Posting per page

[Dranif]

I only upload one page a week due to time constraints. If I had my way, and didn't have college to worry about, I'd be going on a steady pace of at least 2-4 pages per week, like I used to.
From a reader's perspective, reading a full chapter at a time in one episode kinda burns me out.

[aspiderjonny]

Because of school, if I were to upload the entire issue when it was completed, there would be a two to three month stretch between stories. It's mostly a time thing. I don't have a problem with page per episode and I didn't know some people did.

[Jelw]

I firmly believe that all episodes should end at a point where it is natural to do so.
To give an example of a story that does it well: Witchy. (I can't link it at the moment since I'm on mobile.)
Witchy is initially drawn page by page but posted in segments, ending when a scene changes, an intentional cliffhanger, etc. This means each segment is ingested as a whole rather than the flow being butchered by all the pages being in their own episode.
Because in many cases, that's what page by page posting is doing: ruining the overall flow of the story.
When you watch an episode on television, all stops and pauses are deliberate- from commercial breaks to the episode's actual end. The episode doesn't abruptly pause mid-scene and tell you to come back next week (unless it's an intentional planned cliffhanger.)
This is true with essentially all media- books, published manga/comics, even things like fanfiction online end at a deliberate, good stopping point- and then resume.
Longer time between episodes might mean an episode takes longer to update, but it's easier to remember a scene thrown at you all at once as opposed to
Bits
And piec
es o
f information
Scattered throughout time.
I'll reiterate what I said before one last time: all episodes should end at a natural stopping point.

[Jelw]

Keep it long! It's much better to have a piece that reads well, in my opinion, and there are plenty of people who adore long episodic stories on Taptastic!
(Juju's diary, Michelin Star, and Fisheye Placebo are all longer episodic pieces and all have a following!) There is a collection on the front page for longer scrolling series, too- so they definitely have a place.

[carloswebcomic]

Because I don't write ongoing stories. I don't have chapters. A joke per page and that's it.

[ErithEl]

Wow...I had no idea so many people felt this way about single page uploads as opposed to chapters.

I'm guessing this is why there are so many wonderful comics on my reading list (and yes, I'm gonna be selfish and throw my own comic into the mix here because this actually upsets me a little!) that don't have the views and subscribers they deserve because readers don't want to waste their time on single-page-uploading comics.

As someone who only updates with one page per week, let me just say that first of all, my comic was created to eventually be published in book format. Obviously, it is then going to be drawn page by page.

Secondly, all the webcomics I've read outside of Tapastic have been in this format, where the creator will update with one page per week – and yes, that does include Strays, which is a very popular comic on this site as well. (And before anyone jumps on this, I do understand this may be different in other countries...)

Thirdly, @elixiadragmire said it earlier: Life gets in the way. If we all could just work on webcomics all day, then I'm sure everyone would be able to upload chapters at a time. Not so much when you work full-time at an exhausting job.

About creators uploading one page per week to gain more views... from my experience, it seems to be the exact opposite on this site!

Part of the fun for me is anticipating that one page a week - looking forward to it, and being surprised and interested to see how the story unfolds. Then, of course, going back once the chapter is finished and rereading the whole thing in one go because, yes, the stories I follow are that amazing and worth the time! It's never bothered me that occasionally I will have to backtrack one page to remind myself what happened last time.

OK. Rant over.

Also... @CyndiFoster You are awesome!

[PotooGryphon]

Part of the fun for me is anticipating that one page a week - looking forward to it, and being surprised and interested to see how the story unfolds.

Oh totally! There's several series I follow where I'm completely hooked on the story, almost to the point where it's an addiction. I might go crazy if I had to wait more than a week for a post. For these series, I'd gladly take weekly page by page posts rather than waiting month to month for multiple page posts. When I'm that rabid for a story I have to have it NOW lol

As for updating an episode, I want this feature at first but in practice, it doesn't work out for me, to re-scrolling over pages I've already read to get to the new update rubs me the wrong way.

Completely agree! Like a few others have said. It's harder to bookmark where I've left off in a comic when they're together like this. It's easier to remember a page number and then be on the page, rather than having to find the page through multiple pages.

Hmmm... I think I was originally excited about this update for the increased editing/organizing capabilities. It'd be nice to one day put my issue 1 and 2 before my issue 3 and 4 without placing them in an already established episode that originally contained issue 3 and has comments about that issue in it... Total mess that is... However, I'll have to do that eventually... sigh, that'll be a long episode for ya long post readers

[MelJam]

wow I didn't expect the opinions to be this varied
but it changed my perspective a little so thanks
my original 'problem' with posting by page was that many (that are in my reading list anyway) really are meant to be read as a longer episode and thus are cut off that way, and I myself tend to write a little long winded so that worried me a little
but I can see the point most here have though..
maybe it would be nice to have a slightly different reader for different comic types as there is a difference in how well longstrip comics and 'traditional' / manga style comics read this way, but if bookmarking is the issue maybe a 'bookmarking function' would do the trick then as well, though granted there isn't one right now...
well..,at least I'm glad my question provided some useful discussion..

