User blog:RRabbit42/Releasing to multiple websites

I'm still in the process of building the infrastructure that will allow this wiki and the to have a consistent appearance and figure out exactly how the two comic strips relate to each other. The latter appears to be headed in the direction Bea R. may not have an explanation worked out, so us fans will come up the the theories and explanations.

What I'm learning as I create the pages that show when and where each comic was released is that for Webtoon and Tapas, they aren't just alternatives to GoComics, they have had needed supplements and have had some critical information.

The way it works is this:


 * GoComics is the main site. Comics are usually released there first.
 * Several comics are collected together at a higher resolution than GoComics, rearranged vertically to fit a smartphone screen, and released on Webtoon and Tapas. This is usually a few days or so after the GoComics release, whenever enough can be grouped together.
 * It started off with the same number of comics grouped together for both of them, so they were synced together.
 * In September 2017, the Webtoon releases became more frequent, such as two comics together or a per day release. Tapas stayed with larger groups.

This led to a very interesting situation that had two effects. In May 2018, the "Blackout" arc began on Webtoon. Bea used the additional space to enhance the mood by adding a black background when the power goes out.

Right after that, Mr. H announced there had been a family emergency that required delaying when Webtoon and Tapas would be updated. GoComics wasn't affected. They came back, got Tapas updated with one more comic than what was on Webtoon, and added extra effects around one character. A few days later, two more releases for Tapas.

However, if you read the story on GoComics or Tapas, then look at it on Webtoon, you'll see a big jump because five comics are missing. They just didn't get it added in.

It used to be you could pick Webtoon or Tapas and it didn't matter. In this case, it does. The "Blackout" story arc is not complete on Webtoon. The best way to experience it is to read it on Tapas. You get the complete story and the additional mood-setting darkness while the power's out that isn't on GoComics or in the book "She's Sed," He Said.

Tapas stopped being updated in May 2021 after the "On thin ice" storyline from January. The Sunday comics released separately on Tapas stopped with "Lost in Translation" in November 2019.

In one way, that makes creating the "when and where the comics were released" pages simpler. Once I get caught up to the beginning of 2021, I don't have to worry about it. I'm about to do updates for a couple of story arcs where the releases are not synced and look more like Tetris. "Okay, Webtoon has 7 comics but Tapas has five. The last two from GoComics were added to the next one on Tapas, but that has three more, so it overlaps with the next five on Webtoon."

I had to create a spreadsheet to keep track of it all. I can only imagine it was even more difficult for Bea R. and Mr. H because they were doing this in addition to actually making the comics.

When the first book was announced, Mr. H teased that there was one comic left out. He wouldn't say what it was, but about four years later, he did say which one it was and that it went into the second book.

But with that spreadsheet, I was able to see that they had missed another comic. So instead of leaving one comic out, they left out two. That other one hasn't been in any of the three books so far. Will it show up in book #4 when that's published somewhere around the end of this year? We'll see.

So, yeah. The infrastructure-building for the wiki is a lot of tedious work, but it will help everyone who loves this comic get the most out of it. The "Kitten Me" wiki will also benefit by what I do here.

Now that I think about it, a better analogy is the human body. What was here before now is a bit like skin and hair: external details and information that give a picture of what this comic is about. I've been working on the skeleton and muscles, creating a standard format for tracking how each comic was released and templates connecting them together. These will lead to standard formats for describing the events of a story arc and an overhaul of what we know about the characters.

After a bit more (well, a lot more) work and getting the URL for this wiki fixed, I'll announce it on GoComics and Webtoon. Hopefully, that will bring in new people. If it doesn't, I'm okay with that. I'm a firm believer in working on things because you find them enjoyable. If you're doing it because it's what other people want you to do or expect that you'll do it, you won't enjoy it as much.