Designing a Webcomic Website

Designing a Webcomic Website

There are many designs of webcomic websites out there. Some work better than others. This tutorial is an accumulation of knowledge from several different sources over the years. It’s also written with the perspective and experience of it’s writer, as well as addition thoughts from a peer review*. The main goal of anyone with a webcomic, is to make sure your website is easily readable and navigable. I can’t help you with your webcomic’s content, but this tutorial can help with your website.

Before You Start

Take a Step Back

There are essentially three types of people that will come to your website: Webcomic Readers, NEW Webcomic Readers, and other Webcomic Creators. The first thing you must realize is that just because YOU can navigate your website, does not mean others can. As there are many ways to design a webcomic website, some decisions make less sense for others than they would to yourself or other webcomic creators. You must keep readers in mind at all times. Especially new readers, which includes people that are completely new to webcomics (or the internet in general) as well.

The second thing you must realize is that the “first screen” is your most important screen. This is what people will see when they type in, or click, your main URL. Without any scrolling, at all, this is your first screen. This is also refereed to as “above the fold”, which is a reference to the top of the front page of a newspaper. Here is where as much important information should go, without overcrowding it. Your latest comic page or strip should also be VERY visible. Just like advertisements, you have just a few seconds to catch the reader’s attention, so your comic and other important information should be easily seen.

The Website Itself

Before we get ahead of ourselves, how are showing your comic online? Are you using a free webcomic hosting site? Your own web space? Are you using a template, program, or other coding tool? Kicking it old school with HTML, or are you rolling with CSS?

Essentially, if you are on a free webcomic hosting site, you are likely vastly limited in what you can do with the code to design your own website. This tutorial is more aimed at those that have some knowledge and ability to edit the code of their site to actually design it.

If you have your own space, and access to a database, you’d probably be in your best interests in using WordPress. Now this isn’t a WordPress tutorial, but I’ll say that there are a few ways to publish your comic on the web using themes and/or plugins such as: Inkblot with Webcomic, ComicPress with CP Manager, Wp-Comic, Manga+Press, or stripShow. There are even a few scripts that can be used without WordPress, though I’m unfamiliar with them.

Depending on your coding ability, and the limitations of what you use, will help determine the extent of which you can edit your site. My basic advice is to read up on any documentation related to what you use, visit www.w3schools.com for additional assistance, do the best that you can, and ask for help from where you can. The absolute last thing I would would is pay someone to do the site for you. However, sometimes to get exactly what you want, you may have to.

The majority of webcomic websites are centered. Meaning if you maximize the browser, there will be “dead space” or both the left and right of the main content. Call this margin the “bleed zone”. It is where nothing should be, and helps keeps the main content look organized. Some sites are LEFT justified, meaning everything hugs the left of the browser, with the bleed zone on the right. Both ways are acceptable. Just make sure that you have the whole website aligned the same way, or your site is going to look a mess.

The URL

While not really apart of the page itself, it is still very important. If you are serious about your comic, you should really have a domain name. A “yourwebcomic.com” domain name. Hobbyist can more easily get away with hosting domain names like “yoursite.hostingsite.com”, but sometimes they are just way too long or complex. Shorter is better than longer, easier to remember is better than being “creative”. Domain names are cheap (less than $10/year as of 2010).

As far as the name you pick, make sure it is something that won’t easily be confused with something else. Do some searches and see what’s available. If the name you want is taken, adding “comic” or “webcomic” to the end can work. Avoid using easily misspelled words, avoid using numbers in place of letters, avoid using underscores and dashes. Using these just makes your URL both harder to give, and harder to remember. Domain names should really be no longer than a few words max. They should relate directly to the comic in some way. They should ALWAYS¹ point to a home page featuring the latest comic.

¹ The only exception should be if you need a disclaimer page; especially for sites that may not be safe for viewing at school or work (aka NSFW); such as comics with lots of nudity, phonographic content, or other potentially offensive or sensitive material and/or subject matter.

The Home Page

For a continuously updating comic, the home page should ALWAYS¹ include the most recent page or strip. For completed comic stories, you’d probably be best having a “comic” saying it’s the end, and to please read from the beginning. This would also be acceptable for comics that take large breaks between books. However, this tutorial is for people that update continuously.

