After chatting with DJ earlier this afternoon, I decided that today was the day I’d finally move the site to a proper host, rather than have the domain forward visitors to my personal webspace at the University. It’s probably something I should have done years ago, but kept putting off. There may be some issues with the site over the next few days as I move files between servers, but I’ll try and keep the chaos to a minimum.
It’s been a very busy fall. Being a new dad, teaching, working on monstrous projects—leaving little time to keep my blog updated. Someone mentioned to me that A List Apart is featuring my Night of the Image Map article as the Editor’s Choice right now. I had forgotten I wrote it with a spooky theme, to complement the spooky project it was developed for.
Hopefully I can start making more time for the blog again. Maybe update the design too.
I’ve made a few updates to my Comic Gallery Script, and a new version is now available. ComicGallery 1.1 includes navigation links for going to the first or last image in the gallery, as well as enhanced XHTML output to allow you to replace the text navigation with custom images. You can see an example of Comic Gallery 1.1 at RealmOfAtland.com
Download ComicGallery.zip
Be sure to check the Comic Gallery Tutorial for help with setting up and configuring the script.
The First and Last links are controlled by the variable:
Additional <span> tags have been added to the generated markup for use with CSS Image Replacement techniques. This will allow you to replace the text navigation for the gallery with your own custom images.
This zip file includes some sample images for you to get started.
Download cg_nav.zip
Unzip the file and upload the files to a directory on your website as follows:
Add this CSS to your page (eg. example.php) and your gallery will display images for the First, Back, Next and Last links:
/* CG nav setup */
#cg_nav1 { height: 50px; width: 400px; margin: 0 auto; }
#cg_nav1 a, #cg_nav1 span { height: 50px; width: 100px; float: left; background: #fff top left no-repeat; }
#cg_nav1 a span, #cg_nav1 span span, #cg_nav1 .cg_divider { display: none; }
/* CG nav images */
a#cg_first { background: url(cg_nav/first.gif); }
a#cg_back { background: url(cg_nav/back.gif); }
a#cg_next { background: url(cg_nav/next.gif); }
a#cg_last { background: url(cg_nav/last.gif); }
/* CG nav rollover images */
a#cg_first:hover { background: url(cg_nav/first_on.gif); }
a#cg_back:hover { background: url(cg_nav/back_on.gif); }
a#cg_next:hover { background: url(cg_nav/next_on.gif); }
a#cg_last:hover { background: url(cg_nav/last_on.gif); }
/* CG nav unavailable images */
span#cg_first { background: url(cg_nav/first_off.gif); }
span#cg_back { background: url(cg_nav/back_off.gif); }
span#cg_next { background: url(cg_nav/next_off.gif); }
span#cg_last { background: url(cg_nav/last_off.gif); } Replace the cg_nav files with your own, but be sure to adjust the height and width settings in above CSS if you have different size images. You might also consider using CSS Sprites to reduce the number of image files needed for your gallery’s navigation.
ComicGallery was originally created for a subscription based webcomic site I worked on in 2004. I’m making it available under the GNU General Public License, which means it’s free software and you can use it on your own site.
This script will automatically create a gallery from a directory of images that you specify. It’s easy to add to existing webpages, and easy to modify the configuration of the script to produce a variety of gallery styles suitable for webcomics as well as other types of artwork.
Other scripts for creating more complex types of galleries exist, but they often take longer to setup, administer, and integrate into your site. This script can be included on your page with a single line of code, and uses minimal, standards based markup (XHTML) that can be easily styled with CSS to match the rest of your website.
Optional features include:
It’s with some reluctance that I’ve decided to part ways with Logan DeAngelis and his two companies: PV Comics and comiXpress. I’ll no longer be maintaining either of those websites, or be involved in running the businesses. I put a lot of effort into both companies last year, and I think they’ve been reasonably successful. This year I’ve decided not to spend as much time on business strategy and management for other people’s companies, when I could be putting that effort into something of my own. While we had a few differences in opinion on how PV Comics and particularly comiXpress were being managed, Logan and I are still parting on good terms. He’s a great guy, and I wish him all the best.
I was recently interviewed by Ryan McLelland for his Comic Book Maker column at Newsarama. As someone who had never published a comic before, he wanted to know more about comiXpress, the print-on-demand comic publishing company I’m involved with. Since launching in June, comiXpress has been doing really well, and we now have 64 different titles in our catalog. Ryan plans to post more from our conversation later this week on his blog.
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