I’m pleased to announce the release of version 2.5 of stripShow, the all-in-one webcomics solution for WordPress!
Version 2.5 features AutoComic, allowing webcomics creators to use virtually any WordPress theme, not just themes designed specifically for webcomics. Thanks to the magic of JavaScript, you can mix comics with your regular blog and still take advantage of stripShow’s features such as searchable transcripts and storylines.
Also new in 2.5 is a handy interface to add comics directly from WordPress’s Add Post page. No longer do comics have to be added from a separate page.
The default stripShow template theme, stripShow Sandbox, has gotten a bit of a facelift as well, but don’t worry. These changes are confined to a separate file, so they won’t affect existing child themes that don’t import that file.
4 Comments
Hi Brad. Congrats on an sbsolutely great product, and for keeping it going. However, I’d like to give some feedback. I publish a webcomic which I’m about to reboot. I want the best, simplest WordPress comic plugin/theme. I don’t like Comicpress because it’s too complex, complicated, bloated, and user-unfriendly. But at least it’s the most popular option, it has a number of guys working on it and I know it will be around in 5 years when I have a huge amount of comics on my site and it will be difficult to switch to a new system.
I think Stripshow is much better than Comicpress. But it’s maintained by one guy. What happens if you get hit by a bus, or lose interest or something? It’s hard for me to choose Stripshow because of this ‘key man risk’. I would really suggest you try to create a community of developers around Stripshow, so that it doesn’t depend on just you. If there are 3-5 people maintaining it and the code is out there, potential users like me know it will always exist and be maintained, and you might actually see more people using it until it becomes more popular than Comicpress.
Do think about it.
@Etrigan, you’ve got an excellent point, and it’s one I’ve thought about quite a bit. ComicPress has always been able to outstrip stripShow (no pun intended) when it comes to new features, owing to the fact that they have a team of guys working on it, where I have only myself.
I never thought about it as a hindrance to adoption, though. Perhaps for 3.0, I’ll see about taking on a collaborator. Are you volunteering?
Hi Brad
Yes, alas the thing with open source, particularly WordPress plugins, is there’s always the risk that the developer gets bored, moves on in life or who knows what. Then the plugin doesn’t get upgraded, and you’re stuck with a site that can’t move forward. So I do think that having a plugin dependent on just one person would be a hindrance to adoption by many people.
It’s the same reason people prefer to pay for commercial software even though open source is free- with commercial software, you know there’s a company behind the product that will be there to upgrade it, provide support & maintenance, etc. Having compared Stripshow to Comicpress, I think people adopt ComicPress for this reason- with the large user community and a team of developers, they’re certain that even if someone in the dev team quits, loses interest or gets hit by a bus, the platform will continue to be developed and maintained.
So good job with being open to the idea of expanding Stripshow as a platform beyond just yourself (I saw your post on Comixtalk inviting developers on board). I hope you succeed.
I would love to help any way I can with Stripshow, but unfortunately I have no coding skills to speak of. I am an artist so I can provide an esthetic and user perspective however. I also know quite a bit about business. So if you decide to think of Stripshow as a potential business and not just a free plugin, I think I could offer some ideas as well.
All the best.
@Etrigan: Well, as far as making stripShow into a business, that I am willing to leave to the ComicPress guys. I have no interest in monetizing stripShow beyond the occasional donation here and there.
Well, how about this… from an aesthetic perspective, I can tell you that the “shiny” theme that stripShow Sandbox has in 2.5 represents pretty much the limit of my web design prowess, so I could use some input there.