giant, staring down at their tiny friend: *thinking about how oh my god they are so cute and tiny and I could just scoop em up and squish em and mess up their hair and snuggle them super tight and RAAAAHHHHH CUTENESS AGGRESSION MUST SMOTHER AND KISS*
the tiny, unaware of the giant’s thoughts, taking a drag of their cigarette and scratching their stubble, because they are, in fact, a grownass man: so Linda left me
Tbh at this point you should just make your own webcomic app/website because it would probably be 100 times better than whatever going on with webtoon right now.
hahaha it wouldn't tho, sorry 💀
Here's the fundamental issue with webcomic platforms that a lot of people just don't realize (and why they're so difficult to run successfully):
Right now the mindset in which artists and readers are operating is that they're trying way, way too hard to find a "one size fits all" site. Readers want a place where they can find all their favorite webtoons without much effort, artists wants a place where they can post to an audience of thousands, and both sides want a community that will feel tight-knit. But the reality is that you can't really have all three of those things, not on one site. Something always winds up having to be sacrificed - if a site grows big enough, it'll have to start seeking more funding while also cutting costs which will result in features becoming paywall'd, intrusive ads, creators losing their freedom, and/or outsider support which often results in the platform losing its core identity and alienating its tight-knit community.
If I had to describe what I'm talking about in a "pick one" graphic, it would look something like this:
(*note: this is mostly based on my own observations from using all of these sites at some point or another, they're not necessarily entirely accurate to the statistical performance of each site, I can only glean so much from experience and traffic trackers LMAO that said I did ask some comic pals for input and they were very helpful in helping me adjust it with their own takes <3).
The homogenization of the Internet has really whipped people into submission for the "big sites" that offer "everything", but that's never been the Internet, it relies on being multi-faceted and offering different spaces for different purposes. And we're seeing that ideology falter through the enshittification of sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. where users are at odds with the platforms because the platforms are gutting features in an attempt to satisfy shareholders whom without the platforms would not exist. Like, most of us aren't paying money to use social media sites / comic platform sites, so where else are they gonna make the necessary funds to keep these sites running? Selling ad space and locking features behind paywalls.
And this is especially true for a lot of budding sites that don't have the audience to support them via crowdfunding but also don't have the leverage to ask for investments - so unless they get really REALLY lucky in EITHER of those departments, they're gonna be operating at a loss, and even once they do achieve either of those things there are gonna be issues in the site's longevity, whether it be dying from lack of growing crowdfunding support or dying from shareholder meddling.
So what can we do?
We can learn how to take our independence back. We don't have to stop using these big platforms altogether as they do have things to offer in their own way, particularly their large audience sizes and dipping into other demographics that might not be reachable from certain sites - but we gotta learn that no single site is going to satisfy every wish we have and we have to be willing to learn the skills necessary to running our own spaces again. Pick up HTML/CSS, get to know other people who know HTML/CSS if you can't grasp it (it's me, I can't grasp it LOL), be willing to take a chance on those "smaller sites" and don't write them off entirely as spaces that can be beneficial to you just because they don't have large numbers or because they don't offer rewards programs. And if you have a really polished piece of work in your hands, look into agencies and publishing houses that specialize in indie comics / graphic novels, don't settle for the first Originals contract that gets sent your way.
For the last decade corporations have been convincing us that our worth is tied to the eyes we can bring to them. Instead of serving ourselves, we've begun serving the big guys, insisting that it has to be worth something eventually and that it'll "payoff" simply by the virtue of gambler's fallacy. Ask yourself what site is right for you and your work rather than asking yourself if your work is good enough for them. Most of us are broke trying to make it work on these sites anyways, may as well be broke and fulfilled by posting in places that actually suit us and our work if we can. Don't define your success by what sites like Webtoons are enforcing - that definition only benefits them, not you.
I'm absolutely on board with learning some self-reliance in the webcomics arena. Remember when Tapas included a grab for the right of first refusal in their general terms of service? Yeah. I'm 100% on with you on trying to manage your stuff yourself.
ANYWAY.
@nattosoup, @respheal and I wrote an blog post about this years ago, when Project Wonderful still existed. It has been a long time, and the landscape has changed, so please bear with me as I provide some updated information.
(See also: the archive of the FreeJeeves page. There's a wealth of information here, including some ways to make your comic website more mobile friendly.)
Please visit these resources and see if any appeal to you. They're a mix of materials that are like textbooks, as well as free courses. Some links may require signing up.
I am not affiliated with any of these websites.
HTML and CSS are the foundation of every page. You don't need internet access to build an HTML page -- you can do it all from your computer at home. But you do need some basic knowledge to get started. If you can format a tumblr post or ever feel adventurous enough to poke at tumblr's themes, you can learn HTML.
Once you learn how to build your website, and have a place you want to upload it? You might want to learn about FTP, which is the file transfer protocol. This lets you upload files to your webhost. If you need an FTP client, Filezilla is absolutely free and works Windows, Mac, and Debian flavors of Linux. (important note: Download the Filezilla client. Don't download Filezilla server unless you know what you're doing.)
