First! CMS stands for Content Management System. “Content” for this means your comic and the news or notes or extra webpages which accompany it. “Management” as in, able to handle large amounts of information in the way a manager handles all the people who work under him or her.  A “system” implies something a bit…automatic. Like automatic drive on your car, this is a good thing for people who want it easy.  So, easy comic handling. No hand-coding of archives! GOOD THING. This also forces you to display your comic in way in which readers are accustomed! Yes, there are some precedents for webcomic display, and that includes NOT displaying 20 comic pages on ONE webpage, or having one 1 navigation button for the “next” comic, etc. Don’t make me pull my hair out when I’m trying to read your wonderful comic, basically!

An example of a CMS is this blog. The CMS is WordPress, which uses something called a “mySQL” database to work. I don’t edit that database when I add a post, I don’t code it or screw with it or even know how the hell it works. It is a magical thing to me, and I’m happy that I don’t have to mess with it.  All I did was create it by giving it a name and a password in my host’s admin panel.  Not all CMS use databases. In this article, I’m going to tell you about all of the CMS that I know of that you can use for your webcomic.

Before I get into this, I just want to say that I will not be touching on CMS systems of free webcomic hosts. I’m going to save that for the reviews OF those hosts.  This article is more for people who host themselves, but don’t have a system in place yet to manage their webcomic.

I’m going to start with a popular choice: WordPress/Comicpress. WordPress is your CMS, and Comicpress is your theme that specializes the CMS for your webcomic. Comicpress works much easier with the CP manager plug-in (an extra little bit of specialized automation for your wordpress blog).  Two examples of WP/CP sites in action are Tales from the Middle Kingdom and Xyliatales.

Pros: WP/CP is constantly upgraded freeware, and each version is better than the last. There are 5 default templates available for every type of comic. You get perma-links (more search-friendly URLs), RSS, comic news and extra blog news. You get to use PHP, a very useful type of coding. CP 2.7 also has a bunch of handy new features, including archiving by storyline, comic hover text, and comic transcripts.  You can upload your comics though an online admin interface (obviously accessible from any computer, just in case any supernoobs were reading this), write your comic blurbs online, etc. Has a commenting (and moderation) system, and the ability to schedule pages for future days!

Cons: WP/CP is NOT  user-friendly if you don’t know what you’re doing in the code, especially if you want to personalize your site. WP requires a database, which can get corrupted, and furthermore, you have to have top-level admin access on your host panel to even make a database.  WP also can severely tax your host, so you either need to not be a huge comic, or install WP-super-cache plug-in.   Finally, because WP/CP are constantly being upgraded, YOU have to keep upgrading your site, which is extremely annoying.

Bottom line: Recommended for advanced users only, or those interested in becoming that. For more about WP/CP, go read a 2-part interview I gave at The Floating Lightbulb.

Next, an alternative to WP/CP for less-advanced coders called Inkblot. Like CP, Inkblot works with WordPress, so you still have to go about creating a mySQL database.  In this case, Inkblot is the theme, and WebComic is the  name of the plug-in.  I have not used this CMS, but example of a WP/IB site in action is The Adventures of  Wiglaf and Mordred.

Pros: Much easier to use than WP/CP, and with the great majority of functionality (more in some cases!). Instead of dealing with code, a lot of the time you only deal with settings, and anyone who can fill out paperwork can change “settings.”  This is Kez’s way of saying IT’S NOT AS HARD AS YOU THINK. Also, has a commenting (and moderation) functionality! For more, check out  this handy-dandy comparison list of CP vs. IB, though I don’t think it’s been updated for CP 2.7.  Correct me if I’m wrong, Mike!

Cons: Still requires a database, upgrading, installation, and perhaps, the cache plug-in described in WP/CP’s cons.

Bottom line: recommended as an excellent alternative to CP. I’m told once you use IB, you don’t go back

The next CMS up for bat is SomeryC. Unlike the previous 2 examples, SomeryC does not require a database. I swear the version I first used of this did not. It appears the newest version DOES need a database. M’bad! Sorry about that.  Unlike WP/CP or WP/IB, SomeryC ONLY handles your comic—not extra webpages, or sidebars or any other aspect of the site EXCEPT for archiving your webcomic. An example of a site using SomeryC is Crowfeathers.

