Updated Site + Terms and Services

We've been discussing some of the changes here57. Biggest problem seems to be with the readability of the font, the lack of accessibility to 'trending' and 'fresh' sections, and the forums' link moving to the bottom.

As a subscriber and supporter of many comics on Tapas(tic) I must say that the new "In Library" referring to a comic you are subscribed to feels very impersonal. This platform is amazing at establishing connections between creators and their followers. None of the other comic sites have this. The moment you hit subscribe on this site you show both your interes for the comic and your support for the author. Now, when you just add something "In Library" it kind of takes away from this connection and excludes the author. I know every now and then changes are necessary and I still think this platform is absolutely amazing, I just hope you will preserve the personal touch that made it so special.

Ahhh the new style is so "bubbly" it's doing a number on my eyes, gonna have to get used to that o.o

The site is updated and it is cool!

My main problem is the fact that the homepage is very very busy now.
There are way too much categories for me, I guess it's OK on the app because it's on a tiny screen, but here I feel lost and I feel like I have to scroll endlessly to get to the popular/trending/staff pick categories. I get that you want to put the premium comics and books first, and I don't have any problem with that, but I feel like it could be a bit lighter. Definitely, less categories in between would be nicer. And I wouldn't have found the button for the forum if I hadn't read the info here (I had to google "tapastic forum" to get here).
That's it for now, the font seems good to me but I have a huge screen so that's probably why I can read it clearly ^3^'

ah, now i know, why my dark Tapastic theme isn't working anymore ^^

and that is also the biggest point from me... please give the site a dark theme... all the white is hurting my eyes in the night
i can get used to the rest, but not the white

I'm working on a more comprehensive review of the new layout rn, but so far, I think my biggest points for feedback are:

1. The appearance. Right now it feels like it's just the "view desktop version" version of the app, and parts of it really doesn't work. Two biggest examples are the front page as well as the dashboard. The dashboard is pretty cluttered right now IMO and just isn't as user-friendly as it used to be. It's almost like it's too much in too minimal of a space. One of Tapastic's greatest strengths has always been keeping things looking and operating as minimalist and simple as possible. So it's kind of an eyesore to see it cluttered with as much as it is.

2. Front page. Premium comics, premium comics everywhere. I get it that you guys need to make money, but before the non-premium community members were ALREADY faced with enough competition as it is with the naturally-popular genres (ex. gag-a-day, BL, etc.) so now it feels like we've been pushed back even further by being forced to the very bottom of the web page below comics that are ALREADY advertised literally EVERYWHERE on the app. Again, I get it you guys need to make money, but I feel like it's becoming too "exclusive" like places like Hiveworks, where you're either the "popular" kid or you're just a loser lol

And what's going to become of the banner section? Is this just going to be premium comics/books all the time now? I always enjoyed finding new comics with the banner system before but in the past several months it's just turned into ads for premium comics which I have no intention of reading, as someone who doesn't really care for the coins+keys system (and honestly, I really don't enjoy many of the comics/books that were selected for premium... but that's just my personal taste lol) and having to pay to read comics (ironic considering I'd love for people to do that for me xD but I don't force them behind a paywall either, if they want to read my content early they can pledge to my Patreon, otherwise they can just wait a few days lol... maybe that's why I'll never make a living off my work )

The way the front page is laid out now, I'm almost preferring how Webtoons does it - a section for Featured, a section for Discover (their free to upload platform). That way the Discover section has its own methods of exposure, even if it's on a separate page, and doesn't have to directly compete with comics that are getting exposure just because they're contracted.

1. A lot of links are broken like the Books page and some of the Publisher options, but I'm betting that's going to be fixed soon if it hasn't already since the last time I checked

That being said, I am glad to be seeing the tipping options and such come to the main site. That alone is a step in the right direction, it'll save me a lot of "this version vs. that version" explaining when I'm talking to potential readers (because it turned a lot of people off from the idea before). Still, I feel like the desktop should have been optimized to work hand in hand with the app, but right now it feels like it's just a cookie cutter copy of the app, which is kinda disruptive to the desktop portion of the community. I mean, if you're gonna make the desktop version look just like the app, what's the point in having the desktop version? What's the point in having the app? But I get that this new layout is still like, BRAND new, and technical issues like broken links and such will be first priority, so I'm looking forward to seeing how you optimize it in the future. This is still pretty new and there are gonna be bugs and necessary tune-ups lol

EDIT: Also right now clicking on the Tapas logo in the top left corner takes me to the help page which is probably not what it's meant to be lol (and if it is .... wat)

YES. Thank you for this, I was hoping that the trending section might get a lot of boost up for us creators, since I feel like the site is even less creator-friendly than before.