Here, I'm focusing on places that let you customize your layout and allow for some freedom.
In that old blog post, I mention different types of hosting. We're going to focus on "shared" hosting, which is usually fairly inexpensive on a month-to-month basis and requires almost no knowledge of the server. For a webcomic, you do not need to use AWS, buy a VPS, or rent a dedicated server. That'll be overkill for most folks. If you're at that level, you should know what you're doing.
Existing services can change their rules or go offline at any time with no notice to the user. Please keep this in mind.
I cannot recommend any webhosts right now, but I can recommend software you can use for posting webcomics, if you feel like getting into the weeds way more than basic HTML/CSS will allow.
These will require the ability to read documentation and follow instructions, as well as basic knowledge in how to upload/edit files using FTP. Your webhost will have documentation if you need access to it.
At the end of the day, a webcomic is basically a blog, so most blogging software can be modified to make it work for this purpose.
If you require technical support for these options, please visit the websites for these tools.
Also, please remember support the developers if you can. Making tools for webcomics is largely a project of love (...sometimes spite), but many are discontinued because the devs become tired, burnt out, or simply lack the energy and finances to do so. It takes a lot of spoons and energy in general to provide technical support, especially when so much knowledge has been lost.
Let's assume you know about social media, and skip right to some other resources:
@bogleech as a seasoned webcomic maker do you have insight on this?
Hosting a webcomic is free and almost effortless actually. My multi gigabyte 22 year old website is now hosted for $5 a month on neocities, but the free neocities also gives you enough space to host hundreds of comic pages and more.
The html I use is less complicated than what many of you used to do for your custom Tumblr profiles, or what kids used to do for their neopets lookups. I made one simple template to my liking and all I do to update is copy that template again, then manually alter the links as needed.
For a typical webcomic that would mean you're only updating the links to the comic page and navigation buttons, then adding a link to the new page in some master "archive" page.
I can just upload a template myself when I get home later, or alternatively, you can save any of my pages off bogleech.com as a .html file, open it up in a text editor and see how it's laid out. If you change it all around to your own content you don't have to credit me, since it's bare bones universal css code anyway.
Okay, here's a silly thing I made for everybody who knows absolutely, positively zero HTML:
Click this link to see a very dumb comic all about how to download the page and use it for your OWN comic.
HOW SIMPLE IS IT??? So simple, the entire guide could really just be this single panel:
.....But I include other ultra basic instructions on how to do this, beginning with how to save the webpage at all. If you don't understand html/css, you don't have to worry about anything other than the six pieces of text I circled there in red. Just keep reusing that page and changing those things to whatever you need them to be. There is no software you need for this to work, no additional coding or resources other than having a place to upload it to, and certainly no "glitches" you need to fear other than typoing your own links. It's the most bare bones it could possibly be but once you're used to it you can look up how to change background colors, add links and other basics. And like I said, neocities will give you the space to upload hundreds of such pages at no cost, or as little as $5-10 monthly if you think you can cover that and you want to upload tens of thousands of such pages. With that basic plan my own website has somewhere around 65,000 image files on it. (You can also modify the same template to make other kinds of posts. Articles, whatever you want!)
HERE'S ADDITIONAL STUFF YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BUT IT DOES MAKE A WEBSITE MORE WEBSITIER
that last code by itself: <meta HTTP-EQUIV="REFRESH" content="0; url=yourwebsite.com" THIS IS WHY when you go to bogleech.com/pokemon/ you go to the very newest pokemon review! Because my site's /pokemon/ folder has an "index.html" file with just that line of code! When I put up a new review, I change the code in the index file to take you there!
Artfight of Nova Cygnus for @athenanuu!
*insert anime OP theme song here*
I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine- *starts a new Stardew Valley farm*
Nova meets Mnemosyne...
A lil expression sheet for Nova!
I'm still trying to get better at art style consistency, but this still looks cute 💜
not even a millisecond later
This cat, the moment that bitch has 8 legs:
I am a doll collector. I hate barbie. I own a denim jacket with her logo emblazoned on it. I hate Lammily. I deeply crave ownership of one. I hate monster high bodies because they all look like suffering horses that have been overloaded their entire lives. My keys are on a monster high lanyard. I absolutely hate the fact that all dolls these days have oversized giant heads. I have a shelf of Rainbow High dolls. These are the daily contradictions of the doll hobby. Inside you are two wolves, one absolutely hates everything about dolls, the other needs to own all of them anyway.
Drawing myself in different universes!
Part 4: Madoka Magica! 💜💖
My take on the Face your art challenge!
Lots of self-inserts and pink/purple colour schemes 😅💖💜
Drawing myself in different universes!
Part 3: Studio Ghibli 💖✨
Drawing myself in different universes!
Part 2: Gravity Falls ⚠️👁🌲
Drawing myself in different universes!
Part 1: 90’s Sailor Moon 🌙✨
