Oy - Celebrating ONE YEAR on the web!

Have you ever read a really interesting blog entry and went to save it or share it with others only to find a long list of ways to do so?: “Add to del.icio.us” “Digg This” “Favorite on Technorati”, and so on…

Well now, there’s a simpler way: it’s called, “Share This”, and it has now been installed right here on theblogComics.com. Just click the “Share This” link below and a menu should pop open giving you eight options to socially bookmark the blog post you want to share. I say “should”, because sometimes it sends you to a separate page, which is okay, it’s just not as convenient. The eight options are, del.icio.us, Digg, My Yahoo, StumbleUpon, Google Bookmarks, Technorati, Facebook and Windows Live.

The default setup comes with several more (though, I had to custom add Facebook), but I narrowed it down to those eight for simplicity based on popular use (translation: “If I’d even heard of them”.)

You can also hit the “E-mail” tab for a quick way to eMail someone (note: it’s on the right if it sends you to the separate page.) In fact, if you register here, your eMail address will always be pre-entered if you’re logged in!

So, if you blog with Wordpress and want to offer an easier way for your readers to share your work, try out Share This. And just so you can see how it works, why don’t you use the Share This link below to share this very blog post? Thanks and enjoy!

I was already using a workaround method to create a blogroll via my subscriptions in Google Reader. Now the techs over at Google have officially added a blogroll feature so I can add a bit of color. The downside is it gets smooshed even more than it already was, so I have moved the list to the right sidebar for better readability.

I have also burned my individual comics RSS feeds through Feedburner for easier use.

And finally, the folks at Wet Paint have directly integrated discussion forums into all their wikis (there was a similar comments interface previously, but they’ve replaced it with the forums.) So now theblogComics.com Wiki can double as a message board!

As I’m sure some of you have noticed, I haven’t been blogging with the comics very often lately. There is a threefold reason for this:

1) I’m moving soon and have been busy enough just trying to get ahead on the comics themselves.

2) On the technical side, for some reason my comics have been posting two hours early ever since Daylight Savings ended (one hour off I could understand, but two?) They’re scheduled to post at 1 AM, so between 10 and midnight the day before I would normally post a blog. With it now posting at 11 PM the day before, I often miss my window, and I don’t like to blog retroactively, except to fix major spelling errors (and sometimes not even that) as it doesn’t carry over to those who subscribe via e-mail.

3) When I do plan ahead to beat the window, I can’t come up with much more than commentaries on how I made the comic. Which I assume can be interesting to some people every so often, but on a daily basis, I don’t think it’s very entertaining for me to spout off about how cool my latest digital brush is, etc.

I will still blog in the general section every so often (more frequently once I move), but commentaries with the comics will only be every so often for the time being.

And for those that didn’t notice I was blogging with the comics in the first place, never mind the above info.

Just a quick note that I am upgrading to WordPress 2.3 and ComicPress 2.1 at the same time, so things may look funky for awhile.

I’m moving this weekend, and in preparation I have been unable to get on the computer to complete the next several days worth of cartoons (in fact, this afternoon my computer and Wacom tablet will be packed.) So, today’s BarnRats, Monday’s Oy and very likely Tuesday’s Zap the Zero will be delayed by one week. Fortunately, Retro Wednesdays and the current Crow’s Nest storyline will not be affected as they are complete through the end of 2007 already, so you’ll still get some comics, just not all of them.

Thanks for reading! See you in a few days…

In the aftermath of canceling Zap the Zero and BarnRats, several changes have been made to the site and my work process. I’ve expanded the schedule to 7 days a week! That means there’ll be a new comic every day but Wednesday due to it being Retro day (but if you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you.) Speaking of which, I’ve pulled all my old BarnRats strips out of mothballs and will post one a week every Wednesday for the next 68 weeks!

That’s right, I drew a lot more BarnRats than I remember doing and at the end of the run, every BarnRats in existence will be on this site!

Meanwhile, all-new Oy and The Crow’s Nest comics will continue on a new schedule every other day (except Wednesday, of course). I have also decided to start scripting The Crow’s Nest instead of ad-libbing it, I made that exception for 24 Hr. Comics Day and it seemed to work better in general.

The new schedule is as follows:

Oy - Sunday (in COLOR!), Tuesday and Friday (in B&W!)

The Crow’s Nest - Monday, Thursday and Saturday (in SEPIA!)

