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Keenspace Newbieguide
So you've just signed up for webspace for you comic. It's cool. It's neat. It's...taking five weeks to get your account, and your inbox just exploded. Welcome to keenspace. =]
There are a few questions every newbie asks, and I'll do me best to answer them. I won't get too technical, but at the same time I won't be patronizing (this is a keyboard. woooooo).
Before you get a keenspace account
For the love of asparagus, make sure the mail list is in digest mode. It's not uncommon to get 70 emails a day if you don't.
Getting a keenspace account takes time. That's just the way it works. New accounts are done in huge batches every few weeks or so. Just sit back and be patient. DO NOT sit there and do nothing during this time. Start drawing comics and learning HTML now, so when you get your account, you can stick four or five comics up right away and have a spiffy main page.
Also, it would be a good idea to find an FTP program and install it. WS_FTP LE is freeware and can be downloaded here. Do not trust the keenspace FTP tutorial - it generally doesn't work.
Reading through the Keenspace FAQ at the Dark Pages would also be a good idea. Click here to do so. (5 pages long)
Reading the HTML primer at the Dark Pages would also be a good idea. Click here to do so. (16 pages long)
Reading up on keenspace tags is essential. Click here to read Keenspace's Tag Tutorial.
Also, just flip through the Dark Pages. See what's there. Scan a few drawing tutorials. Click here to go to the Dark Pages.
Design some spiffy first/previous/next/last buttons. If you aren't sure how, copy some of mine and tweak them.
first_day
previous_day
next_day
last_day
When you get a keenspace account
Redesign the main page. If you're not sure what to do, use this as a basis:
<html>
<head>
<title>Put the title of your comic here</title>
</head>
<body>
***advertisement***<br>
***short_month*** ***day_of_the_month***, ***the_year***<br>
***first_day*** ***previous_day*** ***next_day*** ***last_day***<br>
***todays_comics***
</body>
</html>
It will look like this when it's on the website:
[ad banner]
Jan 2, 2002
[first] [prev] [next] [last]
[comic]
Those things with *** around them are keenspace tags. You can stick them wherever you like, just be sure to put the ad at the top. For example: anywhere you put ***the_year*** , '2002' will appear on the page when it's on the website. It's ok to put it in more than one place. It's also ok to leave it out. It's also okay to put it inside of an HTML tag. Please note that NOTHING CHANGES until after you use FTP to get the changes to the server, and the server updates itself. The server will update itself automatically once a day. You can force a server update by going here and clicking on 'Site Maintenance'.
A complete list of keenspace tags can be found here.
FTPing into your site
When you FTP into your site, there will be two directories there: "public_html" and "workspace". The public_html folder IS your website. Anything modified there will instantly be visible to the outside world. It is possible to upload stuff anywhere there and to create subfolders. Don't mess around in here unless you know what you're doing.
The "workspace" folder is where you're going to do all of your work. When the server updates itself, changes you make here will be applied to the main site. No changes to your site will occur until the server updates itself (this happens once a day). You can force a change by going to 'site maintenance' here.
Inside the "workspace" folder, there are four other folders. "images", "webpages", "data", and "comics".
The "comics" folder is the one that you'll be uploading your comics to. Please note that a 'comic' can be anything. Jpg image, gif image, text file, anything. Anything inside this folder will automatically be uploaded to keenspace on a certain date. The date that it will be loaded is determined by the name of the thing. Write the year first, then the month, then the day. If the month or day is a single digit, pad it with a zero.
Example: Jan 15, 2002 would be 20020115 (2002 01 15).
Example: Feb 2, 2002 would be 20020202 (2002 02 02).
As long as the number is in the file name, it will update on that day. Also, any comics previous to that day will also be uploaded. Be sure to NOT upload something to the "workspace/comics" folder unless it has a valid date number.
Example: "20020202.png" will update on Feb 2, 2002.
Example: "comic20020315.jpg" will update on March 15, 2002.
Example: "20020202a.png" and "20020202b.gif" will BOTH update on Feb 2, 2002. They will be in alphabetical order.
Example: "20020202.txt" would update on Feb 2, 2002.
Example: "20020202a.html", "20020202b.gif", and "20020202c.html" would all update on Feb 2, 2002.
Note: when you upload html files to the "comics" folder, leave out the <html>, <head>, <title>, and <body> tags.
Note: what you're supposed to do is to draw comics in advance, and then upload lots of them on the server. The server automatically updates itself, so you can sit there and leave it alone for a few weeks.
If you want to change how your webpage looks, what you're going to change are the files "indextemplate.html" and "dailytemplate.html", in the workspace folder. Use keenspace tags when you make them. The indextemplate file is the one people will see when they first visit the site. The dailytemplate file will be for everything in the archives. Example: yesterday's comic. If you're confused, just make both of them the same.
Note: any links to your own site in dailytemplate.html should have "../" in front of them. Example: if you want to link to page "myart.html", you would write <a href="../myart.html">blah blah</a>.
If you want to have custom first day/next day/etc. buttons, upload graphics to the "images" folder inside the workspace folder. They should have the following names: "last_day", "next_day", "previous_day", and "first_day". Example: if you used gif images, they would be named last_day.gif, next_day.gif, previous_day.gif, and first_day.gif.
The "webpages" folder is where you should place webpages you want to be on the site. Example: a 'links' page.
The "images" folder is where you should place images you want on your site that aren't comics. Example: a logo. In your web pages, access them using "images/imagename". Example: <img src="images/logo.gif">. If you want to access the images on your comics pages, use "../images/imagename". Example: if you want to use a logo in your indextemplate page, use <img src="../images/logoname.gif">
Ignore the "data" folder unless you're working with dropdown storylines or something.
[under construction]