This week, I’m doing an overview setting up a WordPress webcomic.  I’m going to do my best not to overlap too much with Bob Hickey’s excellent WordPress tutorial from Sketch no. 34, but of course there will be some overlap. 

1)      Get a host that is database compatible, and set up the database that will run your webcomic.  I use a Yahoo Small Business website, but that’s not an endorsement for them. I expect I’ll be looking for a new host within the year.

2)      Download and install WordPress.

3)      Download and install Comicpress.

4)      Download and install Comicpress Manager.

5)      If you have problems, go to this forum.  This is where Tyler Martin, who created Comicpress, and John Coswell, who built Comicpress Manager, often answers questions.  Even if Tyler and John are too busy, there are often knowledgeable people who point you in the right direction.

6)      There are also excellent forums at the WordPress site.

Before you start digging into your Comicpress code and modifying your site, there are some plugins that you might need.  In my case, I use the following:

1)      Ad-Minister (download here): I use this for rotating ads at the top of my blog.  I use this space outside my Project Wonderful ad boxes.

2)      Add to any: Share/Save/Bookmark Button (download here): Offers a wide list of social bookmarking links.

3)      Akismet: This plugin, which helps identify and quarantine spam, comes with WordPress, and it requires that you get a WordPress API key. 

4)      All In One SEO Pack (download here): This “Search Engine Optimizes” your blog.

5)      Comicpress Manager (download here): This makes loading comics, setting up archives, and thumb nailing quite easy.

6)      Eshop for WordPress (download here): My choice of shopping cart program.

7)      Google XML Sitemaps (download here): Notifies Google every time you update your site.

8 )      Lightbox2 (download here): I use this to set up galleries, such as my Fan Art gallery, and it displays pics at full size without distorting your blog setup.

9)      PrestoGifto (download here): Integrates your Café Press store into your blog.

10)  ReCAPTCHA (download here): Fights spam by requiring a random security word picture with each comment.

11)  WP Super cache (download here): Speeds up your blog by turning slow loading PHP into HTML on the client side.

Installing plugins is usually as simple as using an FTP program to upload the unzipped plugin to your site, depositing the new plugin’s folder in your wp-contents/plugins folder.  (I use CuteFTP as my FTP application of choice, but there are many available.)  Once you’ve signed into your WordPress site, go to Plugins, then hit “activate” after each new plugin.

Well, that’s enough for this week, I would imagine.  Next week, I’ll start getting into details of getting your site up to speed, such as how to install Project Wonderful ads, changing background colors, and modifying your blog header.

Scott.

Good friend John Wilson has made “Johnny Saturn” today’s Sketchmag Spotlight over at the Sketch Magazine site.  We are, of course, quite honored.  Plus, he mentions Benita’s spinning wheel, which is a long-standing presence when we do comic shows.

You may have noticed that there is no Johnny Saturn store up.  I’ve had technical difficulties, to be honest.  I’ve tried to install Zen Cart three times, all failing, and the third time it took down the whole site for a while, forcing me to do a restore.  I can’t go back to eShop, because it did a real job on our database.  So, a store is coming, and it will be sooner than later, but I’m just not sure when exactly.

Over at Webcomics.com, I put Johnny Saturn up for a critique by my webcartoonist peers.  The advice and observations I’ve received have been invaluable.  I mention this because, if you think I’m above criticism, you are incorrect.  I will never be too good to stop working on improving the strip.  I consider myself to be a journeyman, and my masterwork is still out there, in the future.

Speaking of “Sketch Magazine,” I would like to make sure that at least all the readers of this blog know about it.  Having been published for well over thirty issues, and featuring interviews with many of the comic industries top stars, Sketch Magazine has offered valuable advice for learning cartoonist for some years now.  It has covered every aspect of the comic creation process in some detail, and it has adapted to the times by recognizing and offering instruction to the world on the rise of webcomics.  I have been very proud to be a semi-regular contributor to this fine publication, and I would strongly urge all learning cartoonists to buy or subscribe to it.  It’s available in virtually all comic shops, and online.

Scott.