Fresh list on Tapastic

centrifugal 2015-04-15 10:46:44 UTC #1

Can somebody explain the following to me:

Our series Mythologia is updated every two days. However it is never in the "fresh" list of tapastic, which is described as "New and recently updated comics". Is this because I don't upload each new page a a new episode? If this is the reason I find it rather silly.

It's nowhere to be found even when you select its specific genre. I'd appreciate it if someone enlightened me on the issue.

getsuart 2015-04-15 10:59:09 UTC #2

Hello !
I think it's because you keep updating the same episode : your watchers will be notified, but it will not appear as a new episode everyone will be notified as a new update.
In you want to be in the fresh section, you will have to updates new episodes ! Or putting a message in a new episode with a message like "upload of the prologue", then delete it when you don't need it.

I remember I saw your comic in the fresh section once, maybe when it was the first time you updated it.

zerobloodyrose 2015-04-15 12:28:59 UTC #3

As Getsuart said. You have to upload it as a new episode to be seen in the "fresh" list. I don't know why it works that way, since I think it should be seen in the fresh list even if you upload on the same episode in my opinion.

UzukiCheverie 2015-04-15 15:01:45 UTC #4

The reason why it's built that way is because that's the way episodes are meant to be uploaded on Tapastic. It's a lot easier for organizing, it's easier for the website to tell if an episode has actually been updated, and it's just the way comic websites tend to be made.

I mean, what if I updated a page from 3 months ago not with new content, but just to fix a typo? Now it's in the Fresh list, but it's not actually updated. The "Notify Subscribers" button when updating episodes wasn't just meant for creators who just jam everything into one episode; it was meant for actual edits as well, including fixes, typos, etc.

That's why. And frankly, while I get why some people update the same episode over and over again with new pages, it's really not the smart way to do it, at least not on Tapastic. You won't end up in the Fresh list, which means less exposure, plus your readers could be missing very important updates as the edits don't show up in the reading list, but get stuffed into a constantly updated queue of reader notifications, which cuts off after a certain limits, unlike the reading list. Plus returning readers have to constantly surf through a sea of content they've already read just to find what's new.

Just find a way to update episode-by-episode, either with one page per or whatever you find feasible. That's the best way to do it so you get the most exposure and the most accessibility from readers. They have a great system for it on Tapastic, from scheduling episodes, auto unlocking supporter content, etc. and if you don't take advantage of it the way it was meant to be used, then frankly, you're just wiping your butt with it and using the most convoluted and less sensible way.

IMO.

zerobloodyrose 2015-04-15 15:15:26 UTC #5

Ah I see, it makes a lot more sense now.

centrifugal 2015-04-15 15:54:01 UTC #6

UzukiCheverie,

I don't know if you're an admin / someone from the site. In case you are, I would like to let you know that I'm not condemning the site or talking ill about it. I think Tapastic is an amazing website, doing an unbelievable service to comic creators. The interface and the society behind it are, simply put, unparalleled at the moment.

However when it comes to the issue at hand - and I'm only saying this in a cordial manner - the example you referred to does not really apply well. If I would have to modify a page to correct a typo, that means I'd have to remove a page and upload another one. I assume it'd be pretty easy to add some html code to identify when a page has been removed to add another one and have the database ignore this action so that the comic would not be pushed higher on the "fresh" list.

In the same example, someone who wants to correct a typo or update his page might remove the whole episode and upload a new one. That way he'd still get his comic ahead in the fresh list.

Now that you've explained why it happens, I will change the way I upload the comic but I'm pretty certain that lots of newbies might get confused as well. When I want to upload a new page and look through a new site for a way to do so, I'm looking for some text telling me "upload new page" and not upload new episode. Maybe the simplest way to solve this would be renaming page -> file and episode -> page . That would probably be more user-friendly to webcomic-site-dummies like me.

Just a small bit of constructive criticism on my part so that an already fantastic site becomes a tiny little bit more fantastic

UzukiCheverie 2015-04-15 17:09:33 UTC #7

No, I don't work for the site, and I'm not judging your love or thoughts on the site itself. Please don't put words in my mouth :U

Are you assuming it's easy because you know how to do it or are you assuming it's easy just because it's easy to assume that? I don't know how the website is built, I don't know how the programming works for it, and I don't know if it's possible to do that or not, but whether or not it is, that seems like a pointless type of update to me that wouldn't actually be a huge solution to anything. As I said already, Tapastic is built for episode-by-episode updates, and that's a system that works. Weasling through the programming of it all just to differentiate between correcting a typo and adding a new page to an episode JUST so a comic can be put into Fresh when it updates the way it's not built to be updated just seems like a lot of work for too little of a good outcome.

Then that's just cheating the system and not what getting exposure on Tapastic is about.

Besides, from what I know from my little knowledge of programming, that's not even an HTML thing; that's more of a PHP/Java/any function programming language, as HTML is about the layout of a website, and what you're talking about is more of the functions of the website itself and its inner workings, which isn't as simple as saying "well just change the HTML".

But why? Why would newbies be confused with the system that Tapastic was built for? What would confuse them about actually getting notifications in their reading list and not have to possibly miss your updates from their notification list, especially if they're super active in the comments section and get a lot of replies and other notifications like that?