It is hard for me to log in to the new site using the dekstop version of my phone, and I also find it harder to get noticed now since:

1. There is a lot of link to specific comics that are already in popular now it is redundant, and fresh/trending gets kick to the bottom where nobody scrolls down that far.
2. Other ways to find new comics are via the forums, and I almost can't find the forum button on the front page.

I feel like these changes makes those who aren't so hugely popular to gradually lose more.

The font is also harder to read on dekstop compared to mobile.

It's funny how this issue is not being addressed by Michael. Clearly you don't concern about this. Why do you not like new and unpopular creators and keep burying them 6 feet under?

I'd like to actually address this seeing as how my post was used in this reply.

I highly doubt Michael or any of the staff are out to "get" the creators who aren't contracted. The harsh reality of it is that they're obviously going to advertise the creators that are contracted because these are the ones that are making money FOR Tapas. And as Tapastic gets bigger and bigger, it's harder for the staff to reach out to these smaller comics like they did in the past (I remember back in the days when Michael could keep up with the website with a reading list and even regularly comment on comics and such, but as the website and the brand has grown, obviously they're going to be held up with other things and not be able to be as community oriented as before).

My biggest issue with it is how it's now too much. I didn't mind it as much before when it was on the app, but I did sometimes find it annoying to always be seeing the "DOWNLOAD THE APP" banner on the front page along with series getting promoted via the Comic banner that you could only read on the add, among other things. Still, I could tolerate it. Now that the desktop site is virtually a copy-pasta of the app, it's just more "DOWNLOAD THE APP DOWNLOAD THE APP READ THE PAID COMICS" while the free platform comics struggle to stay afloat with very minimal exposure. That's why I rarely use the app - because there's just no way to find anything that ISN'T pay-to-read (and as I said already, I really don't like a lot of the comics that are available through it. Many of them are the same "style" and it's just not my taste IMO). That's not necessarily an "attack" on indie creators who aren't contracted, it just hasn't struck a very good balance between the two and once again the app and the "pay to read" functions for comics that are only contracted with Tapastic are pushing everything else out of the way.

Remember when we had the Support function that was available for everybody? I want to see that come back, or something similar. At the very least, see the locked episodes become available for more people to utilize in a more customizable way without having to be contracted (because that is NOT something to depend on getting, and by the looks of it, Tapastic has a very, VERY specific market, typically Korean-made drama webtoons and American gag strips). Yeah, it's still pay to read, but it's still OPTIONAL. Much like how people do it on Patreon (myself included) with the Support system back in the day it was like "hey, read this update 3 days early if you pledge $1/month!" It wasn't stuck behind a paywall forever. Hell, even Webtoons doesn't pay wall block their stuff (but... I mean, I don't know how they're even sustainable so... that's not really a fair comparison. I literally have no idea how they manage to stay afloat or how they even make money lol)

**It should also be noted that Michael is the Editor-in-Chief for Tapas. While this isn't certainly a small position, he's definitely not the only one who determines how Tapas should be built and utilized. So like... don't blame him lol there's probably only so much he's actually allowed to say. Businesses can't be completely transparent, unfortunately, otherwise they'd never get anything done lol

EDIT because I feel this is SUPER IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO SEE, STAFF. SERIOUSLY. I don't care if you reply really, I just need you to see it and know that it's been said.

The front page of Tapas, if I've counted it fairly, has 13 divided sections dedicated to Premium and "popular enough to be Premium" series. Books, Premium comics, collection comics (all of which typically are premium), and just random banners you're showing off for the books and paid comics. Thirteen. THIRTEEN. Thirteen individual rows of premium app content that you have to pass by to get to Trending/Popular.

THIS IS TOO MUCH TAPAS.

Even for the app this is a lot to scroll through! There has to be some way to condense those thirteen rows into ten, even 5-7. Again, I get that you want to show these series off, I get that you want to make money and use the most advertising space you can, but if that's the case, I reiterate - why even have the desktop version in the first place? Why even update it to make it look more like the app? Why not scrap the free posting platform altogether and just make it a VIP invite-only place like Hiveworks/the Featured section of Webtoons? Because that really feels like where it's headed right now lol

At thirteen rows, it's not even a "free series can't get exposure" issue, it becomes a "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH ANYTHING HERE" issue. It's so, so messy, and as I've said tons of times already, it basically looks like you took the app and plopped it onto the desktop site, which just doesn't work for a webpage design. It's too much. Please. Please dial it back. I'd love to see it for the sake of creators like myself and the people I work here with, but if you have to find a way to justify it for the sake of "business", even just for the sake of the website design, because right now, it's looking more cluttered than my medicine cabinet x_x

The team is super busy as it is and michael and the team sooorta need to sleep and it's currently 8 PM so like, their work day is undoubtedly done lol give them the typical 3-5 business days at the minimum

It's hard enough as a creator to get any kind of attention with the current trending genres, but now that they are even further down, it forces the more obscure comics/not popular yet comics into obscurity even more.

