Here's what to expect in the near future:
I am currently testing out an official Webcomical chatroom over on the home page. This new feature uses Chattable, a very cool and epic service that allows you to make your own chatrooms. Hence why I'm using it. You may be wondering why I didn't program a chatroom from the ground up like I would usually do at this point. The short answer is that Neocities doesn't support server-side code to some capacity, and I can't be bothered to work around that limitation. Maybe later down the line I'll make my own version of this thing, but that will have to come sometime in the distant future.
I know there's another question rattling around in that noggin of yours. "Tondron, why does Webcomical need a chatroom? There's nothing here! There hasn't been anything here for 3 whole years!!" Calm down, hypothetical onlooker! The comic is doing just fine, I assure you! But to answer your question, I've always wanted a way to interact with the people who stop by this website. This, at the time, seems like the simplest solution. Due to this feature's experimental and social nature, I don't think it will last forever. But while it does, I implore you stop by and leave a comment. That's everything for now.
Today, I have written a new feature for the Read page, that being an automatically-generated Page Archive. This doesn't change anything for most people, but at long last, people who use browsers without JavaScript support are completely screwed over! Insert evil laugh, yada yado. That's about it for today.
I didn't do much today. I really just changed the sizing of the navigation bar, footer, and the banners so that they all stay within the margins better. But I think I can safely say that the primary systems for this website are essentially complete, though I have been wrong about this before. We'll see what happens in the coming months.
As of today, I'm back to chipping away at the comic. I've got nothing special to report, but feel free to look forward to its eventual release, I suppose. That's about it for this month's update cycle. See you next time around!
Wow, that took a lot less time than I thought it would take. At long last, the Read page's JavaScript is now all-natural, marking the end of Webcomical's purging adventure. I guess that none of this has any effect on you, my humble onlooker, considering that every feature works approximately the same as before. But I learned how to write a lot of JavaScript, so I'm satisfied with my work. With the purge over, the only thing left to do site-wise is to clear out the Roadmap, which I recently filled up with a bunch of new tasks for me to complete.
I also did a few other things around the site, including updating the favicon, the banner for the Story Comic, and the way the site looks on mobile. But in subjectively more important news, another sneak peak has been tacked onto the end of the Story Comic! This is the first sneak peak to directly contain information about the plot of my upcoming work. I won't repeat the mistake of giving myself a deadline for the comic's release, but let's just say that I'm really looking forward to the future of this website. As a reminder, know that all of the content located in the Test Comic and Story Comic will be deleted when the actual comic arrives, so enjoy it while you can. In the meantime, please enjoy the addition of this new crumb to Webcomical's dwindling pile of content!
Today is the second day of Webcomical's JavaScript purge. As I promised yesterday, the column viewer is now 100% all-natural, making both comic viewers free of sin at last! This new code is based off of the webcomic viewer, which means that it has inherited some of its features. Most notably, flipping through the pages no longer reloads the website like it used to. I did some other things too, like changing the color of the sin warnings to black and cleaning up the site's files again.
I originally wasn't going to do much else, but I got around to rewriting the JavaScript for the home and not_found pages too. Naturally, you might be wondering why the home and not_found pages use JavaScript in the first place. Well, the home page has a feature that dynamically updates the "from the latest" link to whatever the latest page is. It also does something else, but I'll let you figure that out for yourself. The not_found page is the page that appears when you enter an invalid link, and the JavaScript just makes the page say something random every time it loads. The final item on the sin cleansing docket is the Read page, so look out for that tomorrow.
Today marks the start of the purging of Webcomical's overwhelming amount of sin. In order to understand what's going on, let me explain everything from the very beginning.
Back in the year of 2023, I finally decided to make a website to host my webcomic, "Webcomical." At this point, I only knew a little bit of HTML and CSS, but through sheer determination and willpower, I was able to slap something decent together and stick it against the wall. However, I was faced with a huge problem. I didn't know how to write JavaScript, which meant that I had no idea how to make my website functional. So, in the interest of saving time and effort, I resorted to what no computer programmer should ever resort to... Artificial intelligence.