Avoid using thumbnail previews for the latest comic. Avoid a “news” post or hub, unless it’s AFTER the comic. The more clicking and scrolling that a reader (especially potential NEW readers), increases the chance and likelihood that they will leave before even finding your comic pages. And don’t give me “But Penny Arcade does it!” I will tell you this once: You are not Penny Arcade. Also, Penny Arcade is a gaming site first, and a comic second. Chances are highly against you having a “news site” for why people visit you.

Splash page? This is not 1996. Do not use a splash page¹. The domain you give people, the domain they type in or click on, will bring them to what they will see first. Make sure it’s the latest comic page or strip. That is what they went to your site for. Many webcomickers also put up related artwork on this page, but make sure it’s clearly labeled. We’ll go into that more when we talk about your archive.

Building The Main Design

Planning the Design and Layout

Whether you are making a completely new site, or redesigning an old one, a good practice is to make a mock design of your website in a graphics program (like Adobe Photoshop). Create a visual representation of how you’d like your site to look, and then code your new site accordingly.

Take screen-caps of all the pages of your current layout. Paste them together into a since image. Then cut-paste your way to a better layout. Start by singling out each separate element. Move them around, like magnets on a fridge, helping you find a design that works best.

If you have a knowledge of the coding your site uses, that helps greatly in visualizing how to make the final design. If not, it still helps others help you, by knowing what you are attempting to do. Before you code, show your designs to some peers, and see what they think. Tell them to look at it as though a new reader. Maybe they have some good suggestions.

There and MANY ways to design a website. Just look for yourself online. Look at other webcomic sites AS A READER. Adapt what’s feels affective to you, and be creative.

Website Dimensions

You must realize
that people’s computer screen sizes, and monitor resolutions, can
fluctuate greatly. From netbooks and laptops to desktops; you must
remember to try an optimize the space that EVERYONE will see.

As of 2010, the
majority of internet users have a screen resolution of 1024×768, with
the next stage being a 1280x 800 and larger. In fact, there’s a huge
transition in monitors going wide screen. However, just because the
screen is bigger, doesn’t mean they use the whole space to view the
internet. Many people will have multiple windows open, with a browser
off to the side. Since the advent of wide screen monitors started
recently, most sites are designed with 800×600 and 1024×768 still in
mind, with only a few going bigger. So it makes sense to just design
a site with 1024×768 in mind as a maximum size.

However, there is
still a problem. you can’t make a website to that size. You have the
browser’s menu and toolbars to worry about, as well as the vertical
scrollbar; not to mention the computers’ navigation (like a Start
Menu). You also have to consider that some laptops and netbooks have
a max of 600 pixels in height. With all of this in mind, when
designing the layout of your website, your design width should be
about 950 pixels wide or less. For height, you probably want to keep
the most important information in the top 400-600 pixels of the page.

The
Basic Layout

This is where you
may be limited by what you use for your website. The actual layout
can consist of a wide assortment of designs. It really depends on (1)
the type of comic your are doing (page, strip, single panel, infinite
canvas), and (2) the actual dimensions of your comic. Sometimes to
get the layout your want, you may need to change the size of your
comic a bit, but for the most part, you’ll be designing around the
comic itself.

I’m not going to go
into a point-by-point in all the different types of layouts, but to
give you some BASIC ideas, I’ll refer to the following images:

You can use your own
imagination for other sidebar placements. Not shown would be a
footer, but it should be obvious where that goes. Again, there are
many different types of layouts that people can construct, but this
is mostly a look at the most basic of designs.

Other things not
show are navigation and menu items. I’ll go into these more later.
The basic idea to have in mind with your layout, is to make sure that
your comic can be viewed on the first screen.

Depending on what
specific things you want on your website (such as ads, twitter boxes,
or other tools), you will have to size your comic accordingly. This
can also determine the placement of the comic and sidebar.

Remember that you
want to limit your website’s width to 900-950 pixels wide. Sidebar
content can range from 125 pixels to 200 pixels wide. Consider this
(as well as padding and margins), when thinking about the width of
your comic.

Image
Use

There are several
types of images you can use on a website. The common types are JPG,
GIF, and PNG. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages. The
trick is to save your art (for either the comic, site buttons, or
site designs), in the best quality, but smallest file you can.
Smaller files help your site load faster.

More can be said
about images than what I’ll say here, but remember to keep file sizes
in mind when designing your site. Experiment with saving your
original art into different image types, and see what works best for
you.