Not really a big fan of the new layout either. I know Taptastic is all about the new premium content, but this seems a bit ham-fisted.

• Font is beautiful typography but not ideal for say a Creator's page. If they feel compelled to use that font, best be used for titles and headers. See, thin fonts tend to be popular to artists. It's very appealing and I like them too. But you have to consider what it is being used for and its readability. In this case, it's not ideal.

• For overall web design, I like it the font they chose looks good for the menu div and the colors work well together. They found their colors which have to be consistent (the yellow and navy blue seem to be their choice) so it's fine that they use that for the header and footer. The extra colors added such as the green "+Series" is unnecessary but it doesn't take away from the look of the site. By the way, there is nothing wrong with them adding more colors in the update. Of course people will be resistent to the change but it's not a bad fix. But I do agree with others that there may be too much going on on the front page. It's still meant to favor touch screens and mobile users. At least Tapas doesn't use that infinite scrolling, I really hate that.

• For the publish button, I actually like that. It's much easier than clicking on the drop down menu and randomly clicking until I can get to my comic. I will say, maybe call it something different. Publish implies making a new comic but when you click on it, it sends you to your "dashboard" area with ad revenue info, episode updating for comic. Just a small preference.

• I have to complain about the footer. To me and my experience, it seems waay too big. Takes up over 1/3 of screen I believe. I guarantee you can reduce so much of that space by reducing the margins, if that's why there is so much empty space.

• The Discover page looks fine so far, not much different from the old one. The Home page, I can see why many of you say it is cluttered. I can see that, too much scrolling involved (more touch screen friendly). I hate that but most people enjoy it. There's too much emphasis on Premium and Top picks. I would think a mix of the "fresh" and "trending" should be near the top if you want the lesser known comics to gain more attention. I believe I got a lot of attention because of that in the old layouts.

• For placement of Trending, New, etc. I think it would make sense to have New&Noteworthy at the top, Recently updated (because that gives exposure to all comics, not just trending) and then Trending.

• As Uzuki said above, there are some parts that are not working. I will include a link to one example below. Certain emphasizes the mobile preference. Sad to me but that's where the future of technology is heading to, that easy interface format.
  https://sta.sh/0y4qf3md4rp4

Overall, the chagnes are here to stay and though they have some bugs and are in need of fixing, that doesn't mean they are worse. Even though I don't like all of the changes, I do think these changes are for the better. I would prefer Tapas work on the mobile vs desktop friendliness more as it still seems more mobile friendly than desktop. Don't be upset things are changing, you'll adapt.
I look forward to seeing the changes, I like web design am interested in how they format everything.

OH, also, yes change the font. Beautiful, artsy font, but not for regular text. Maybe for titles and headers but not regular text. Makes it difficult to read. That's the one thing I'll actually say should change.

JJ
Creator of Beautiful Lies

Okay, so more technical details.
- global.footer height is 246
- The padding on the footer for global-footer-link, global-footer-company and especially global-footer-icon could be considerably reduced for the sake of making the footer smaller. (Just my thoughts on it, not trying to tell you you're wrong. You're the experienced onces after all). I would also recommend for the social media, to have that in a more accessable location. People don't often actively go looking for it and these would require people scrolling aaall the way down to reach them. Same with forums. All dat scrolling mate, sucks for non-touch screens.

• Is Quicksand the font that's making everyone go batshit? Yeah don't use that as I said for the regular text. Even just Open Sans works better. It's a beautiful font but the problem with it is the spacing. That's why it's not ideal for regular text. Something like Open Sans is much easier to read with less rounded letters and less space between them, take as an example, whilst still being a relatively appealing look. If you still want that rounded look then hrm.... I can't think of one immediately that doesn't cost money. I meant that crisp, easy to read look comes from sharp edges ( I don't know my typography jargon so bear with me). If you look at Source Sans Pro, that's a bolder looking font but sitll easier to read. THen if you look at "Print Clearly" that one is even worse than Quicksand and for the same reasons Quicksand is bad (spacing, thin font).
  Just experiment with the fonts and keep in mind readability above aesthetic. (Business-oriented graphic design vs artistic graphic design). Also, I really like Josefin Sans. Little rounder, much easier to read, crisp.

By the way, I like the subtle, rounded outline around the wraps such as for the "Pro Tips." Borders are one of those things that rarely look good.

• I'd also prefer the Forums button go back to the top for ease of access, as I mentioned with the social media being somewhere more noticeable.

EDIT One last thing, I'd recommend expanding the width of the body on the main page. 940 seems way too small and most people have pretty large screens nowadays. That certainly adds to the "cluttter" people have been describing the new look. Or make it relative

Cheers,
JJ