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Introduction

ComicControl is a CMS (Content Management System) built as a solution to bulky, buggy WordPress-based solutions for managing comic websites. With ComicControl, creators can build and customize their own sites without worrying about the many individual parts that go into a WordPress-based site. It's lightweight, fast, and allows a high level of customization for advanced users.

What is a CMS?

A CMS, or Content Management System, is an application that allows a user to manage the content on a website without needing to have knowledge of programming that would otherwise be necessary to edit a website. CMSes are varied, with a wide range of necessary technical expertise and customizability, and some CMSes provide their own hosting, such as SquareSpace.

ComicControl does not provide hosting itself, but it is built in a way that allows it to be deployed on most website hosts. ComicControl can be customized for those with programming skills, but it can also be deployed by users with little technical skill.

What can I do on ComicControl?

ComicControl is built with the intent of being used for managing comic websites, and to that end it allows users to manage one or several comics on one website. It can also be used to manage text content areas, basic blogs, and image galleries. ComicControl is constantly being developed as well, and we hope to offer even more features in the future.

Why use ComicControl?

ComicControl is simple

ComicControl is built to offload as much work as possible from the user in managing their site. The administration areas of ComicControl sites are straightforward, and most users will have no trouble managing their comic with virtually no instruction.

ComicControl is quick

ComicControl is a stripped-down CMS with no more code than is necessary for the site to run. The CMS has a very light data and processing footprint, and several ComicControl sites can be run with the resources needed to run one site on a more complex CMS.

ComicControl is designed for webcomics

ComicControl has been built from the ground up with webcomics in mind. It has been used on over a hundred comic websites before being released to the public. No special parts are needed to make ComicControl play nice with comics--it is oriented completely around getting your comic website online as quickly as possible.

ComicControl is customizable

ComicControl is highly customizable for those with the programming skills to build their own features. ComicControl has a minimal plugin system as well as allowances for custom functions and templates. This is on top of the many options already available to basic users that can be changed at any time in the administration area.

How ComicControl Works

Modules

ComicControl is based on a system of what we call "modules". Modules each constitute a piece of your website and come in four types: comic, blog, text, and gallery. Each module type can either constitute its own page on the website or be integrated into part of another page. For example, a user might want a list of conventions they will be attending on the page that shows their comic. In this case, the user could create a "Conventions" text module and insert that module into the template that the comic page uses. In general, though, each module is meant to be its own page on your website; you may have your main comic module as the main page, then a blog module, a text module as an about page, and a gallery module as a fanart page.

Templates

ComicControl also allows the use of various templates. Each module has a template individually associated with it. Templates can be completely customized by the user and applied as necessary to various modules. If desired, one template can be used for the whole website, or each module can have its own very specific template file.

Users

ComicControl supports multiple users, which currently come with two levels of authorization. At the "administrator" level, the user can modify any aspect of the website available within the administration area; at the "user" level, the user can only access the modules that the administrator allows them to access.

Plugins

Though plugins are still at an early stage in ComicControl, they can be implemented by those with the appropriate technical knowledge. By building a plugin file and inserting that plugin into the ComicControl database, the user can gain additional functionality in the administration area.

The technical details

ComicControl is PHP and MySQL based; it requires a hosting area that is running a fairly current version of each software and access to at least one MySQL database. For more details, please visit the Getting Started area, which has more information on technical requirements and suggestions for hosts that can meet these requirements.

Customization

ComicControl allows customization in almost every way possible. Though most customizations require a certain level of programming knowledge, they allow the user to build exactly the website they want. These customizations include:

• Custom templates
• Custom functions
• Plugins

Creator

ComicControl was developed by Erin Burt with the help of contributors. To see other projects by Erin, visit her website. Erin can be contacted directly at erinproductions@gmail.com.

Other Contributors

ComicControl was built with the help of contributors:

ComicControl was built with the support of Hiveworks Comics.

Kevin Wilson contributed to the design of ComicControl's administration area and designed its logo.

ComicControl makes use of various MIT-licensed libraries, including jQuery and Hammer.js. It also makes use of Lokesh Dhakar's Lightbox2.