That's right! I admit it!! I used AI to write all of the JavaScript for this website instead of doing it myself! Fortunately, I didn't use it to make anything else, so the HTML and CSS for the site are perfectly fine. But if I want to be able to wake up in the morning and know that there's still some humanity left in my heart, I can't have my website be infested with the sins of lies and stolen effort! In order to solve this dilemma, I have taken up the following initiative: I will cleanse Webcomical from head to toe, writing completely new JavaScript for every part of it. Even if it takes days, weeks, months, or a fourth amount of time, it will be done. Until this effort has been completed, you will see the following message on any infested pages: "WARNING: This page has yet to be cleansed of sin!"
This isn't just some empty promise, however. In fact, I have already completely rewritten the webcomic viewer with 100% all-natural code! Not only is it free of sin, but it is also more stable in general. It required me to spend a long time learning a bunch of JavaScript, but as I've hypocritically said before, "I'm making this to learn things, not cheat my way past my problems."
I formally apologize to you, my most valued customer. I can only hope for your forgiveness as I undertake this important endeavor. Maybe when it's done, I'll have something content-related to reveal to you! That's all for today's update, though. I'll see you next time when I've rewritten the column viewer.
I'm back once again after many a month. You might notice that the home page of the site looks a little different. This's because I put all of those big paragraphs into their own collapsible sections. I think this makes everything look a lot less cluttered. Additionally, the custom mouse pointer now appears as intended on webcomic-style pages. I changed a few other things like some CSS and some HTML formatting stuff, but other than that, I'd say the code for this website is looking pretty complete.
You might be wondering how that webcomic is going. Well, to be honest, I haven't done all that much recently. However, a lot of elements have already been completed! For example, characters and environments have already been designed, the entire story has a rough outline, and the visual style/production process for individual panels has been well-defined. None of the actual comic has been finalized yet, but rest assured, I want this webcomic to be completed just as much as I presume you do. So, thanks for waiting, and I'll see you next time!
Today I removed "colimg" because it was stupid in retrospect. I just moved everything it did to the "img" tag for the Story Comic's CSS file. In other news, I restored functionality to two old pages that you can no longer access normally. These two pages are the old Archive and Media pages I've referred to in previous posts. There is a way to access these pages (without guessing the link), but you'll need to find it in a secret place. I did a few more things like changing a few links and adding new CSS, but that's about it for now.
Five months sure fly by, don't they? Anyways, I've returned to fix many an error and deliver a new crumb of content for your eyeballs to consume.
First of all, I took a look at the roadmap and decided to fix almost every thing that has been bothering me. I fixed the navigation bar's right edge from being too long (caused by setting the width to 100% even though it shouldn't take up 100% of the screen, obviously), made the comic banners and Test Comic pages correctly stretch across the screen on mobile, and added a snazzy new striped background on mobile as well. I also shuffled around a bunch of misplaced image files, and I reprogrammed the Story Comic image class to use "colimg" instead of "sizer." In more exciting news, I added a new page to the Story Comic, that being a new sneak peak of my latest project! Hopefully you'll enjoy it when it arrives. Look out for more of these images in the future, as they will silently chronicle my progress towards the completion of the first chapter. With that said, I will descend into my cave until the time is right to return.
'Twas the night before the night before Christmas, and all through the site... Not a line of code was stirring, not even a byte...
I'm back for more Christmas website shenanigans. Today, I deliver something truly great: Partial content! The Story Comic has been completely revamped, earning itself a banner on the home page. It now contains something of a digital art gallery, featuring 4 pieces of artwork created by yours truly. The last piece is actually a sneak peak as to what I've been working on, so give that a gander if you are so inclined. Besides remaking the Story Comic, I also added a dropdown on the Read page that contains the links for each individual page if you'd like to select them that way instead. And that's about everything that I did today. I'll be back with more stuff to show you one of these days, just you wait!
