Something Looks Different…
As you can see, the changes have already begun. I’ve switched to non-comic landing page, something I probably should have done long ago. There are quite a few reasons I’ve done this, but the most important is that any new people coming to the site will not be forced to see a comic in the midst of a story line, such as the current Francis-centric one. Instead, you can click on the “Latest Update” button to the left and go right to the newest update.
Of course, this means I’ll have to regularly update this blog so that it’s not the same message for weeks on end. Prepare for blathering! And shameless plugging! And… things…
Anyway. The next big change will probably come in the actual comic. I’ll be switching from using Photoshop CS5 for drawing and coloring to Clip Studio Paint (the download version of Manga Studio Pro). CS5 has been good to me, but Clip Studio Paint is specifically designed for comic artists in mind. So things might be a little bumpy as I weather the learning curve, but it’ll be a fun ride.
Also, if you have any comments/feedback/questions on anything that’s changing, let me know. You know how to reach me.
Really enjoy your work. Awkward compliments are awkward.
Minor suggestion. Maybe keep the latest update image the same but show the date it updated? That keeps the spoilers on what happens in the current comic to a minimum yet still shows that the comic has updated.
Thank you! And will think about it. The only way I could easily do it is to put the date right on the image itself, because the image is updated automatically and the other option would be to go into my sidebar widget every single time I update to change the date. Another idea would be to do an extra blog post about each update, but that might get to be too much for the front page.
But I’ll think about it!
Well, Pete, if this new strategy you’re trying works for you, then stick with it. But if I may play devil’s advocate a little, …
People coming to a webcomic site usually expect to see a comic when they get there. I suspect most folks understand well enough that the current day’s comic might put them in the middle of a storyline and that they’ll have to plumb the archives to catch up. Thus, I’m not convinced that protecting new readers from a mid-storyline strip is really necessary.
That said, if you’re going to stick with this strategy, I’ll offer two suggestions:
1. Make sure that the image, comic title, or whatever people have to click on the landing page updates with each new comic. If we don’t land right on the comic, we’ll appreciate not having to click an extra link every day just to see whether you’ve updated. I think you’re right that an extra blog post for each update would be a bit much, but showing the date of the last update, as Hijienx suggested, might be a good option.
2. If you can find a way to do so, you may want to put the most recent comic on a page with an unchanging URL (like “www.bardsworth.com/comic” or something) as well as on a page with a URL specific to that comic like it is now. That way, readers who so desire will be able to bookmark the comic directly rather than having to bookmark your landing page and then click a link to read the comic.
Please do#2 above.
Please see my response to Andy4Hire.
I can try to find a way to make #2 happen, but at the same time I’m not sure I want to. Part of the reason I turned the home page into a landing page is so that people can see the current blog post and any kind of banners I’m running (like my store banner on the left side). I understand it’s a pain for the comic readers, but at the same time it’s a business decision for me. And as much as it pains me to say it, Bardsworth is not just a comic, it’s a business.
However, this doesn’t mean I’m not willing to try to find a happy medium. As I’ve said, lots of changes coming, and some of them will be fluid as I find better solutions for things.
All right, that explanation makes sense.
But if you want to make sure people see the ads, banners, blog posts, and what have you, might tinkering with the layout of the homepage not accomplish the same goal? The previous version of the homepage had those things and the latest comic.
(Again, this is more of a devil’s-advocate comment than anything. You’re right, of course, that it’s time to find ways to make the business side of Bardsworth work better. If the new setup might accomplish that goal, it’s worth a try. Your fans do want you to succeed, after all.)
Yes, the previous version did have all that stuff, but a lot of it was under the comic, which took up much of the real estate, and I have no way of knowing if anyone even really saw the other stuff. This way I know for sure any messages that I put out there are being seen (except for ads when it comes to AdBlocker, but I’m working on that one).
Plus, we come back to the “mid story line” thing that I want to avoid.
I appreciate the devil’s advocate approach, but trust me, most of this stuff is stuff that I’ve thought about for a while.
Fair enough. I can’t speak for anyone else, of course, but I always at least glanced at the latest blog post, same as I do for other comics where I don’t have to click something extra to get to the blog. Sometimes (like now) there’s good stuff in there that I’ll want to see.
Another suggestion that might help new readers:
The current strip-by-strip listing in the archives makes it easy to find a particular strip without having to click on a storyline title and then hit “Next” a bunch of times, as some comics’ archives force you to do. But the tradeoff is that anyone wanting to read the whole of a particular storyline will have a hard time figuring out where to begin. And Bardsworth has been running long enough now that there are loads of strips to sort through (which is a good thing!). Perhaps you can add another set of listings that breaks the archives down by storyline, or even just separate the current archive listings into chapters?
The “Latest Update” is not prominent enough to find instantly on your first time to the page. It might deter new readers.
Also, hello. First time commenter here.
Noted, and thank you. 🙂
Now I’m noticing something else I hadn’t thought of the first time through:
With the landing page as it is now, we can see at a glance whether the comic has updated, which is great! But what we can’t see without clicking the comic is whether there are any new comments on the comic. (The blog posts, yes, but not the comic.) Those of us who check back in once in a while to see whether there’s been any new discussion of the latest comic might appreciate some kind of indicator, maybe under the “Latest Update” link on the landing page, to tell us how many comments there are. If I go to the landing page and see that it says “8 comments” under the comic and I remember that there were 8 last time I was there, then I don’t need to click to find out that there’s nothing new; if I remember that there were only 4 last time, I’ll click through to read them.
Of course, maybe most folks don’t pay attention to that sort of thing. Also, maybe an indicator like that would clutter the landing page too much. There are valid reasons not to do it. But it’s something else to consider.