TWCL

jaybob · Joined: 14 Mar 2013 Posts: 3

Hi folks,

New to the forum but have been lurking for a bit. I've been talking about doing a webcomic for ages but never got round to getting off my backside and doing it.

I've started writing and drawing the first few strips but want to get a good bulk of work done before I start putting any online to give myself a buffer.

From what I've read on here, Comicpress seems like a good option for designing the website but I have little to no experience of web design or language so I would like to spend a bit of time fiddling around with it before doing a serious design for a comic. As far as I understand there is no way to use Comicpress without an active web host but I am quite a few months (or more, depending on work) from being ready to go online so don't really want to start paying for hosting now.

Is there any free hosting options out there where I can just fiddle around with Comicpress so when I do come to design my site it doesn't look like a 5 year old did it? The quality of the hosting is unimportant as I would just be using it to experiment with design before laying down some cash for a proper host when I'm a bit closer to being ready to go live.

Many thanks for any help!

n9uxu · Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Posts: 576 Location: Michigan

Comicpress is a bit on the dead side (functional but no support going on), but ComicEasel is a sort of a fork which is currently supported. You may want to look at that. I do one of my comics on CP and on on CE.

Dave
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Also be sure to read ttallan's

Lo (Aquapunk) · Joined: 09 Oct 2009 Posts: 44

Personally, I use the Webcomic/Inkblot theme and plugin combo. The default layout isn't hideous, the code is very clean, the basics are VERY easy to customize without knowing a lick of code (and you'd be surprised at all the things the dev sees as "basics"), and it's just structured in a way that makes far more sense to me as admin.
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jaybob · Joined: 14 Mar 2013 Posts: 3

Thanks for the replies. Comiceasel does seem like a good shout, especially since from what I can see it is being worked on by the guy who was doing Comicpress before it dwindled out.

I have started a Wordpress blog on wordpress.com just to have a bit of a fiddle and get used to the software and it does seem quite user friendly but would I be able to use the Comiceasel plugin on their site and if not is there somewhere else I could give it a testdrive? I'm sure I can't be the only person looking for somewhere that can provide a bit of a sandbox to experiment with the software.

MindChimera · Joined: 03 Feb 2013 Posts: 104

I haven't personally used wordpress.com, but I was under the impression you can't install plugins like ComicEasel there.

A free host I've used before is byethost.com. I ended up abandoning those projects so I couldn't tell you what it's like in the longrun, but it should give you the sandbox you're looking for.

However, you'll probably need to look up a guide for installing WordPress on it if you don't know how to do that already. I can't remember if they offer an "express install" for WordPress like some other paid hosts do.

Hope that helps.

jaybob · Joined: 14 Mar 2013 Posts: 3

Thanks MindChimera, signed up with Byethost for free and installed the ComicEasel plugin and have had a bit of a playaround. This whole website designing thing can be a bit frustrating but rewarding. Now just got to keep getting my head around it and keep working on material and hopefully I will have my comic on here in a few months!