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Every now and then I like to write a rant. So here's a rant.
As I mentioned in my gaming column, I spent half of October out of town. I had sporadic internet access during that time, so I didn't keep up with most of my web comics. The few that I did read were the ones that I could trust not to have any terribly objectionable content, and whose URLs I could remember off the top of my head.
The day after I got home, I sat down to read everything I'd missed, looking forward to cramming two weeks worth of laughs into a single sitting. Instead, I found myself growing increasingly frustrated with poorly-designed archives.
Many web comics have a nice system where their website displays a little calender image. Each day that a comic was posted is a little link to that day's comic. This makes it incredibly easy to catch up when you've missed a few days for whatever reason.
Other web comics have a system where when you go to their archives, there's a list of every date and the name of that day's comic. Not quite as tidy as the calender system, but still pretty acceptable and definitely easy to use.
Then there are the web comics whose archive system lists all of the comics by the # of the comic and the name. This is a bit annoying, as I never think to look at the # of the last comic I read before I left, so when I get home I have to guess based on the name. You might suggest that I just do the math and figure out how many comics I missed while I was gone, but many web comic creators have trouble sticking with a nice, regular update schedule, making such obvious mathematical solutions difficult.
Finally, there are the web comics who don't even bother with an archive. They force you to use the back button until you finally reach the last comic you read. Honestly, who wants to sit there clicking the back button, seeing glimpses of comics, until you reach the spot that you left off? I actually dropped one comic because they had this crappy lack of archives and I haven't yet felt like finding my way back to where I left off.
Seriously, if you're a web comic creator, give some thought to your friggin' archives! Not everyone lives at their computer 365 days a year. I even know some people who purposefully ignore their web comics for a month or so at a time, then go read them all in one big chunk. Poorly designed (or absent) archives make this difficult. Additionally, they make your website less inviting for new readers trying to catch up on the previous stories. What's more, it makes it difficult for readers to go back and find a favorite strip to share with others.
And another thing... if you have an archive that lists strips by number and name, make sure you keep it pretty current.
While I'm ranting about web comics, I'd also like to mention that it's really sad and pathetic to have a comic that you never update, and still have ads for lots of merchandise related to your comic and maybe even a PayPal donate button. If you're not giving me comics, I'm not going to give you money.
Furthermore, I'd like to say that you shouldn't start a web comic unless you actually have an idea of what you want to do with it. I've seen several comics start up, show promise, and then fold, because the creator either didn't plan ahead, or wrote themselves into a corner, or ran out of ideas. At times it seems like web comics are the newest bandwagon, which everyone wants to jump on regardless of whether or not they can write, draw, plot out a decent story, or come up with a funny gag-a-day.
People, let me be brutally honest with you: you are NOT going to get rich posting poorly drawn unfunny comics with stories ripped off from familiar sources. There's a lot of competition in the web comics market right now, so if you want to get donations or sell merchandise and quit your job and make a living drawing comics in your underwear, you need to stand out from the crowd. Yes, there are a few web comics that are fully supported by their fans, allowing their creators to quit their jobs - but the vast majority of web comics are done by people struggling to find time to balance their day jobs and their popular comic.
This message has been brought to you by the cranky voice of reason. You're welcome.
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