As Christmas time draws ever closer, I thought I'd come back to give this site a little update. First of all, I finally fixed the Story Comic's image and text formatting, making it more stable for the future. Secondly, I decided to give two little bits of data a vacation to their own private text files. These pieces of data are just the numbers defining how many pages each comic lasts for. For example, since there are 5 pages in the Test Comic, the new text file contains "5" so that every other page that needs the value can just pull it without me having to manually change a variable on all of them. This makes it easier for me to update the site when content eventually comes along. Thirdly, I revamped the Read page as I promised in the roadmap! It now features a fancy new slider system. Just select your comic and your page, and you're there before you even know it! The slider automatically adjusts to the whatever the latest page is, hence why I even separated that data in the first place. I also adjusted a few smaller things, but that should sum up the majority of this update. Merry Christmas, internet passerby!
I'm back again with a few new additions. First and foremost, I added something to the very page you are reading this on, that being a handy little roadmap! It contains all of the currently-planned updates to the site, allowing me to remember what I want to do more effectively and letting you know what to expect in the future. Isn't that nifty? Additionally, I rewrote a little bit of the home page's various paragraphs and changed all references to the Archive page to the new and improved Read page. I really want to change the entire home page since it doesn't look very eye-catching, but that'll have to wait for when something releases. I'll probably come up with some sort of cool design, just you wait and see. Anyway, I'm peacing out once again. See you folks at the next update!
Oh boy, I did a lot today. If you take a look around, you'll find that every single page has a new look, if only just because the background now scrolls like a cool grid. I had to manually draw that background, by the way. Anyhoo, I updated a lot of junk. Here's a cool list to show what I did.
So, yeah. That's about all I did for now. Expect some big things in the future! After all, I plan to keep my promise of delivering the world something one day. It's on that distant horizon somewhere.
I haven't changed much today, but I have touched up the front page with more accurate information. More importantly, I now exist outside of this website. If you check the credits page, you will find a couple of new additions. First of all, there is now a box that contains the links to my various accounts outside of Webcomical. This box will get bigger as my accounts are created. Secondly, there is another box that contains the few projects I'm involved in. Both of the projects currently listed have been in collaboration with Starch Beast, a friend of mine. I highly recommend you go check those out because they actually have content for you to digest, unlike this website. With that, I bid you farewell. Until next time, dear internet user.
I have returned to remedy a mistake I made a while ago. When I updated the UI for the comic pages to have controls on the top and the bottom, I forgot to write the code to make the Save and Load buttons show up. This error is now fixed, and you may save and load your comics once more. Furthermore, I created a tag system for the changeblog so you can see what kind of update is what at a glance. Green "SITE" tags indicate a website or code update. Something like a fix or a new feature on the site itself. Red "INFO" tags indicate a drop of information. Something like an announcement or status update. Lastly, blue "NEW" tags indicate that a new page or set of pages has released for a comic. A tag is set for a post based on its sole purpose, meaning an INFO tag could still have site updates in it if that isn't the main focus.
Additionally, I cleaned up the site's directories and added a new button on the Archive page that says "All Pages." This links to the previously-hidden Media page which stores every comic page across what will be all comics hosted on the site. And speaking of hidden pages, I totally didn't add anything else to the site. Anyway, I'll be back one day to bring you fellas an actual comic. I've said this before, and I'm sure I'll keep saying it in the future.
It's been a while, huh? Neat how I left on 3/16 can came back on 6/13. Anyway, the site has updated once more to bring a better user experience to those on mobile! That's probably not what anyone wants to hear from me considering the site still doesn't have any content, but at least when something does release it will be more readable. I updated both the home page's banner and comic pages to fit to the edges of the screen on mobile. I also made the title words conform to a certain size on mobile to prevent them from leaving the screen's edges. Additionally, you may notice that there is a slick striped background on the site when you use your phone! I actually added this somewhere between now and the previous update due to me playing around with the features I finalized today, but I didn't post about it for whatever reason. Remember, if you want to see any mobile features on desktop, just shrink the browser window down. Anyhoo, that's it for now. I'll be back someday to drop a bunch of stuff, so I encourage you to stay tuned!
