No Rest For The Wicked ([info]norest_comic) wrote,
@ 2007-10-14 07:39:00
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Chapter 4, page 21
Get over there!

Did I mention that this chapter has a lot of flashbacks? This chapter has a lot of flashbacks. But I don't think there's been a chapter so far that hasn't had a lot of flashbacks. Maybe someday I need to learn to tell a story without ten billion flashbacks.

I just noticed now that the last time I updated I left the date as "Oct. 4" when it should have said "Oct. 9". Just another reason why I need to revamp this site with some kind of script or something that doesn't require me manually changing the dates and coding all the html every single time. If I could just get wordpress or something running on the front page, that would be great, but I've also been thinking of maybe switching the comic archives to some kind of automated script. Any php wizards out there willing to give me some advice?

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[info]archangelbeth
2007-10-14 03:00 am UTC (link)
*squees at the update*

Hmmm. I don't know php myself, but if you don't get enough php wizards here, you might be able to tap the Girl Genius collective by looking at Kaja Foglio's blog?

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php for the layout, and http://kajafoglio.livejournal.com/ for the blog. I know that there were threads about site issues, a while back. (Doing a Google search for php site:kajafoglio.livejournal.com might yield results?)

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[info]sudrien
2007-10-14 04:46 am UTC (link)
Hmm...

Wordpress could be a possibility, If you're comfortable wih the interface. Most of the scripts I have seen are ... poorly written? Using the (usually MySQL) database in the wrong places? I could write up somthing based on what I'm seeing in a day or two. A new page layout would take a little longer.

...and what is this "specific trick" mentioned over in the chat on the front page?

(apparently web programmers need these "portfolio" things...)

-Sud.

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[info]norest_comic
2007-10-14 06:51 am UTC (link)
I wanted the comic pages to have white backgrounds for day scenes and black backgrounds for night scenes, like I have it now. I've been told that I can do this and still have an automated script if I set up the database so that I can flag pages for either "night" or "day" and have it refer to the corresponding stylesheets; or else I could put an extra character in the filenames like "n" or "d" and have the script read the corresponding stylesheet based on that; or else I could have the script refer to a text file which would list all the pages that were "night" or "day". Those were the suggestions I received. Unfortunately, I'm a complete newbie who doesn't know anything about php other than how to install a forum. I can learn it, but I don't know if I have to try and write the code myself or if I can just modify something that already exists.

And the reason I was thinking of Wordpress is because I can install it pretty easily and a lot of people seem to be using it. I've actually designed a new front page layout, but I figure I'll need to code it with css if I plan to use any type of blog thing on the front page (I've only ever used plain html before).

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[info]sudrien
2007-10-14 06:10 pm UTC (link)
I wouldn't say you need CSS for anything, but it does make the HTML a lot cleaner (of course, I'd recommend CSS anyway, but that is a different point).

So, there are two "best" options I'm coming up with at the moment:

1. Use Wordpress. You no longer use LiveJournal, as you have RSS and everything. Updating a comic is done through a plug-in someone would write (me?), which includes the background option. Drawbacks: Wordpress themes are more complicated to customize. The Comic plug-in would be more likely to fail for some reason, now that a database is involved.


2. Use simple custom php scripts, no database involved. Replaces /index.html /archive/index.html with .php files, automatically generates the comic pages' html with one .php file and mod_rewrite. Background color determined by comic's file name. Blog would still be on LiveJournal, but embedded in the page via special methods. Drawbacks: LiveJournal embedding is with subscription, $2 USD/month, may be able to work around that in free version.


I would go with #2 myself, because it could be done one piece at a time, and is less work to begin with.

-Sud.

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[info]norest_comic
2007-10-15 07:02 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, the second one does sound like the better option overall. I'd thought about just embedding the lj on the page, but hadn't gotten around to actually trying it out since it requires a paid subscription. I think could also try this script I found for displaying rss feeds as html.

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[info]majutsukai
2007-10-15 12:47 am UTC (link)
Nothing wrong with flashbacks. ^^

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