You've all heard me mention my CMS at one point or another on this board. Now it's time for me to actually talk about it and show you some screenshots.
Comic Reef philosophy: Like a coral reef, Comic Reef is merely a single component to build upon your overall webcomic design and structure. It's goal is to provide the maximum level of usability with minimal interference to an artist's web design or structure.
For this preview, I'll be showing the system's backend along with some of the implementable code snippets.
InstallationComic Reef requires a hosting solution that uses a PHP/mySQL configuration. If you don't have this, you cannot run Comic Reef at this time, though I may consider a version that does not use databases if there is enough demand. Provided you do meet the requirements, the installation of Comic Reef is quite painless and only uses one screen.
Click to EnlargeAfter filling in all the fields, Comic Reef will be ready to use after following the subsequent instructions. From here, you can either access the Comic Reef template to implement its components or enter the backend to start entering comics. When you do decide to enter the backend through the link the installation page provides, you'll be greeted by Comic Reef's mascot, Cora the Mermaid.
Click to EnlargeAdding a ComicAdding a comic is a fairly simple task. Just add a date, title, and the comic image. You can also mark the comic as a chapter to indicate a new section for the chapter select dropdown and the archive page. Since most authors also add notes along with their image, a large input field has been provided. Please note that only one comic can be added for a chosen day to ensure proper ordering.
Click to EnlargeEditing and Deleting a ComicIf you ever need to fix something on a comic entry, the ability to fix and delete comics is available. First, the desired comic needs to be selected from the list. The list divides your entire comic database into groups of 30 and sorts them by date.
Click to EnlargeThe edit screen looks exactly like the add screen but with the addition of a comic thumbnail and delete checkbox (you will be warned if you check it). The functionality is exactly the same. Also note that deleting a comic will also delete any comments related to it.
Click to EnlargeManaging CommentsComic Reef provides you with a comment system but sometimes comments can be of a more. . . questionable nature. To view comments you may have missed or to delete a bogus comment you just need to head down to the comment manager section. Done in the same style as the edit section, this view will provide a popup to let you see the comment, delete the comment from the database, and ban (not yet implemented) a user's e-mail and IP address. There is some anti-spambot functionality built in, so the ban feature shouldn't need to be used too often.
Click to EnlargeManaging UsersNot all comics are created by a single person, so other users will occasionally need to be allowed into the system. Through this section you can manage who can get into what areas and reset passwords. The current permissions available are the abilities to add comics, edit comics, delete comics (subset of edit), manage comments, and manage users. The user entered at the time of installation will be known as the super admin and will permanently have full access to everything.
Click to EnlargeAdding a user is simply a matter of filling out the form and selecting the desired permissions. Extra users can have their permissions edited or be deleted at any time.
Click to EnlargeFinally, since users can be granted access to manage users, safeguards are in place to keep them from deleting or modifying the Super Admin or themselves.
Click to EnlargeUsers can also change their password and avatar in another section not shown.
Implementing CodeComic Reef expects you to have some HTML and CSS experience. A bare-bones template, however, will be available for use and documentation purposes. Thus, you can take the template and modify it for your uses or just look at it to see how the Comic Reef system is implemented. Most plug-in code snippets can be copied and pasted into your code with no alteration, but ones such as the navigation buttons will need some user modification so you can use your own buttons. Navigation buttons allow for active and inactive images, and the heading for the author notes can be altered to your liking. Below is a small piece of my site's code that demonstrates the implementation.
Click to EnlargeWhen shown on the website, those single line code snippets show as follows.
Click to EnlargePlanned Features for Release VersionWhen Comic Reef exits beta testing, I plan for the following features to be available.
Backend- Add/Edit/Delete Comics
- Comment Management with view, delete, and ban functionality
- User Management
- ComicPress image conversion (title, date, and image only)
- Independent blog (may be pushed to next version)
- Multiple comic support
Frontend- Author notes
- Comment form
- Archive page with accordion display
- RSS feed
- Chapter dropdown
- Templates
Call for Beta TestersConsidering the scope of this project and the probability of something going wrong or not as intended, I'm opening a call to beta testers. As a beta tester, you'll be required to install and run the system for a comic and try to find ways to break the code. If you do find any bugs, you will be required to notify me so that I can fix them for the official release.
Furthermore, I am also taking suggestions for future additions or aesthetic changes of the system. I'll probably be playing with the logo a bit so any suggestions there are welcome.
Thank you for reading!
Contact InformationIf you would like to join the beta, please contact me at:
E-mail/G-talk: blkknight1007 (at) gmail.com
AIM: BlkKnight1007