Retro Wednesdays: BarnRats Classics - Wednesday (in all kinds of shades and colors!)

If you missed it, read the BarnRats Finale, and remember to lookout for BarnRats Classics starting tomorrow, featuring many strips that haven’t been seen in years.

Also read the Zap the Zero Finale.

Check out the all-new Crow’s Nest storyline “Endings and Beginnings”.

Sunday Funnies: Oy has a moooving encounter.

Coming soon on theblogComics.com…

A shocking discovery!

A love reunited!

Cute bunny noses!

Two updates to the site to report today due to my upgrade to a (finally) working 3-column ComicPress theme…

1) TAG CLOUD

Just below the Comic Title/Blog section is a new Flash-based Tag Cloud. You simply hold the mouse cursor above, below or to the sides of the box to rotate to the tag (or, “category”) you want to read. For example, click on “The Crow’s Nest (COMIC)” and you’ll be taken to the archives of The Crow’s Nest.

The reason for this isn’t just to be fancy. I generally don’t believe in being fancy at the sacrifice of function. The practical reason is simply that the default Tag Cloud in the old sidebar setup would trail off the edges of the background which, to me, looked sloppy. Then in this new setup, it would knock the right sidebar to the bottom; negating the purpose of even having a second sidebar. I couldn’t find a way to constrain the text version (if anyone knows of a way, let me know!), but ran across Tag Cumulus in my search for a solution.

The downside is I have to be really careful what tags I use, otherwise the rotating cloud gets cluttered. Fortunately, WordPress 2.5 is supposed to have tag management, so if use too many different tags, I should be able to easily condense them.

2) RSS Changes

For anyone subscribed to theblogComics.com RSS feed, you may have noticed that the comic itself no longer shows up in your reader and are met by this picture:

There is a threefold reason for this:

I - Technical: The new 3-column theme I’m using has the RSS comic blocking built-in. I’m not sure how to turn it off, but I was considering doing it anyway so I’m not going to worry about it for now.

II - Financial: I run this site and make these comics for free (less than free if you consider hosting costs). I will never forcibly charge you, the reader, for reading the comics themselves on this site (note: outside this site would be another matter). I hope to offer books and other interesting, viable merchandise in the future when I’m more established. In the meantime, to offset the costs I will need to implement some advertising options on this site. Many web advertising companies base how much your site it “worth” on your site visitor hit count. And if everyone is reading my comics via a reader, they are not visiting the site, which means a lower hit count.

Personally, I don’t like it, even I prefer reading webcomics directly in an RSS reader, but it’s the system that exists.

III - Artistic: I think the philosophy of “infinite canvas” is flawed. There, I said it, Scott McCloud… “Infinite Canvas” = “Infinite Scrolling” = “Infinitely Obnoxious”. Yes, you can make comics as big as you want on the web. The question is, should you? The answer is, no. If your story requires more panels than can comfortably fit on the screen at once (there’ll always be some overlap due to browser size, toolbars, etc.) then that’s what a NEXT button is for.

I don’t agree with their heavy handed contracts, but that’s one thing DC Comics’ Zuda Comics got right…

No matter how big someone’s monitor is, they still have a 4:3 or 16:9 box constraining their view. You go beyond those boundaries by too much, and your comic is not as enjoyable as it could be. Granted, comic nerds like me will read it if it’s good no matter the dimensions. But if a casual reader has to work too hard just to read it, they’ll probably tune out after the first strip.

That being said, there’s also no excuse for having tiny comics when you don’t have the dimensions of a newspaper page limiting you. I used to post my comics at 700dpi wide in order to cater to the the lowest common denominator of 800×600 monitors. I have upped my newest cartoons to 900dpi wide to make their new viewable standard minimum 1024×768 monitors; viewable on the site that is. Many RSS readers have sidebars and junk in the way, making the comic hard to read without scrolling sideways.

That, and you can’t see my spiffy new sky fade background in the reader! So, technical and financial reasons aside, the site itself is simply the best place to view the comics. And like a so-called “Fullscreen” (a.k.a. “Chop ‘ n Crop”) DVD, not giving you the best viewing option is more a disservice than anything.

I just upgraded the site to Wordpress 2.5. There’s not much of a change on the front-end, though you can now navigate regular blog posts more easily. But the back-end is awesome! I have a lot more control now over how things operate, which benefits everyone.