on websites and did draw a lot of server requests to the WCP hosting account. I think this banner should be a 234 x 60 standard size.
- Webcomic Planet 88 x 31 banner for the all the sites that are listed now should be placing on their websites. This is NOT a ranking button, but rather a link banner that encourages readers to visit the WCP page. ** This is just my feeling, but I’m not into who’s “ranked higher or lower” as that is not the purpose of the banner, but rather to show that the site is listed at a professional site and thus is affiliated with a team of similar webcomics.
- New Features. What do you want to see on the site? I like the idea of having a rotating featured article of the week from *anyone* who’s a professional in the industry. Let me know what features you want to see added. This is key to being a draw to our visitors.
- Webcomic List Updates. Do want to see the section returned where it listed the comics that had updated on that day? If we limit the number of webcomics in our listing (14,000 is a tad silly) then I see this being beneficial. I would not want this on the home page but on it’s own page, maybe with a way to add an RSS feed to that page so when it updates daily folks could come see what’s up.
Okay, I’ve missed things, I’m sure, but this a long post as it is, so let’s work on these and go from here! Email me at byron@1977thecomic.com with your replies or post them here, which ever is more comfortable for you.
Byron, Grand Poobah
Ok, let’s start with the first thing.
A source for webcomic news, as in something like Fleen or Digital Strips, or do you mean something else entirely? I agree that folks need to have a reason to visit the site, and I suppose coming to check out the latest happens in the world webcomics is as good a reason as any.
I like the idea of tutorials, if they are well done you pick up a lot of tips. Even if it is something as simple as watching someone draw their comic it can be helpful. As a matter of fact Dawn’s piece made me want to rework my “How it’s made” page to be slightly more in depth.
I can’t say I disagree with your ideas regarding the sites, I’d love to have a link back to the collective, I just need an “approved” banner and I’ll add it to my site. I do have the collective PW ad up and will keep it up.
I must say I miss the old chatroom… not quite sure why but i do.
Having a list of webcomics that updated that someone can subscribe through an RSS is a pretty awesome idea actually.
That is all for now.
ps sorry I have not been incredibly active over the last month pc problems (which will be solved in about a week when my shiny new laptop arrives) along with the looming deadline a of a major (for my little ren faire community it is major at least.) new B2B site I have been a tad overwhelmed.
Participate when you can. We all have “things” in our lives that keep us from doing what we really want to do… and that is sit on the couch and watch sports. But if we can’t do that, then we DRAW!
Thank you for your input! It’s exactly what we’re looking for.
Byron
My thoughts:
Point 1: I agree. Seeing that Webcomics.com is going to a subscription of $30 a year for folks to get info on webcomics and tips and tricks and such, we need to become a source for not only members but for people just starting out and looking for ideas and directions and such. Having tutorials or an “Artists Corner” would be a plus and a real asset to the community.
Point 2: I do like the logo that Dawn created, but perhaps we can have it streamlined/modernized, etc. Yes, the old widget burned up valuable server resources and members can have the logo with links to each of the members pages in text which are easy enough to code and aren’t too obtrusive.
Point 3: I agree with the non-ranking WCP button. Ranking sometimes becomes more of a popularity contest and it doesn’t really reflect the quality each site has on its own.
Point 4: See my thoughts in point 1 of having a page called “Artist’s Corner” (or whatever you wish to call it, Artist’s Alley, The Library, Fruit Salad) where you have a built in library of articles on ways and tips and tricks on how to accomplish a certain part of our craft. We could also post upcoming cons for people to mark their calendars with and plan attendance. We could have a photo page or link to something like SnapFish where we can have a gallery of works in progress or sketches or something to show visitors our process or production methods.
Point 5: A separate page for the listing would be best and a link to each RSS feed on the side of the listing would work so you are not dwindling your bandwidth by channeling the RSS feeds of a thousand or so sites through WCP servers.
Keep ‘em crankin’ Grand Poohbah!
Excellent input, Karl! I like calling the Tutorial page “Fruit Salad” seems catchy…
I agree with you that Webcomic Planet needs to fill the void that Webcomics.com is leaving behind.
1) I think the emphasis here is crowdsourcing, we should I feel head towards that Mashable.com feel where people not only feel welcome but part of the whole deal. Member made tutorials and blog postings need to be as open and accessible as possible and it needs to be easy and obvious for readers to share this information by twitter, facebook, stumbleupon, etc
2) I love Dawns logo, it can do with work but I’d like to have a plain vanilla version of the final product so I can integrate it into my site how I like it. I would have a variety of different banners for the WCP site as people tend to list their links differently. Some just like text links while others love using 728px wide banners on their link pages.
3) Non ranking for the win. WCP should be bi-partisan and neutral. We need to strive to be the Switzerland of webcomics.
4) I think round-tables would be good. Get a bunch of WCPC people together on IM, ask a question and get the answers down on paper. I like reading round table articles in magazines and papers and I think having this feature would be great for those who don’t or can’t listen to a podcast. Another idea would be to have an “On the road” blog for those preparing for and at conventions. In tech, blogging at conventions is a staple part of tech journalism and I think all those with netbooks and access to wi fi and power could do this too. I know I will.
Dawn’s logo works for me. No need for a new one IMO.
I’d like to do some tutorials/how to/walk throughs of comic creation. I’ve got a lot of stuff screen captured already. It’s just a matter of finding time to put it together.
I’ve also got some stuff worthy for the news video, but I’ll email you that.
As for new features of WCPC… I’d like to have the chat back (it’s not new, but it IS missing). I personally enjoyed stopping in from time to time and shooting the bull with other members.
The chat is a good idea actually. Especially that we want to make Webcomicplanet more active in the community.
The plugin isn’t there anymore but can be re-added. I’ll check with Byron
Cool!
Hmmm. You know what would be cool? A “How to Make a Webcomic” series. Titled differently. But, literally, from the first step. Not the creative side but the technical stuff. 1. Where do I put my comic. 2. How do I let people know my comic exists. 3. How do I find other webcomic people to share thoughts with. 4. How do I keep track of how many visitors I have.
Stuff like that. Stuff we all stumbled through at first.
That is a good idea, a sort of newbie guide, in a way.
I agree. I’m sure that if we put our heads together we could come up quite a bit of advice!