Setting Up The
Site’s Content

Comic
Size and Placement

As
mentioned, there are four main types of webcomics that people can
make. You have ones that are tall
comics (usually
page style or “long form”), wide
comics (typically
strip-style), box
comics
(usually single panels, squares, or double-stacked strips), and
infinite
canvas
comics.

If
you are looking to print your comic, you’ll be best off avoiding the
infinite
canvas style.
For sizing, look into printers to help you translate printable
dimensions into web-friendly dimensions. You don’t want to make the
comic too big that you have to side-scroll. You also don’t want to
make it so small that the text or art is hard to read.

Wide comics (like
the daily comics in newspapers), tend to take up the whole space from
one side of the browser, to the other. Making it impossible to have a
sidebar. That’s FINE! The advantage of having a wide comic is that
you should be able to see the whole comic on the first screen without
scrolling. In fact, you could probably not give me a single, good
reason why you can’t show the whole comic without scrolling.

Tall comics (like
the physical trade or manga comics) are less likely to fit on the
first screen completely. Depending on how you design the site, you
could see anywhere from 20% to 80% of the comic. Also, since the
dimensions may differ it’s really hard to give a definite rule for
how your website should display such a comic.

However, I have come
up with a single rule that should work in all cases: For
any comic that cannot completely fit on the first screen, you must be
able to show the top 33% of the comic, or at the complete top row of
panels.

Why? Because readers
want to (1) see that you even have a comic on the first screen and
(2) know if you updated since the last time they came. I’ve seen
websites where tall comics are so pushed down the page, you can only
see some speech balloons, or sometimes not at all! This is not good,
especially if you want to increase your readership.

I will admit that
the way some hosting sites are designed (not naming names), that you
can’t help but have your comic be pushed down the page. If you are
serious about your comic, you should see if you can edit the design
of your site to maximize the space. That, or you should consider
getting your own hosting. These days, hosting is fairly cheap, with
various plans between $40-$80 a year. As a starting webcomic, you
likely don’t need to go farther than the cheaper packages. Its easier
to upgrade than it is to downgrade.

Your
Title/Logo Banner

This is what tells
visitors where they are and what they are looking at. There’s a few
ways to design a banner. You can span it across the whole width of
the page. You can keep it modest in the top left of the page, or even
somehow incorporate it around or besides ads.

The easiest method
is to span across the whole page width. The height is where people
get greedy. Some people like to show off their logo…. which is
fine. However, you really don’t need to make to super tall. In fact,
you’d probably be fine with a height of 60-100 pixels tall. If you
have a “Leaderboard” sized banner ad at the top, I would
recommend 100 pixels tall, to better help separate the ad from the
logo.

If you place ads to
the side of your logo (keep your logo to the top-left), you could go
taller, depending on how you have your ads. I will not go into much
more about ads and ad placements in this tutorial. Check around other
webcomics’ websites and see how they have their ads. Notice which
ones feel better placed than others. An important thing to keep in
mind is to make sure the logo is distinguished well (especially if
there are ads).

The design of your
logo is a different subject, but simply put, it should be obvious
that it’s the logo. This includes the name of the comic, and is
sometimes joined by shots of involved characters… or something
related to the comic. Honestly, the design is a very subjective
thing, so ask your peers about what they think.

You’d likely be best
stating your update schedule in the logo, too. Do you update
sporadically? Stop it. Commit to a regular schedule, and stick to it.
Additionally, do not put your URL in the logo. They should know where
they are, and it says so in the browser. The logo also is commonly
linked to the home page. This is a sort of unwritten rule of thumb.
No matter where you are on the site, the logo tends to be the best
“home button”.

Menu items are often
placed under the title logo (that on on the sidebar), and ads usually
above (or to the right of ) the logo. This all is your “header”.
Keep in mind that the more you have in the header area, the more you
push down the comic, with the threat of adding more scrolling.

Placing
Ad Space

The internet lives
on ad-space. We all know that. Your personal feelings may dictate
where you place them. However, if you actually want to make your ads
more valuable, placing them towards the top is what you want to do.

Most webcomickers
will likely use Project Wonderful for their ads. There are a wide
variety of ad sizes to choose from. Keep these in mind when you
design your page. Popular ad size and placements include a 728×90 or
468×60 banner across the top of the site with the site banner under
that, or the smaller ad the left. These also do well, right under the
comic, after the navigation, before comments or a blog post. Another
popular ad is the “Tower” which is 160×600, which usually
runs up the side of the comic.