[zod]

I tend to post 2 pages a month, drip feeding your readers keeps the anticipation of waiting for the next pages ongoing, although I am a couple of pages ahead myself when working on them but at the same time, I can only spare the weekend on working on pages, wish I had more time else Id hit for 4 pages a month!

[elixiadragmire]

my original 'problem' with posting by page was that many (that are in my reading list anyway) really are meant to be read as a longer episode and thus are cut off that way

Ah, this is a writing problem. most pages have a 'cliffhanger' moment at the end to keep the reader gagging for the next page. Calling 'page turning' (I couldn't put the book down, it was a real page turner) writing and pacing is crucial to drumming up anticipation in readers. The guys at Extra Credits explains pacing sooooooooooo much better than me.

Secondly, all the webcomics I've read outside of Tapastic have been in this format, where the creator will update with one page per week

Same, I've been reading them FOR YEARS in this format. Primarily most of Hiveworks stuff which now has 12 million readers. There are other like Scott Kurtz. Gabe & Tyco (though they mainly gag a day Gabe does do some story ones) Kris Straubs who are all giants in this industry (they even ran a reality tv show called Strip Search for the next webcomic top creator) that submit this way, Though they're primarily in 'widescreen mode'

elixiadragmire:As for updating an episode, I want this feature at first but in practice, it doesn't work out for me, to re-scrolling over pages I've already read to get to the new update rubs me the wrong way.

Completely agree! Like a few others have said. It's harder to bookmark where I've left off in a comic when they're together like this. It's easier to remember a page number and then be on the page, rather than having to find the page through multiple pages.

Yeah, like how smack jeeves remembers where you were, but with the vertical scrolling format I think it involves tagging each image file on submission :S

[MelJam]

maybe my issue is with what I'm used to reading then...
when I think of webtoons I generally first think of things like Tower of God, or Noblesse, and the first thing I read on this website was Michellin Star, which are all in that per episode longstrip format..
but to each their own I guess

[elixiadragmire]

very true, normally the first type of media we come into contact has a profound effects how we translate the that's media as a whole.
To me webtoons are a very new thing and I'm still trying to wrap my noodle around it. What I've known is mainly western webcomics in strips, gag a day and page per page formats. The only way to get a a 'whole story' would of been to wait and comic binge (hmmmmm love those on slow days) or buy a hardback comic (again reminds me to hunt and find Skydoll 4! Need my Noa!)

[Sketchmazoid]

I tried to come to a sort of compromise where every week I update the episode, for about 4 pages +-1 page. So that the people that want it weekly can pay attention to the notifications while the once that want bigger chunks can wait for the comic notifications.

But honestly I don't see why the people complaining about how 1 page a week is too little and you should wait and upload in bulk can't just not check every week, wait a bit and then read in bulk at their leisure. Nobody is forcing you to check out every page the second it comes out.

If it were up to me I'd post 30 pages a week. Sadly I am restrained by my mortal coil and financial situation to a page per week.

[hierogriff]

A lot of very popular and successful web comics have been updating page by page long before Tapastic came along. It's just one of the ways of the medium, I think.

[myung]

Well, I don't believe anyone so far has been complaining about one page updates or whole chapter updates. People have just been stating how they prefer to read certain types of material. That doesn't make one way better or worse than the other.I have never seen someone say on here that they wont subscribe to a comic because it posts only a page week, even though they like the art and story and the comic updates regularly.

[noxfox]

It's impossible to please everybody, but I think that those who matter the most here are the creators, because they're the ones doing the comics, and if they can't make them as they want to, then they might end up not doing them at all.

I personally prefer, as a creator, to post my series page per page, so I can get more dedicated feedback. I also try to have something going through each page, either information or action to bring the plot forward or explore the themes, so readers aren't left in the middle of an action –even if it has to happen sometimes, but usually I treat it more like a cliffhanger then. I probably have the chance to have a series that has little action and lots of talk (I never stops being amazed to have so many readers in those circumstances xD).

As a reader I also prefer one-page updates so I can give better feedback without having to scroll up and down all the time to write. It's also easier if I don't have the time to read a "whole chapter" at once. And like @elixiadragmire, as much as I've been wanting the update notifications before, I really don't enjoying when it comes to page updates because having to scroll through already-read pages is quite the bother, and leaving several comments on a same episodes feels weird. Older ones may become irrelevant or puzzling.
(However I do enjoy this feature to notify my readers when I've revamped an old page)

[scythe]

I'm more than happy to accept having to wait, or hit next, or see a couple of ads every page in exchange for free content made by independent creators.