Pros: extremely easy to install.  A convenient “tag” system for comic placement, navigation buttons, news, etc. For those of you who don’t know, tags are pieces of code that stand for more complex code functions. Instead of dealing with a huge string of incomprehenisble garble, you deal with something more like “put comic here.” SomeryC also leaves site design up to you. For some people, not dealing with default templates is a HUGE pro.  Even though you don’t have a database, you still have an online interface for adding comics and news.

Cons: previously SomeryC sites have been hacked, and I’m unsure if new, more secure versions have been released.  Other than that, some people may find that not having a system that deals with ALL aspects of the site a major con. I personally like a little bit of manual control every now and again.

Bottom line: recommended for people who don’t like WordPress and for people not comfortable outside of HTML/CSS.  Also recommended for people who (like me) like to sometimes hand-code things themselves.

Next, a CMS with all of WP’s functionality, but with far less hassle, Movable Type! An example of a site using MT is busybee comics.

Pros: Since I’ve never used MT, I’m going to draw straight from an interview given by fluffy, creator of busybee comics.  First, and this is a huge pro, MT can run multiple comics from a single admin panel on ONE site. It’s easier to use AND install than WP, doesn’t rely on PHP (for those who fear it), and has better security. You don’t often hear about MT sites getting hacked, unlike WP sites.  Has commenting ability!

Cons: Again, may require a database depending on what functions you want to use, and definitely requires CGI capability (this latter bit isn’t a con so much as something you need to be aware of).  MT also has its own markup language apparently, so there are somethings you’d need to learn.

Bottom line: for both advanced and beginner coders.  Since I only know of one site that uses this for webcomics, I don’t really have much to say on it though. It exists! So try it and let me know what you think.

Part II will be a short article dealing with Comikaze, i-strip,  Blogspot/other free blogs, and any other system I may be vaguely familiar with people may mention in comments.  I’m far more familiar with systems offered by free webcomic hosts, but even if I don’t know as much about all of these as I would like, I think it’s still important people know about them!

So, the first article is about comic navigation.  Your comic archive should ALWAYS contain links, above AND below the comic* to the following: first comic, previous comic, next comic and last comic. Few things annoy a new reader more than being unable to go back to the first comic (as in, your site only has previous/next), or being unable to get OUT of the archive with a last/today comic button.

Many choose to present these buttons linearly, in order, as you might see on any ComicGenesis site (ex, my mirror site). Some choose to put buttons on the sides of the comic too, or even on top of the comic itself (hover on the left and right sides.)  Regardless of where the buttons are, they need to exist in a recognizable, easy-to-access-and-click form that, if not presented “normally” should still be analogous to what people are already accustomed to. For example again, Chasing the Sunset has a second set of navigation buttons beneath the comic on the left (see the little eyeball like thingies?). Whether or not some might consider a second set of buttons as redundant I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter for this article. The first time I read the comic, I used the small set of buttons because I was unaware I could click the left and right sides of the comic itself. :3 Now I find I rather like clicking a large area instead of using my cursor to find the small “next” button.

I’m getting off topic here, however. If your site features an odd type of navigation (non-recognizable signs if buttons are wordless, or simply something “innovative”), you need to provide some sort of short, informative directions, much as Zuda does, or make it obvious in the order they are presented.

One of the few gripes I’ve heard about ComicPress is that the basic format does not allow for the first/next/prev/last navigation. Instead, you have a “previous” button up top in the SITE navigation, and then a “first” and “previous” link in the BLOG navigation.  I understand the aesthetics for this, but functionality and ease-of-use should always win over stream-lined looks when it comes to a webcomic website.  The good news is that there is a now a easy modification for this to install on your own ComicPress site! Read this post in the CP help forum to learn more (and implement as soon as possible :P)

Some other features to consider adding to your site that are related to this issue:

• if your homepage does not display your comic, you need to DEFINITELY have obvious links to the archive and the latest comic.  The latest comic link needs to have a date, and if is an image, should be updated with every comic update.  I say “should” because it’s not as important as providing the date of your latest update. You should also strongly consider adding a link to your FIRST comic on a homepage that does not display a comic.
• always have a link to the archive and the home page inside of your comic archives. Don’t make people work harder to get where they want to be.
• if you have a ComicPress site, make sure your archives are by page title (designated with chapter and page number also), or hard-code it by chapter, linking to each page separately. For the previous, if you do not provide page titles (and are using the date default), it means absolutely NOTHING to someone browsing through, trying to find a specific page.  The second clause holds true whether or not you are using ComicPress.