There are other,
smaller ads, and really ad placement is worthy of a separate article,
but for the most basic designs, these three ad sizes is what I’d
stick with as possibilities for this article. Look at other websites
and see how their ads work with or against their content.

Again, this is not
an ad tutorial, but there is much more that can be said about ads. I
will say that you will likely never make a lot of money off of your
ads unless you end up with a really great comic with a lot of traffic
(several thousands). The best you can hope for is to gain enough to
place your own ads every so often.

Menu
Navigation

This would be your
typical “menu”, that would include links to your About
page, Archive, Cast page, Extra Content, and Contact information.
Other content may include a link to a Forum, Link Page, Commissions
Info, F.A.Q.s, Store, or an RSS subscription feed. You may also want
to have a Facebook or Twitter link somewhere here as well.

You don’t want to
make your menu more congested than you need to, but you also want to
have some key information. Menus can run vertically along the comic
(after the banner, before any side-bar ads), or horizontally, across
the top of the comic in the header (underneath both the banner and
any ads).

Remember that some
information can easily be found under different links. At the
minimum, I would suggest links to an ABOUT (or CAST) page, the
ARCHIVE, and EXTRAS page(if you have extras) and a CONTACT link. A
link to Archive should be obvious to include, but more on that later.
Extras is where you could put downloadables, links, extra art,
fan/guest art… you know, extra stuff. You should also have some way
for readers to get a hold of you, or even other webcomickers,
especially if you are just starting out, connecting with the
community is arguably very important.

The ABOUT (or CAST)
page is what can help new readers the most. I personally feel that it
is crucial. Readers LOOK for this, especially if you are not a
particularly popular comic online. This is where you give a
non-spoiler description of the comic. You can also put cast
information here as well. Avatars with names and a small synopsis
easily works. You may also put information about yourself here,
including contact or commission information. Frequently Asked
Questions can also go here, or be linked to from here.

Depending on how
much space you have (and where you put the menu) will determine how
many spaces you’ll have for these Menu Links. Vertical placement will
allow more space; but if your comic spans
the width of the site, with the sidebar BELOW the comic, I highly
recommend that you have the menu items in the header.

The average
menu tends to have the ABOUT or CAST page, ARCHIVE link, some type of
EXTRAS page, a STORE link, and CONTACT link. With the occasional
link for the RSS feed (though I’m told this is frequently found in
the Footer, as well).

Again, avoid
cluttering things up, and make sure it looks nice and easy to read.
Ask your peers for their thoughts. Look at other websites to see how
they have theirs set up, and if you feel it works or not.

Comic
Navigation

Comic navigation is
100% vital to your comic’s website. I mean, really, how lame would it
be just to see only one comic page, ever? Having hard-to-find
navigation is almost just as bad as not having any.

There should always
be a link to the FIRST comic, and the PREVIOUS comic on the main
page. When people come to a comic for the first time, they tend to
click back a few comics to see if they link it, before clicking back
to the first. If they can’t find where your navigation is, chances
are they’ll lose interest and leave.

Do not get all fancy
with your navigation. Don’t make images that look nothing like
navigation, and assumed that readers will think that a picture of an
apple with a worm in it means “First Comic”. Be clear and
straight forward. Maybe other webcomickers, and people that read a
lot of webcomics will eventually figure out what you did, but people
new to reading comics online will not.

With that out of the
way, your navigation should be BOTH above and below the comic. An
exception to this may be if you have a comic that you can see
entirely without scrolling. Then one set of navigation above, or
below, could be acceptable. However, being in both places helps
readers a lot when they are scrolling through your archives. It is
especially useful for not having to scroll back up, after reading a
tall comic, to see another comic.

There’s a couple
ways that you can make clear, easy to read navigation for your comic.
The first way is by using WORDS instead of pictures. I know, right?
The following are more or less acceptable words you can use, that
everyone can agree on.

Really, you can use
most any combination and readers will know exactly when they will do.
That is unless you decide to use “LAST” for when you
really mean “PREVIOUS”. Yes, I’ve seen this all too often
where there will be something like: “Beginning, Last, Next,
Today.” … STOP IT! Yes, I know you mean “Last”
as in “Last time, in respect to the comic you are currently
reading”. But there is another word for that, and it’s called
PREVIOUS! By definition, “Last” constantly refers to the
end of a continuation.