I return after ten whole days to bring many an update. The Home, Credits, and (secret) Media pages had their contents updated slightly. The page titles also got a style upgrade, reflecting my original vision better, and the comic page's title now reflects the test comic's formal name of "Test Comic." Speaking of the comic page, remember those buttons that I said were useless? I added them back and grayed them out to make the UI stay in the same position. Looks like they had a use after all! In other news, the Page Not Found page now has more content than before, and the Archive page was redesigned to keep the pages in a nicer format for the future. Lastly, I am beginning to test a commenting/description feature on the comic pages! Some pages now have a short wad of text below them, so make sure to check that out! That's all for updates, so I'm going to get back to work on that comic. See you eventually!
I originally wrote a different changeblog post today, but then I made so many changes afterward that I had to rewrite the whole dang thing. So, what's new around here? Well, the Archive page will now scroll down to the page's contents while you're reading it so that you don't have to scroll past the header every time, and some of the buttons in the UI were removed on the first and last pages due to being useless. The usability train never stops, people. On the subject of the website's layout, a few changes were made, including fixing the centering and properties of the page titles and adding a cool banner to the home page. The plan is to add more banners over time once I pass the threshold of one complete webcomic. Also, I changed the cursor that displays on the website to be a funky little hand that I drew! I think it's a neat little thingamabob. Lastly, I updated a secret page on the site to actually have a useful purpose! It's definitely not the scrapped Media page, no sirree. That's all for today, though.
Today's update brings some very welcomed layout changes to the structure of the site. First of all, I replaced the navigation bars on all the pages with a sleek and new design I tested out months ago. You may notice, however, that the "Media" page is missing! Do not be alarmed, as this is merely due to the fact that the Media page was useless from the start. I mean, why did I need a page there to begin with? All it had was a bit of text and an image on it. Besides, removing it from the navigation bar improves how the site looks on mobile devices. Speaking of mobile, this update makes the site look miles better on most phones. The site has never been more usable! Lastly, I added a cool-looking box around the "Read from start or latest" text. It's small, but I think it's nice.
As for the promised content to be added to the site, know that ideas are taking form in my spooky haunted laboratory. You'll see what I'm concocting one day. It's only a matter of time...
You all thought, didn't you? You really thought that the site would have the same subject matter forever? Well, this is true NO LONGER! A large change has recently taken place, so allow me elaborate.
This site used to host a page detailing a webcomic called "Webcomical" that would release on the site one day. Now, however, it is a site called "Webcomical" that is meant to house all sorts of wacky and zany shenanigans in the form of different webcomics. So, the difference is that I changed the name of the webcomic to the name of the website. Simple enough, right? This change opens the site up to many more possibilities, allowing me to publish as many things as I like over any period of time. Oh, and don't worry about the original ideas for "Webcomical" that I wrote about here before. It's a secret, but the ultimate goal of this website is still to produce that comic under the same name as the site. I just want to have some practice before I fully commit myself to that massive and possibly unattainable goal.
In other news, the Archive page got another update. You can now use the arrow keys to flip the pages of the comic, and the UI for page navigation is now on both the top and bottom of the page. We are achieving MAXIMUM USABILITY!
Anyhoo, expect something of actual substance sooner or later. Goodbye for now, and have a nice 2,999 years until the first comic releases!
It is time for a little update! There's not much more to do with the website anymore, so I'm really going to buckle down on webcomic creation. I can't wait to show you what I've been cooking up. In the meantime, I will still produce small updates on this website for the sake of improvement. They will be slower than normal, but I think that's fine, right?
