Tapastic Home Page Based on Update over Popularity

[gulpy1189]

Hello! Weekly webcomic publisher, and occasional forum-poster here with a criticism for the tapastic home page.

So the current tapastic home page lists the following categories:
Popular
Trending
Tapastic Picks
Discover More
Premium

...all of which essentially sound like the same section to me.

I don't wanna have this come off as "oh, the older iteration of the site was better," but I clearly remember the home page having something of a calendar format before where it would list each day of the week, and what comics would get published on which day regardless of popularity. I know the possible problem with this would be that it'd be difficult to really enforce creators keeping to their schedule, but it seemed like a more unbiased and straightforward way of showing what the site had to offer on a daily basis.

The way the home page is set up now makes it feel a bit more daunting, at least for me as a creator in that every section featured on it can be watered down to "what's popular." Yes, it makes it easy to find better quality webcomics on the site, but it's at the expense of smaller-time authors like myself that take pride in their weekly schedule without much to show for it.

If possible, I'd love for the calendar format to come back to the home page, as I think it gives more of an equal opportunity for all creators to have their work featured to more people. Honestly I find it hard to believe that many people would dig through more titles outside of what's featured on the home page, at least given it's current look. Another suggestion I'd have would be a "recently updated" section.

Anyway, sorry for the wall of text, but I just wanted to get my thoughts out.

[Doubtcent]

In other words, you'd like the "Fresh" section to be on the front page as well?
Hmm... That's not a bad idea.
Although that's more up to the staff to figure out. Heck, they just put a ton of effort into reformatting the iOS app, so who knows what's up their sleeve next?
But I wouldn't mind if the "Fresh" section had a place near or on the front page...

[winglesscomic]

Yeah, I pretty much don't touch any other part of the site. If I see a fantasy or horror comic swimming in the ocean that is Slice of Life/Humour comics on the front page, I check it out. That's the only way I find new comics, other than posting thanks messages on people's walls and seeing something I might be interested in.

"Popular" and "Trending" are the exact same thing to me so I don't see adding the Fresh section on the front page being a bad idea. I was told that Tapastic wanted to concentrate on unknown works, and while the Tapastic Picks is one part of that, I feel like it would help a lot more people get their work noticed if people saw new or just updated comics on the front page.

[michaelson]

But I wouldn't mind if the "Fresh" section had a place near or on the front page...

It's right under the Tapastic Picks section There's a Discover More section with the Feed, Fresh and Collections.

If possible, I'd love for the calendar format to come back to the home page, as I think it gives more of an equal opportunity for all creators to have their work featured to more people. Honestly I find it hard to believe that many people would dig through more titles outside of what's featured on the home page, at least given it's current look. Another suggestion I'd have would be a "recently updated" section.

Outside of the Fresh Section on the frontpage, the Feed's page is also automatically updated a few times every hour based on trending episodes so if you try to promote your work, you will be likely to appear there.

Personally, I think it's important for the Front Page and more parts of the site in general to update at a more rapid frequency so that each time you come back there's something new to see.

I liked the calendar system that we used to use back in the old days, but I do feel like webcomics as a whole should not be pressed to update on a regular schedule (this sounds weird, I know). I feel like creators should take as much time as they need to produce the most meaningful content that they can and publish whenever they're ready.

[Doubtcent]

Oh, you're right. I forgot about that... (IT WAS RIGHT THERE AND I DIDN'T SEE IT! *slaps forehead**) I was more stuck in the mindset of the thumbnail format like what the "popular" "trending" or "tapastic picks" have. (>.<)\
Thanks.

[gulpy1189]

The thing about the Fresh Section is that it takes an additional click to get there. A weird point to bring up I know, but it's still valid since I feel like most people either stick to the home page or will immediately just check their subscriptions. The more clicks it takes to get somewhere on a page, the less likely someone will go to it since it's so "out of the way."

Maybe if the Fresh Section were set up on the home page like how the Popular section is done on the home page it would be better? Something where you can immediately see what's been updated a handful at a time and scroll through all those choices without leaving the home page.

[winglesscomic]

Outside of the Fresh Section on the frontpage, the Feed's page is also automatically updated a few times every hour based on trending episodes so if you try to promote your work, you will be likely to appear there.

This might be a stupid question but what does "Trending" actually mean? I've been wondering what the difference is between Trending and Popular.

[minzinger]

Maybe if the Fresh Section were set up on the home page like how the Popular section is done on the home page it would be better?

For the amount of new episode being published, there's really no point in creating a dedicated section for FRESH. At most one hour until it gets buried by fresher. Some days probably like 5 minutes until it gets buried by fresher. Also, reader behavior doesn't go for the fresh as we've seen in the past. There's just not enough real estate to do all.

[gulpy1189]

Aw, bummer.

I get that there's just so many creators on the website so having to sift through tons of different series is unavoidable. Still, I hope there's some kind of way to better get the word out on less popular series within the site itself.

[elegantgamer]

It is hard thats for sure but as someone like myself who didn't update my webcomic for a few months I decided to come back and do try it again. I posted my webcomic to my social media and reddit and in the forums. Within a few days I've hit the top most popular romance webcomic for the day by just doing that. it's very important to promote your work especially when you're starting out.

[PotooGryphon]

I'm honestly a fan of the new sections on the front page. They're constantly refreshing and changing to the point it feels like it keeps up with new posts to the site. And there's so much diversity in these sections now, I keep finding new series there daily.

it's very important to promote your work

^^^ This. Totally agree with that.

[michaelson]

This might be a stupid question but what does "Trending" actually mean? I've been wondering what the difference is between Trending and Popular.

So every series is measured based on engagement (i.e. comments, likes, shares, views, and subscribes), those with higher engagement end up in the Popular and/or Trending section. Popular and trending measure each individual piece of engagement differently which is why you see the two sections having little to no overlap. Popular only accounts for series that have been recently updated. There are other factors that apply to each individual section but outside of that we can't spill the secret formula

[elixiadragmire]

I liked the calendar system that we used to use back in the old days, but I do feel like webcomics as a whole should not be pressed to update on a regular schedule (this sounds weird, I know). I feel like creators should take as much time as they need to produce the most meaningful content that they can and publish whenever they're ready.

also given that update schedule vary greatly from creator to creator, some are daily, bi-weekly, weekly, fortnightly and monthly.

I personally think the new front page has a good balance, I've discovered a lot of new comics since the change, my comic has had more views since the change, and its now easier to navigate for new users.