Anyway, another
acceptable navigation scheme would be the use of arrows. Arrows that
would be similar to movie or music playback buttons (though some
variation is easily acceptable):

Again,
depending on what you use, you might not be able to edit your
navigation as much, so do the best you can. Some WordPress comic
themes might actually have arrow navigation buttons in a top menu bar
using these: ◄►.
I believe these to be the worst implementation of a navigation
system, after using images. For starters, depending on overall
design, they can be incredibly difficult to see. They
are not even the first place people would look for navigation,
especially for new webcomic readers, as they are also far from the
comic itself.

I appologize
for the high level of angst in this section, but you’d think that
navigation was a simple, straight-forward concept. Again, sometimes
you are limited by the tools that you have available to you.

Your
Archive

Not really
apart of the design of the site itself, but still an important
factor. On free webcomic hosting site, your options tend
to be limited to one archive, with little or no area for additional
content. But a lot of people like to post extra art, noticed, guest
strips or other non-story materials, on the home page.

Sometimes
people even have “side strips” or other storylines that
they may run along side their main comic updates. This can fine in
most circumstances, but if these updates stay in a single archive, it
can annoy many readers. The problem is when readers are reading
through your archive, are then interupted by something unrelated to
the story. This tends to take them right out of the story, and annoy
them.

If
the tools you are using to display a comic, allows for multiple comic
series or storylines, loook into the options available, and see what
you can set up. Otherwise, for archive purposes, strongly consider
placing them in a seperate section completely, such as a gallery.

Also,
in some WordPress applications (and 1-2 free webcomic hosting sites),
there may exist a calendar archive. Meaning that a full month (or so)
is listed out with all of the days of the month, highlighted when you
had an update. If you can, you should avoid using this method of
archive. Sometimes it’s right on the front page. This can look
completely tacky, especially if you update sporadically.

Then
again, if you update sporadically, you could probably use this to let
people know when you updated. However, many readers will drop comics
that don’t update on a reliable schedule, or maybe check them very
infrequently. You really should commit to updating on a regular
schedule. How does this relate to bad website design? Well, if the
same comic is up for 2 weeks or two months at a time, that looks bad,
doesn’t it?

Below the Fold

Everything that comes after the fold is things that a regular reader would come to know. Such as the news, additional links, or extra information about the creator. Commonly the blog and news posts are below, with ads or other links in a side bar.

Some people like to have links to sites they like, friends, or other projects they do on the main page, not hidden in a menu link. Save those for below the fold if you used up the space above the fold for the other more important things.

Blog or News Posts

While this can be done with HTML (aka, the hard way), many people use WordPress, or another sort of CSS/PHP blog system, that runs the comic along with a blog, or post system. This usually means that there are two kinds of posts. The comic post, and a blog post.

The comic posts tend to immediately follow the comic, as they should. This also included the comic update’s name or page number (or it should). This should also be AFTER the lower comic navigation. Sometimes long posts force the navigation so far down, that you need to scroll even more for it. Not good for quick archive readers. Still, the post should be as close to the comic itself. Especially if there is extra information pertaining to the comic itself in it.

The blog posts tend to be non-specific to the current comic. These may have information on things the creator is doing, things coming soon, new extra content available, etc. These should come after any comic posts, and should NEVER take priority over showing your comic. If people want to read the news, they’ll find it. The comic is what your are “selling” to readers, not your blog posts. The comic comes first.

Footer

The footer should have all of your copyright information, as well as source crediting (if any). You should also use this place for any site tracking codes. Sometime people throw banner ads down here too. Sometimes people throw ad banners down here as well, despite not being the more desirable spot for an ad, revenue-wise.

Website Extras

Reader Interaction

A lot of comics are on Twitter, Facebook, and other such sites. These are useful reader connection and interaction tools, likely more effect than forums in some aspects.

It is probably wise to try and put these links on the first screen, or as close to under the comic as possible. One of the hardest, yet most important aspects of getting dedicated readers, is reader involvement with both each other, and with the creator. Some options work better than others.

Commenting on comic updates is also a very important, and almost necessary these days. Using WordPress (as well as most free comic hosting sites) will already have comment systems in place. Typically people can have their own avatars by their comment. Free webcomic hosting sites tend to require a log-in, while most WordPress sites don’t.