Today, however, I updated the Read page to be an Archive page for when any portion of Webcomical releases. The actual Read page also got the Save and Load buttons moved to the bottom of the page. This should help a little with navigation and decent viewing on mobile phones. Additionally, I recreated the first comic page because I drew it with my mouse instead of my PC's drawing tablet and it was really annoying me. With that, I think I can say this website is mostly feature-complete. See you in approximately 3,000 years when Webcomical arrives!
Hip, hip, hooray! Today, I bring you an actual comic of sorts. Mind you, this comic has absolutely nothing to do with Webcomical at all and is only here for testing purposes. At least I can entertain you with something. At the time of writing, four pages of this test comic have been released. I don't plan on making any more unless the actual comic takes forever to make.
Feature-wise, a saving and loading system has been implemented so that you don't have to bookmark your most recent page! This saved page is stored using cookies, so don't toss them if you've saved a page. First and last page buttons were also added, making navigation easier. Sadly, this new update looks terrible on most mobile devices. Eh, mobile users are last on the priority list anyways. Overall, I'd say that the Read page's development is going to come to a close pretty soon. Get ready for a webcomic, folks.
Happy December, the season of giving. This holiday season, I give to you a mostly functional Read page! Something I once thought to be impossible is now staring me straight in the face, and I couldn't be happier. New features include being able to click on the image to move through pages, a cleaner UI (with poorly-drawn arrows), and the images resizing horizontally for different resolutions. I'm aware that on 16:9 monitors it looks kind of bad, but it doesn't really matter because it's more likely that the pages will be taller than your screen if you want it to be readable. Scrolling is inevitable, sadly. I also generally updated the site, adding a much-needed Neocities link in the credits and putting something special on the "Page Not Found" page.
In terms of the webcomic itself, creation is set to start very soon. It's kind of daunting going into a large-scale project like this because I never feel like I've planned enough! The first section of Webcomical has a good chance of showing up early 2024, but don't take my word for it. I can be seriously lazy. Anyhoo, thank you for supporting my webcomic, and have a nice holiday!
Today I've changed a few things on the website. Fixed some typos, updated the empty read page, changed a ton of directories and links and then changed them all back, blah blah blah. More importantly, I've been making breakthroughs in terms of getting the website to function how I need it to. All I can say is that the first part of the comic most definitely could release sometime in 2024 at this pace. Want to know why? It's because the read page is, at long last, partially functional. Even just this tiny bit of functionality is good enough for me. It looks disgusting right now, but it works. Praise be the magic of the code...
I am going mad. I know that's a huge tone shift from my previous post, but I am enraged at making this website right now. Did I mention to you that this is my first time using HTML and CSS? I think I did a pretty nice job so far, but now I'm realizing how much can go wrong with what I have here. The end goal for Webcomical is to have a fully-produced webcomic with a clean UI that all devices may enjoy. Right now, all I want to do is get the framework for posting the comic completed. You know, getting it so that there's one panel at a time on a single HTML file using some JavaScript. I know it's possible, but I can't get it right. Take a look at Rarebit, that's the kind of thing I want to make.
Now, that also brings up the question of "Why not just use Rarebit? The stuff you need is already there!" Well, the way that I plan to format the comic right now makes it hard to use Rarebit without some serious modifications. I don't want to go sifting through someone else's code for hours just to break it and end up nowhere. Also, I'm making this to learn things, not cheat my way past my problems. Rarebit does have my respect, though.
At this rate, I might just post all the images on a big HTML file and not even bother making them display on their own.
Today's the day, folks! My wonderous idea has finally spilled its way onto the floor of the kitchen that is the internet! Unfortunately, the supposed webcomic I am promising to a wider audience will not be here for a while. Until I can figure out how to host my own webcomic on here without having to make a new HTML file every time, the comic won't release. It's a shame, but I do need to work on this website more before I make any major advances on the comic. In the meantime, perhaps I can share the crusty old beta version of Webcomical I posted for exactly two minutes in the past. We'll see how that goes.