If when you say "newbies" you mean "new readers", getting adjusted to the sudden change in format, then you have a lot of choices. You can either re-upload all your pages as separate episodes (although the downfall is that you'll probably lose all your comments and such, which wouldn't be good). Or you can just make a PSA episode about pages changing their update format, or just do a notify subscribers post on you profile. Or you can just keep doing what you're doing. I'm not telling you what you HAVE to do, I'm just suggesting the best methods of posting chapters so that your comic gets the exposure it deserves in the Fresh section, without trying to force the staff to figure out the possibly overly complicated method to tricking the code system to doing it for you.

You're splitting hairs by trying to differentiate so vastly between "episodes" and "pages". Episodes can be anything on Tapastic; they can be pages from a manga, vertical pages from a vertical story (think Fisheye Placebo, or Like a Wolf, or pretty much any Korean webtoon), simple little drawings for gag comics, or even entire chapters uploaded at once each week, etc.

keii4ii 2015-04-15 18:10:37 UTC #8

As far as I know, this is only possible with the latest episode. Currently there's no way to upload a new episode and insert it in the middle of your archive. I guess one could try to cheat by repeating this with the most recent episode alone, though...

Renaming "page" to "file" is actually a really great suggestion! I hope they implement that. Not so keen about changing "episode" to "page" though, as Tapastic focuses on digitally oriented comics that don't always fit in the traditional page/book format.

centrifugal 2015-04-15 18:26:13 UTC #9

Put words on your mouth? You just seemed a bit defensive in your initial post. So I thought maybe the fact that I called this feature "silly" might be taken the wrong way - especially from someone who works here. I wanted to make it clear that my comment was meant in a constructive manner... and I wanted to make this clear to whoever else might be reading this, be it a reader or someone who actually works for Tapastic.

Going into an argument with you about programming is rather pointless since a) I'm not a professional programmer - hence my choice of the word "assume" - and b) that wasn't the point to begin with.

The point was that the example you mentioned goes against your own argument. If someone deletes the episode and uploads the same episode, the comic goes at the beginning of the fresh list. Thus your example was a moot point. You can steer the conversation into a programming debate if you want, but it still won't change the fact that your own example works against your own argument.

centrifugal 2015-04-15 18:29:09 UTC #10

I see your point about keeping the "episode" instead of page. I guess I still think of comics in their traditional form, but after reading your post, the title "episode" makes sense.

feyuca 2015-04-15 18:37:46 UTC #11

Confused, because I've never seen page referenced on the site in reference to episode creation.
When you create an episode, it's add EPISODE --> choose FILES to upload --> add more FILES ? * o * Otherwise, yes! Files > pages. (thanks for explaining why episode is a thing, keii!)

And thank you for the concrit, centrifugal! It's a problem we're still trying to figure out an elegant way to tackle, but for now, uploading new episodes when you update is the way to go! They don't have to be single file updates, they can be long and consist of multiple files or "pages." I think Witchy does a good job with it http://tapastic.com/series/Witchy

But RE: when users who choose to delete their episode and reupload to "game" the system: they're losing out on the views, comments, and likes that would otherwise have been accumulated and help them get into the Trending or Popular section. This would work against them, since those sections get more exposure. I hope that clarifies things a little bit!

SpavVy 2015-04-15 18:48:53 UTC #12

If you add the page in a new episode it should go on the fresh list.

Viro_Veteruscy 2015-05-20 07:26:12 UTC #13

Honestly, this sounds like something specifically made for Gag/Single Page comics. They'll gain more exposure since every page is considered a new episode while comics that are updated with new pages for each episode only get seen briefly and then trail off until there episode is done and a new one is made. Perhaps in the future there can be something for lengthy episodes to get exposed more often other than the possibility of having to do short episodes in order to stay relevant (assuming the lengthy episodes take a great deal of time before a new one is made).

gateofselidor 2015-05-20 07:49:49 UTC #14

I have a story-based comic, and I upload one or two pages at a time in a single episode.Many story-based comics do this, and while it's not the cleanest way to organise your pages, it works well enough. If you don't mind losing the comments and likes, you can always collapse the pages into a single episode at the end of each chapter.

Releasing long episodes in infrequent batches like a traditional print comic releases issues will cause the same problems regarding visibility wherever you host it. Webcomics just aren't suited to that style of upload, which is why most upload on a frequent schedule with a low page count.

Marvin 2015-05-20 09:00:58 UTC #15

Something should reaaallyyy be done about that. As a reader, I like having the entire chapter to read in one go, even if the author only uploads 1 page a week. And it's way better for the mobile version too.

The best exemple I have is Hey Sister which is absolutely amazing but is not often in the fresh section since the author keeps adding pages in the same episode to keep the chapter together.
An other problem with that is that the notification system doesn't make it easy to see when there's been an update since it's immediately drowned under authors' posts on their walls, people replying to your posts etc. (If you've got suggestions about the notification system, I created a topic where there's already been a bunch of good ideas)

What if updating an episode acted as a real update only if there are more files than before ? That way if you just replaced a page because of a bad typo, you could notify your readers the usual way, but if you added a new page and the episode now contained 10 files instead of 9, the site would consider it a real update and you would be back on the fresh section ?
Is that even possible ?