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bunnypandemic · Joined: 22 Jul 2009 Posts: 262

O.o ok. almost everyone voted homepage, but what about this:
suppose I put a picture of the entire cast and a brief plot description first followed by the blog updates.
The thing is I also would like to have an emphasis on the poetry/short story part of the site and no one atuallyh visits those pages.
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mooncity · Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:49 pm Post subject:

It still makes people hunt for the comic, though, which is the main problem of putting other content on the homepage.

You've got a lot of empty space on the website. If it's the other parts of the site you want people to check out, then I'd suggest scrapping the nav bar and rebuilding it so the text links/buttons are larger. Or maybe calling out stuff along the right side of the page, which is practially empty at the moment. Give people a poetry button or icons or something to click on.
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Eben07 · Joined: 07 Sep 2007 Posts: 183 Location: Undisclosed

In visiting your site for Bunny Pandemic, I'd say you've definitely got a the gag-a-day style comic. In that case, absolutely have your most recent comic on the front page.

It has been said before in this thread, but I'll echo it, too. Major story-line comics or online graphic novels should be wary of having the most recent page on the front page.

I recommend some sort of "splash page" style device where you can give new readers an easy gateway into your story and the fans the path to that latest comic they are looking for.

Most people seem to judge books by their cover and those first few pages, not flipping to the middle and trying to figure out what the hell happened. I've found that to be the same for our online comic. People seem to stay around longer (view more pages/visit) since we've implemented the splash page.
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bunnypandemic · Joined: 22 Jul 2009 Posts: 262

There's empty space? I think that was most likely caused by the intensedebate comment boxes. I still can't exactly find a solution.
I could try to remake the navigation. Is a horizontal or vertical navigation system better?
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darrylayo · Joined: 30 Apr 2009 Posts: 120 Location: Brooklyn, New York

Nobody has time to play hide and seek with your comic. My Google Reader alone has something like thirty webcomics on it. That's to say nothing of the other webcomics that I periodically check up on or visit. If I'm going to your site, and it looks the same as the last time I saw it (static splash page), I'm hitting the "back" arrow, end of story.

And I wouldn't worry about "spoilers."

If people are following your comic, then they will be okay. If they aren't following it, then the first thing they're going to see is the top page anyway, so just let it all hang out. Webcomics, are going to be presented this way just by their very nature.
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Alexander Hamilton · Joined: 01 Oct 2009 Posts: 28

I actually disagree with a lot of people here when it comes to long form comics. As a reader, I feel like seeing a huge comic page right up front overwhelms the rest of the site (unlike a strip). You have to scroll in order to reach news or blog posts. I also find it frustrating as someone that tends to forget about comics, then come back ages later and see a spoiler (minor or otherwise). I like the way Strays does it most. It puts the comic right up front, but in a way that isn't overwhelming and maintains a just a touch of mysteriousness. You don't have the search for the latest page, and there is a clear visual indication when there is an new update. So my vote is for an aesthetically pleasing and prominent comic previews.

Wolfus · Joined: 06 Mar 2009 Posts: 527 Location: UK

Unless your blog is the most interesting thing I've seen all day, I have come to your comic website to view your comic.
I want to see that first.
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munkymu · Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 7:27 pm Post subject:

bunnypandemic wrote:

The thing is I also would like to have an emphasis on the poetry/short story part of the site and no one atuallyh visits those pages.

Short stories and comics generally have a different audience. I'm not sure that trying to cater to a bunch of different audiences on the same page is going to be very successful for you. In general, if I'm looking to read stories or poetry I'll go to a site dedicated to them.
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nothinghappenedtoday · Joined: 15 Jun 2009 Posts: 569 Location: Richmond Va

Wolfus wrote:

Unless your blog is the most interesting thing I've seen all day, I have come to your comic website to view your comic.
I want to see that first.

Thank You!
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bunnypandemic · Joined: 22 Jul 2009 Posts: 262

Thanks for the input everyone. ^^

Quote:

You've got a lot of empty space on the website. If it's the other parts of the site you want people to check out, then I'd suggest scrapping the nav bar and rebuilding it so the text links/buttons are larger. Or maybe calling out stuff along the right side of the page, which is practially empty at the moment.

moon, what did you mean by this? On my screen, it looks fine without the empty space and the links are pretty big
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mooncity · Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:17 pm Post subject:

Well, the nav bar at the top has relatively small text. It doesn't look bad or anything, but maybe buttons would make these stand out a bit better. On the right side under the facebook icon, it's empty all theway down.

Least on my browser, anyway.
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hollylaing · Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Posts: 185 Location: Canada

Hmm, I think it totally depends on whether you're referring to a story, or a gag-a-day comic. As new pages for a story comic may contain spoilers, and in that case I think a easy access link on the main page isn't too much of a detour.
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funnyninjas · Joined: 13 Aug 2008 Posts: 364 Location: In Ohio

I don't mind it either way, I think that as Kallisti said, it depends on what you want your site to be. If you aren't just focusing on comics, and have other content to offer, a landing page can be helpful. A good example of a gag-a-day that just has a thumbnail on the homepage is whiteninjacomics.com. The creators have some updates with their t-shirts, books, events, ect, but the comic is still very easy to find.

For you, BunnyP, I don't think you would benefit from having a static landing page. The only reason I could see you doing this is to have short blog posts about your poetry, and whatever else you are doing this. If you do choose to have a static page, I'd reccomend doing something like whiteninjacomics.com, with the thumbnail of only one panel of the most recent comic.
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twotimingpete · Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 358

I'd say it's better almost without exception to either have the latest page on your index, or a partial image of it (a preview image) in clear view that clicks straight to it.

an index page with neither of these things is pretty useless for a webcomic site.
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xpxzampop · Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 54

Imagine walking into a bakery only to find that the goodies were hidden from sight and you had to ask before you got to see them! Would you come back to that bakery? The same age-old techniques of sale still apply to webcomics. Put your best stuff in the windows where everyone can see it.
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