Help Test a Top List Script at Comixpedia

Earlier on the forums I’ve commented on how we might try to use a “top list” script to generate webcomics recommendations from the larger pool of Comixpedia readers. That’s still a high priority for me for this summer – to essentially modify a script and better integrate it with a site such as Comixpedia.

Well one of those steps got a little easier as someone has ported the Aardvark Topsites script to Postpn (which powers Comixpedia). I’ve installed the top list script at Comixpedia and welcome any and all to play with it. I can’t promise that if you register your webcomic on the list now that your “account” will stay intact as I work on modifying the script, but I certainly will try to avoid that. (At some point over the weekend you should also be able to use http://topsites.comixpedia.com to get to it).

In any event, please consider this a Comixpedia Labs type project – we’re not even in beta yet.

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Xaviar Xerexes

Wandering webcomic ronin. Created Comixpedia (2002-2005) and ComixTalk (2006-2012; 2016-?). Made a lot of unfinished comics and novels.

17 Comments

  1. I’d like to help you, but I dont see anything that let’s you add comics.

    And are you doing this just as a regular toplist? Cuz that’s just boring.

  2. To be more clear: They measure nothing but fanboy and fangirl obsessiveness. They indicate nothing about the quality of the comics themselves.

  3. WillieG – weren’t you traveling and drinking today? (I thought I saw something like that on your blog).

    I’ve been having conversations with people – some of it on the linked forum thread – some through emails about how to craft a recommendation system that is more useful to finding interesting comics than the “let’s vote a lot” kind of system a typical top list does.

    This however is just a basic top list that I put up so people could bang on it and tell me if it works or not. I’m planning on modifying it over the next couple of months to be the front end of a webcomics directory. Some of my current ideas include: (1) more tightly integrating the account on the list with a readers general Comixpedia account; (2) weighting registered Comixpedia readers’ opinion more heavily; (3) limiting voting to a longer period – like a week or more; (4) thinking about whether to incorporate a way to “rate” each comic; (5) categories; (6) integrating reviews with this project. I’m pretty interested in people’s specific ideas about what their ideal directory/recommendation system would be right now.

  4. I don’t disagree at all.

    But I do think there has to be a way to allow the huge mass of Comixpedia readers to generate some recommendations on webcomics in an automated way. It has to be relatively easy to do – whether that’s voting or some combination of voting plus rating I’m not entirely convinced of – and it has to have a formulation for outputting a list that extracts something interesting but is still automated. That’s what I’m going to be working on.

  5. If you’re logged into your Comixpedia account you should be able to click the “join” button on the top list page to add a comic.

  6. Works just fine to join. But I can’t see my site on the toplist yet, which is weird, cuz it’s not really crowded. Ohwell. Pretty sure things will turn out alright. 😉

  7. Ah – I’ve got it set to require me to approve it first. Let me do that now.

  8. I see no button when I’m on that page. Help?

  9. Okay, I put up the code and the little image was up for a while. Now there’s only a little “vote” link. I guess this is the labs part of this? Thanks. 🙂

  10. …in firefox. There is one, however, in IE.

  11. For now it’s just a top list script. Not much different than the others like buzz, TWC, etc. Lots of work for me to do over the next couple of months.

  12. I did take a trip to Busan today. Nice port city, reminds me of home. I can get there and back within five hours by taking the bullet train here in Korea. Took a lot of pictures. I’ll be posting them up on my blog sometime soonish.

    Anyway, I mentioned this elsewhere, but I think the system should be like this:

    Allowing each user to put their comic up with a, maybe a description, and a banner much like what you have now. But instead of the regular top list “Clicky clicky, fan fan” thing, you should just have a “Rate this!” field that will average out the various ratings given to get a general view of the work. Then the comics would be listed by ratings. I’ve seen a few sites use this system.. like, um… that Flash site who’s name I cant remember now cuz I got four hours of sleep today.

    Now every system has a weakness, and this no doubt has it too, but I see it as being the closest thing to having it be an actual peer evaluation… which I think is far more important to the health of the webcomics world at this stage in it’s evolution than the rampant fanboyism that has gone on before.

  13. The button is not there for me.

    My rage!

    RAAARRRRRRR! Bill smash!

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