- snuggleshrub
- Jul 2, 2010
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Feels weird to write such an ad-like post here but you asked something that I struggled a lot for a while, and I really like what I finally found.
Personally, I thought that Wordpress with Inkblot or ComicPress were a lot of work to set up, and don't seem to be maintained regularly (though i could be wrong.)
Even when I got them working sort of, they were clumsy to configure and do even basic customizations with.
ComicPress seems to have gone to ComicEasel which I had a lot of difficulty implementing. I'm still not entirely sure what the deal between ComicPress and ComicEasel are.
So I ended up using Wordpress and the Toocheke Theme and Plugin.
https://toocheke.com/
I liked that it offered a lot of features like a mature filter, Patreon integration, and Collections based on character, plotline, chapter etc, all of which was controlled through the UI instead of having to do any code tweaking.
The theme is versatile and I could easily do whatever colors I wanted, and it automatically works very well with mobile browsers as well.
Its also free, and is updated regularly along with Wordpress.
If you want comments, you'll likely need to install a separate spam filtering tool, I use "Akismet Anti-Spam" which offers a free license if you're not running ads or selling merch.
Here's a gallery of comics using Toocheke for examples:
https://theme.toocheke.com/showcase.html
I ended up buying the premium version just to support the guy, and he was super responsive to the one question I had.
Toocheke is excellent and turned a project I figured would take a week into something I was able to do in a day. The best of any of these webcomic WordPress themes by far.
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Feb 10, 2022 15:04
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May 3, 2024 11:51
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- snuggleshrub
- Jul 2, 2010
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How do folks make decisions about things like this? Go for what speaks to you, or think it through mathematically?
I'm very much learning-by-doing, and I think that's totally cool for webcomics. But ideally if I ever complete the whole story, it'd be nice to turn it into a print comic. So I kind of feel like any decisions I make early into the process will have significant ramifications down the line.
Comics are complicated!
I think if driving readership is a concern, then weekly updates (or more) is a good update schedule. If batches are all that works with your workflow, then that is an option, but I've seen fewer comics make it work.
Most folks are just struggling to find what works for them since making a comic is hard enough even without external considerations.
I definitely think planning for print, even if you never get to that point, doesn't hurt. It doesn't take a lot of effort unless you are doing a nonstandard format.
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Jul 26, 2023 04:05
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- snuggleshrub
- Jul 2, 2010
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Welp, I've finally done it: I've started working on a longform comic project!
I'll probably have to be at least a little bit scant on some of the specific details as it's a niche erotica (Read: "Weird porn") but nonetheless I wanted to discuss my plans for the project and get feedback from people a little bit better versed in the world of webcomics.
I'm planning on starting off small - I've got a script for an approximately 29 page story to start things off, and I'm in the midst of doing the rough drawings and layout for those pages. I'm going to focus on getting this introductory chapter completed as a way to assess just how reliably I can commit to working on this kind of project, and if it's something I enjoy enough to keep working on beyond that point. If I want to continue with the project beyond that point I have some an outline in my head as to how to continue the story for at least 6 more chapters of a similar length and I figure that would be the point in the project where I'd start looking into setting up a domain to actually host the thing.
While I know regular, weekly updates were the standard in webcomics back in the day, I'm thinking this is a project that might be better served through larger releases over a longer span of time - I'm thinking something like releasing a chapter every few months as opposed to releasing 1-3 pages a week. I have the benefit that, because I've already developed a small following doing adult artwork I have something of a pre-existing audience to build off of, so there's a little bit less pressure to try to game that content algorithm. Really, the growing issues with social media platforms, especially as it relates to NSFW content, is one of the major reasons I want to set up my own webspace for this project if it gets off the ground rather than post to a platform.
The one thing that I'm a bit concerned about is balancing the more pornographic aspects of the project with the narrative-focused aspects. For instance, in the chapter I'm currently working on the "money-shot" stuff doesn't really come into play until about 2/3s of the way through, and I'm worried about how that's going to go over with people who are just looking for spank material.
Welcome to the world of niche porn comics. You seem to be starting off with a lot of the right ideas with regard to how to proceed.
Starting off with an intro chapter that can be self-contained and lets you both gage interest and get a sense for if you can maintain the output was a great idea. I did something similar. The niche subgenre likely caps how much of an audience there is for a given project, but people who are really into something specific appreciate when they see new stuff done from a genuine place.
The stuff you have posted so far looks great, very clean style. Im not sure just looking at it that I can decern the specific fetish.
Definitely get your own site asap, it is really good to own where your work lives, even more so for less mainstream materials. Toocheke installed into WordPress works great.
The story balance is something I've been very surprised by the reaction to. Less than half the page total of my stuff is actually porn and pretty much every one who comments on it loves that there is more to the way the characters interact. There is, in my opinion, a pretty large and underserved interest in dirty stuff that has even a basic plot that treats its characters as people.
I'm about to conclude a series running 180ish pages, and after a few years, I now pay my mortgage with what I make from doing questionable drawings of werewolves. This can be a fun thing to do that simultaneously might also make a bit of income.
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Apr 29, 2024 13:15
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Feb 10, 2022 15:04