That’s it for today!

*comic navigation above and below the comic is only necessary when the comic causes a vertical scroll in 800×600 resolution. I say 800×600 because even though it is basically already phased out by 1024×768, when people have tabbed browsing and the bookmark sidebar up in their browser, your site will get squished into something resembling 800×600. If they have to scroll to read the whole comic, and then scroll back UP to your comic navigation, you need to fix that. Reading your comic should be a pleasure, not a chore for the pointer finger and scroll wheel.

So, the first article is about comic navigation.  Your comic archive should ALWAYS contain links, above AND below the comic* to the following: first comic, previous comic, next comic and last comic. Few things annoy a new reader more than being unable to go back to the first comic (as in, your site only has previous/next), or being unable to get OUT of the archive with a last/today comic button.

Many choose to present these buttons linearly, in order, as you might see on any ComicGenesis site (ex, my mirror site). Some choose to put buttons on the sides of the comic too, or even on top of the comic itself (hover on the left and right sides.)  Regardless of where the buttons are, they need to exist in a recognizable, easy-to-access-and-click form that, if not presented “normally” should still be analogous to what people are already accustomed to. For example again, Chasing the Sunset has a second set of navigation buttons beneath the comic on the left (see the little eyeball like thingies?). Whether or not some might consider a second set of buttons as redundant I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter for this article. The first time I read the comic, I used the small set of buttons because I was unaware I could click the left and right sides of the comic itself. :3 Now I find I rather like clicking a large area instead of using my cursor to find the small “next” button.

I’m getting off topic here, however. If your site features an odd type of navigation (non-recognizable signs if buttons are wordless, or simply something “innovative”), you need to provide some sort of short, informative directions, much as Zuda does, or make it obvious in the order they are presented.

One of the few gripes I’ve heard about ComicPress is that the basic format does not allow for the first/next/prev/last navigation. Instead, you have a “previous” button up top in the SITE navigation, and then a “first” and “previous” link in the BLOG navigation.  I understand the aesthetics for this, but functionality and ease-of-use should always win over stream-lined looks when it comes to a webcomic website.  The good news is that there is a now a easy modification for this to install on your own ComicPress site! Read this post in the CP help forum to learn more (and implement as soon as possible :P)

Some other features to consider adding to your site that are related to this issue:

• if your homepage does not display your comic, you need to DEFINITELY have obvious links to the archive and the latest comic.  The latest comic link needs to have a date, and if is an image, should be updated with every comic update.  I say “should” because it’s not as important as providing the date of your latest update. You should also strongly consider adding a link to your FIRST comic on a homepage that does not display a comic.
• always have a link to the archive and the home page inside of your comic archives. Don’t make people work harder to get where they want to be.
• if you have a ComicPress site, make sure your archives are by page title (designated with chapter and page number also), or hard-code it by chapter, linking to each page separately. For the previous, if you do not provide page titles (and are using the date default), it means absolutely NOTHING to someone browsing through, trying to find a specific page.  The second clause holds true whether or not you are using ComicPress.

That’s it for today!

*comic navigation above and below the comic is only necessary when the comic causes a vertical scroll in 800×600 resolution. I say 800×600 because even though it is basically already phased out by 1024×768, when people have tabbed browsing and the bookmark sidebar up in their browser, your site will get squished into something resembling 800×600. If they have to scroll to read the whole comic, and then scroll back UP to your comic navigation, you need to fix that. Reading your comic should be a pleasure, not a chore for the pointer finger and scroll wheel.