Webcomic : Infrastructure / Webdesign

I have been trying to design the website for months now. I'll try for a few weeks then realize that I need to consider a lot more than I had originally envisioned. Even with my background its a difficult, time consuming proposition. Lets review...

The website for all intents and purposes will not only be the viewscreen for the comics it will also be the 'store front', the business model and the business software. This means the vehicle, in this case the website, needs to be carefully considered. Needs:

1. Membership
2. Store front & Management
3. Easy secure comic archiving
4. Stats
5. Advertising Management ( Sponsor Management )
6. Mythology Database and Management
7. Email subscription services
8. Store management
9. Business Model Enforcement
10. EZ redesigns
11. 'Email to Friend' Capabilities
12. Low/No bandwidth costs
13. Low hosting costs
14. EZ/Remote content management

* If anyone who reads this has any other things that you might find important please post a comment in the blog! ;)

If any of these are ignored it can present a whole lot of problems later on down the road or at the very least a whole lot ad hoc work when I should be keeping up with the story or updates. So this presents me with the following choices...

1. Create my own webcomic website with all of these functions ( only because I have the knowledge, if one does not have the knowledge then it would either not be an option or you would need someone else to do this )

2. Use an online service ( they automate a lot of functions )

Now creating my own webcomic site, even with my knowledge, is quite an investment in time, plus it means I must also maintin it. This could be cheaper in some ways but more expensive in time. On the other hand it provides me with the ability to completely customize and to create whatever function I would need and completely integrate them with the business plan. Plus I can redesign the site anytime I want. This is a very seductive option for that reason alone.

Using an online service has some checks in the 'Pros' department. For instance ( and in my opinion the best option for an online service ) there's WebcomicsNation. This site has a lot of the major functions that I mention above. It is already being used by over a hundred cartoonists and it comes with some free advertising! However, all of the functions are based on one business model and has limited design options ( as far as I can tell ). So much for flexibility or customization.

The thing is, I have a business plan in mind for the webcomic later on down the road that WebcomicsNation would not be able to accomodate....

So that leads me to the double secret 3rd option... HA!

3. Start with a moderntales account and 'graduate' to my own site.

This option will be good because...

a. It would allow more time and experience to forge a clearer business model and website functions that I would or would not want.

b. It would allow me the time to create and test my own website whilst I am building a fan base

c. I can take advantage of the advertising WebComicsNation provides

d. It provides me other marketing options that would be a large investment in time ( should I create my own website )

e. I could contiue with webcomics as the alpha site should my site go down or something similiar

Mmmm, yes, a ONE MILLIon dollar idea... Muah ha haaa, Muuuuahh Ha Haaaaaaa! ( Try to imagine my pinky pointing at the corner of my mouth )