Edit: The results are in! The BD set wins and will be seen in the new WordPress 2.7 interface due out soon.

• JavaScript usage by ComicPress Manager has been greatly improved. Files are now minified (the originals are still there, too) and in-page JS use has been streamlined.
• For those working with 8 bit PNG files: bugs in the way I was using both GD and ImageMagick were producing thumbnail images that were 24 bit, and therefore much too large. Now, feeding CPM an 8 bit PNG produces an 8 bit thumbnail.
• A new menu option, Write -> Comic, gives you a very stripped down comic file uploader.
• You now have the ability to post a comic to multiple categories at once.
• Bugs related to the use of magic quotes and other PHP weirdness have been fixed.

…wait, are you still reading this? Go upgrade right now! You’ll be glad you did!

As of WordPress 2.6, there is built in support for Google Gears. This will store local copies of files used by the admin panel and can greatly speed up management for you. It’s easy to install and available on Windows, OSX and Linux. Just click the “Turbo” link at the top right hand corner of the admin panel and start getting things done more quickly.

The new Wondermark site was a long time coming and I think David has done a really nice job in creating his vision of a feature rich comic site with an attractive style that compliments the comic. I know firsthand, as this is another site I got to assist in developing.

One unique feature of the site is the comic’s custom alt/title properties, as used by some comics sites as a sort of easter egg treat, when you hover the comic image you get an extra little message or gag. This was done with the use of a WordPress custom field, the field is inserted into the img tag on both the site and the RSS feed.

Rather than choosing between above, below or both, David opted for putting the navigation button links beside the comic. Instead of using the WP comment system, there is a link to comment in the forum, along with a social share button (designed to go with the site). Rather than the title linking to the permalink for the current comic, the permalink is just printed below the title. The reason being that the permalink versions of the comic are identical to the index page comic, as in there are no comments and instead the main page blog appears, so you see the current blog from any page in the archive in the center column. The left column uses a separate category to post bulletins. In the right category you will see blog categories, all blog posts still use the blog category, but by using tags, they can all be organized and here you find a list of those tags.

You can search both the site for text, as well as comic dialogue through the use of ohnorobot.com. Also if you click an image in the blog you will notice the Fancy Zoom action, there are other effects like this too, Lightbox and Thickbox to name a couple popular ones. It makes for a slick way to zoom blog images without loading a new page. A lot of these JavaScript effects are adapted to WordPress plugins for ease of setup and use. They can be found at the WordPress plugin repository under images.

I believe that covers most everything, other than one special content display feature that is not being put to use yet, I believe it will debut some time in the new year.

What’s it do? Makes your site faster and uses a lot less CPU resources. Good for shared hosting and good for getting Dugg.

I apologize for not posting about it prior to now, I had only previously posted about WP-Cache. WP Super Cache has WP-Cache built in, but goes to Super Cache mode for the majority of visitors. WP-Cache still requires running PHP (software on your server that runs WordPress), which is necessary for users that have commented or logged in, like you the Administrator (who needs “edit this post” pages), you will get WP-Cached pages. They are pages that have been called up dynamically, but then saved to a static file (like having a regular old HTML file on your server). But the majority of visitors, especially coming off a link like Digg, will get your Super Cache pages. These are also pages that have been written to HTML files on the server, the difference is, these are routed to these pages right at the Apache level, so it’s basically the equivalent of a static site (like your site is just made up of HTML files) aside from when it first creates the cache file. Even with a dedicated server you will notice a speed difference jumping around pages. There is even an option for GZip compression that will speed it up even more to capable browsers as well as cut down on bandwidth.

The plugin is not necessarily an effortless install. It is actively being developed, with constant updates, by the very talented WordPress Contributing Developer, Donncha O Caoimh, who is quite friendly and helpful as well. Mainly your server needs the mod rewrite module, which it has if you are able to use custom permalinks. Also the .htaccess file will need to be edited as well as the wp-content folder writable by the plugin, those permissions will vary depending on your server. I suggest making your .htaccess file totally writable (777) to allow the plugin to edit it, then change it back to what it was. Again, wp-content folder will vary, might just have to play with it, this is where the cache files will be written.

One more thing to be aware of, if you make a new post, the plugin will know and will update pages accordingly, but if you are editing the theme, you are going to need to turn off caching or “delete the cache” (there is a handy link now at the top of the admin panel) to reflect any changes you have uploaded to the theme folder. Also, if you have any PHP running random stuff on the page, like an ad system, it is going to be cached. You will need to look into the hooks that allow a section of the Page to run PHP, or put it in an iFrame (easy solution), or use JavaScript for such things (JavaScript can be good over PHP when possible as it runs on the Web browser’s CPU and not the server).

Now, go get Dugg. Krishna over at PC Weenies will tell you, got a Digg link yesterday with no Super Cache, site was pummeled, today running Super Cache, site is flying and he’s enjoying his best traffic day evuh!

If you’re just getting started, be sure to go check it out.

Also of similar interest, Scott Story of Johnny Saturn has started a Web Wednesday feature on his site that covers setting up and maintaining a comic website. The second installment features a brief ComicPress setup as well as a list of the plugins he uses/recommends.

And for a more in depth guide, and if you haven’t already, go read ComicPress Manager developer, John Bintz’s three-part technical guide:

ComicPress: The Technical Guide (Part 1 of 3)
ComicPress: The Technical Guide (Part 2 of 3)
ComicPress: The Technical Guide (Part 3 of 3)

OK, so 1.1.2 is out and it fixes an issue where I used a function that was introduced in PHP 5.2. Bad John! Bad! Download the new copy when you get the chance.

Additionally, I’ll started a series of posts that go into a good bit of detail on how to use, and bend, WordPress + ComicPress + ComicPress Manager to your will, and it gives you a brief rundown on how to make your site scream.  Go ahead and read the first part of this three part series!

ComicPress Manager 1.1 is out, and there’s a lot of good stuff in here:

• Fixed pathfinding issues that caused comics directories and WordPress roots not to be found
• Much improved support for Yahoo! hosting and Windows/IIS hosting. And by “improved” I mean they work now
• Improved support for Internet Explorer
• Optimized page layout and reduction in JavaScript usage, which means better performance
• Improved granularity of error messages, so you know exactly what’s going wrong

Big huge thanks go out to Phil from Frumph.NET for providing a lot of debug support for Yahoo! and Windows/IIS hosting. Also big thanks to the forum members who have provided error logs, phpinfo() runs, and have stuck with ComicPress Manager through these last couple of versions. And to everyone else: If ComicPress Manager wasn’t working for you before, give it another shot now and let me know if it works or not. Most likely, the bug that was biting you has been squashed.