Create a Webcomic with WordPress and ComicPress
Launching Your Webcomic: A Two-Part Process
Initiating a webcomic involves two primary phases: website development and comic creation. While seemingly straightforward, this description is somewhat condensed. A common apprehension among artists stems from the perceived difficulty of establishing an effective online presence for their work.
This concern is often unwarranted. Just as readily available templates exist for photo portfolios and online stores, web developers have crafted user-friendly and maintainable webcomic templates. Specifically, we will focus on utilizing a WordPress adaptation.
Why WordPress for Your Webcomic?
Many individuals are intimidated by the technical aspects of web design. However, platforms like WordPress significantly reduce this barrier to entry.
WordPress offers a robust content management system (CMS) that simplifies the process of publishing and organizing your comic strips. It allows you to concentrate on the artistic side of your project.
Key Advantages of Using a WordPress Webcomic Template
- Ease of Use: Templates provide a pre-designed structure, minimizing the need for coding knowledge.
- Maintainability: WordPress’s interface makes updating and managing your webcomic straightforward.
- Customization: While templates offer a starting point, they are often customizable to reflect your unique style.
- Community Support: A large and active WordPress community provides ample resources and assistance.
Therefore, leveraging a WordPress solution is a practical and efficient approach for aspiring webcomic creators. It allows you to focus on what truly matters: bringing your creative vision to life.
ComicPress: A WordPress Theme for Webcomics
ComicPress is marketed as The WordPress Comic Publishing Theme, and it lives up to that description. This theme is a popular choice among numerous well-known webcomic creators.
Several prominent webcomics utilize ComicPress, including FoxTrot, Player VS. Player, Dr. McNinja, Nuklear Power, Extra Life, Starslip, and Octupus Pie.
Examining these sites – and others showcased on the ComicPress website – provides a strong illustration of the theme’s capabilities, especially when combined with a few extensions.
ComicPress distinguishes itself as more than just a basic attempt at a comic publishing platform; it is a fully realized solution.
The ComicPress theme offers two distinct presentation styles: a comic-focused view and a traditional blog layout.
By default, the blog section appears beneath the most recent comic strip, as seen in the image above.
However, users have the flexibility to display only the blog, or to dedicate separate sections of their site to each view.
Installing ComicPress for WordPress
This guide details the installation process for ComicPress, assuming you already have a self-hosted WordPress installation – meaning it’s hosted on your own server and not through WordPress.com. WordPress is a widely-used content management system, serving as the foundation for numerous blogs, corporate websites, online stores, and, potentially, your own webcomic. Importantly, it is available at no cost.
Obtain the most recent version of ComicPress from the website [Broken URL Removed]. Upload the downloaded archive and then extract its contents into the wp-content/themes/comicpress directory. If your web server’s file manager lacks archive extraction capabilities, unzip the files on your computer before uploading them individually. Maintaining this precise folder structure is vital; the theme files must reside within a lowercase 'comicpress' folder for proper functionality.
Proceed to Plugins -> Add New within the WordPress administration sidebar. Install both the ComicPress Manager and the Theme Companion plugins, as illustrated below. Activation of these plugins is essential and can be completed immediately after installation, or later via Plugins -> Plugins.
Navigate to Appearance -> Themes in the sidebar. Activate the ComicPress theme, which will be visible in the Available Themes section at the bottom of the page.
Within Posts -> Categories, establish two new categories: 'Comic' and 'Blog'. Only the category names are required; the remaining fields can be left blank. Upon successful completion, you should have three categories available: Comic, Blog, and Uncategorized.
Access Posts -> ComicPress -> Manager Config. Scroll to the page’s bottom and click the First Run button. This action will generate the necessary directory structure for comic management and an RSS feed. Additionally, go to Posts -> ComicPress -> ComicPress Config to verify that the installation correctly identified the 'Blog' and 'Comic' categories you previously created.
Configure the overall ComicPress settings by going to Appearance -> ComicPress Options. Numerous options are available, and their functions are generally intuitive. For a basic setup, consider disabling either the blog or comments section on your homepage.
This completes the necessary configuration. To publish your initial comic, go to Posts -> Comicpress and upload your artwork. The image filename must adhere to the following format: YYYY-MM-DD-Name-of-the-comic.ext, where 'ext' represents your file type (e.g., jpg or png), and the comic name should not consist of a single number. Using this naming convention automatically assigns the appropriate title, date, and displays the comic on your website upon upload.
Are there other webcomic concepts you're eager to explore? Share your ideas with us in the comments section below!