If you’re reading this on claritycomic.com, you’ve already seen that I just finished up a redesign of the entire site — phase 1 of a multi-phase revamping of the online presence of “A Moment of Clarity.”

The original design was not built at all for hosting a Webcomic.  The header was much too large, and forced readers to scroll down very far to read through a sequential series of comics.  The right-hand nav (which really should have been left-hand nav to better accommodate the way people naturaly scan a page) was cluttered.  The color scheme was bad.  But, what can I say, it was a quick’n'dirty conversion from an old custom PHP site to ComicPress.

Now, I’ve taken the time to properly redesign the site, incorporating the following design goals in this prioritized order (told you The Prioritizer would be soon used again!):

1. Show the Comic Title
2. Show the Comic Itself
3. Show ComicPress Manager
4. Show the Production Blog
5. Highlight & make easily accessible Convention Appearances
6. Describe the Characters (in progress)
7. Highlight the Online Store
8. Give information about the author (in progress)
9. Give links to other sites

This new design, based upon ComicPress 2.5, incorporates a large number of design, structural, and informational changes. There’s still a lot of information, graphical elements, and sections that I want to add, but that’s the great thing about the Web — I can do that whenever I feel like doing it. 

Additionally, a new feature, the Events Calendar, is in the left sidebar.  Instead of the unwieldy Conventions & Signings page, I’ve decided instead to publish an iCal-compatible calendar through WordPress.  That way, you can not only see the events here, but you can subscribe to the calendar in Google Calendar, iCal, Lightning, or KOrganizer.

If you have comments on the design or the new features, feel free to leave them below.

Do you host a Webcomic using the ComicPress theme for WordPress? Do you find it tedious to open your FTP client, transfer files, log in to WordPress, create a post for the comic, put in the wrong date, forget to make a post for that one comic you uploaded, and so on and so on?

Or, are you looking for a complete self-hosted Webcomic solution that makes sense? That takes advantage of a simple thing like the name of a file to drive creating new posts on your site? A solution that is built by, and for, Webcomic authors?

Then you need to combine your ComicPress installation with the ComicPress Manager plugin. This plugin for WordPress 2.5 (and potentially older versions, but that’s untested) will make managing your ComicPress-based Webcomic a piece of cake. In a nutshell, it will handle all of the file transfers for you, will create stub posts for comics that you’ve uploaded, and will check your ComicPress installation to make sure everything’s working as it should. It integrates tightly with the WordPress administrative tools to provide a seamless, simple, and sensible way to run your comic.

This initial release, version 0.5, has only been tested on a handful of ComicPress setups, so there will probably be bugs. If you’re adventurous, take it for a spin, and post your comments, suggestions, and bug reports here or on the Lunchbox Funnies ComicPress Support Forum.

Hey, check this — I’ve sold out of my first print run of “The Big Boss on Level 10!” For this second print run, I plan in redoing the cover and a bunch of the interior material. I want to make it look 1000 times tighter. It will also have an ISBN number attached to it, which will make it possible for the book to be carried at Barnes & Noble and Borders.

While I’m in the process of doing this, please don’t forget that you can order “The Big Boss on Level 10″ from Lulu.com. If everything goes smoothly, I should have shiny new books available sometime in late June, right before my convention season starts up.

Matt Dembicki from the artdc forums passed this along — my representative in the House of Representatives just made a statement about supporting the use of comics in promoting reading and literacy, with a special focus on Free Comic Book Day as an easy way of getting kids interested in comics. Yeah!

I said I would try to do some artwork in reference to Matt’s threat on Page 18, and here it is. This is the first “A Moment of Clarity” wallpaper, “Johnny Blabbed.” I’ve only made one size so far, 1280×854. If you want another size, let me know and I’ll render one and post it here!

Over a cup of delicious coffee, I just finish plotting out how many pages there will be in the next graphic novel “Candynomics,” and it’s a staggering 243 pages, not including chapter covers and other interior material.  That means that, for the purposes of getting this book out there, I will be splitting it up into two pieces, Parts 1 (Chapters 1-4) and 2 (Chapters 5-8).  This also means that I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me…