If you don’t have a system that allows comic comments, you should try to have have a “chat box” or “shout box” available. This is extra code you’ll put on your site. Often places in a sidebar or under the comic. These almost never require any sort of log-in. However, they may be more susceptible to spambots.

Forums are also another method of user interaction. However, they don’t work for everyone. I really could not tell you why or how they work for some and not others. If you are a starting webcomic, you likely don’t need to worry about getting a forum set up if you have a comment system or chat box. If enough of your readers ask for one, go for it.

The problem with a lot of forums is that they tend to be barren of new posts. The other problem is that most people don’t like signing up for “yet another” forum. Things that help alleviate that is if you have a forum on a site with other forums. Where one log-in works for other comic forums as well.

Basically see how things go, and go with what works. But that’s as much as I’ll say about that since it’s not really website design related.

Spread the Word

There are also link sharing services like Stumble Upon, and the like. There any many options for adding these to your site. One such method is using a script called “AddThis”, which is a sort of catch-all tool for link sharing services. These are best placed close to the comic itself. By the navigation or with a blog/news post for said comic.

Donation Incentives

Unless you are a really popular comic, you better not merely have a donation button (like PayPal). Too often webcomics appear with these buttons on webcomics with unknown creators, hardly any archive, and writing and/or art that leaves much to be desired.

To justify a “donation” button, try offering a wallpaper, a high-res art image, or some sort of extra comic page. Offering a real incentive for a $1-2 “donation” helps greatly. Straightforward donations don’t really work for the vast majority of webcomics. Most people would like to get something in return for spending any money, and doing one extra art a month isn’t going to hurt you.

Voting and Rank Buttons for List Sites

There is some very divided feelings on webcomic “list sites” and their “click her to vote” buttons. Deciding to utilize these services is much like deciding on a forum, chatbox, or comment system. Some may just not work for you.

There are over a dozen webcomic “rank” and “list” sites. Some better than others, for what they offer. Honestly, they are good enough for you to at least add your comic to their database. It makes your comic potentially findable. However, unless you are on their first page of ranks, you’ll likely find their buttons not worth having.

The problem is that those buttons they give you, are good for THEM, because they get free advertising, while you may not get many more than a few clicks from them, if any. If you are a new comic, I recommend trying some, and see how your incoming links are from them. If you don’t get much of anything, get rid of them.

Some of these sites offer “voting incentives”, where if a reader clicks to vote for you, they are rewarded with some special image you provide for them. I’ve seen this help greatly, especially when the incentive changes on a regular interval. This art is sometimes sketches, random art, or even previews of coming strips. Even if you don’t get many referals from these list sites, this function might be fun enough for readers to get more involved on your site.

Again, try these out if you’d like, and see how they work for you. However, don’t put more than a few of these buttons on your site. It can start to look tacky really fast.

Get Rid of Useless Information

Depending on what you are using to show your comic, you may have a ton of useless information. With WordPress installs, regardless of the plugins and themes you use, you might just have things that are of no real benefit for a comic site.

In WordPress some common tools include “blogrolls”, links to random posts, links to recent posts, or other assorted information. These can look tacky as is. However, if you really like these features, I recommend you make sure they fit the design of your site.

Reviewing The Design

You may want to have your site looked at by some peers, and see what they have to say. You should listen to both aesthetic and functionality concerns from them. I’m not saying you have to change everything to appease your peers, but they may notice things that you didn’t. Also, if you can’t take criticism, why are you putting a comic on the internet?

You may also want to make sure your new websites works in multiple browsers. Not everyone is using the browser you are, so they may not see it how you do. Do a web search for “browser compatibility check” for a few options. Most users on the web use Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, or Google Chrome.

Internet Explorer tends to have the most problems, as compared to other browsers, when it comes to displaying websites. As with any browser, you likely need to adjust some code to make sure things look “correct enough”. I can’t tell you specifics in this area, but it’s something to consider looking into, to make sure your potential readership isn’t put off by your site not working in their browser.

All-in-all, I hope that this article helps you in designing a better look webcomic website.

This article was an accumulation of several sources and my personal experience of Fesworks over the years. It has gone under peer review, and received assorted suggestions of improvement. Noted peers include: George Hutcheon, Jules Rivera, and Tanya Higgins.