It's been a little longer since the last entry than I had hoped for, but I'm back for some more site updates! A lot of things have been going on in the backend lately, including a server change that should speed things up a bit, and a slightly updated layout! I had quickly grown tired of the duller colors of the original new layout, so I adjusted the color scheme to have more contrast, and I decreased the size of the header a little too so that it's less overpowering.
Also, the three weeks before the new semester started I'd been working on figuring out a new shopping cart script for this site, because previously I had used this other program (Zen Cart) that was kind of ghetto!! It did its job but it was a major pain in the butt to use, and it was lacking a certain level of customization.
Namely how I wanted two stores to share the same product IDs and database and cart, but have different layouts with only certain products appearing in each store. If you ever tried to use the Shop link here, you may have been a little jarred by the fact that it takes you to a separate website with a separate layout and everything--I didn't want that! :O I want Directions of Destiny to be its own site and I wanted visitors have a more streamlined experience when they browse this site.
Long story short, I managed to find Magento, the perfect open-source shopping cart script that does everything I want, and after weeks of burrowing myself deep in code and support forums, I've finally finished the New Alatus Gift Shop!
Annnd the feature item right now is the new Section 2.1 book for only $4! :O! This was something I printed back in the summer to try to promote my comic at the summer conventions, and I've finally gotten around to making it available online. For those of you who were around back then, it is similar to the first mini-book I released back in 2005 for Sections 1.1 and 1.2, but this time it's just one chapter, but with lots of extra content! Notably, I've included a full breakdown of my comic-making process in the book, and there are a few new minicomic strips as well as some sketches and other stuff!
For the time being my store on my personal website is closed, but the cool thing is that when I get around to putting it back up I'll be able to have both that and the Alatus Gift Shop share the same shopping cart and everything ahhh I'm so excited Dx! Anyway, I think that pretty much fully wraps up all the site-maintenance stuff for Directions of Destiny, so from here on out I should be putting up much more comic-related content :D Check back soon!
I love it! It works splendidly and definitely much smoother than the older one :) I’m saving up for the books+bookmark deal :)
And of course, it’s awesome updates—of any kind—are starting again.
Happy Chinese New Year/Valentines Day :) :)
I definitely like this warmer color. It’s easy on the eyes but still interesting. Hm… I’m really considering buying that 2.1 book.
Omg I SO want those bookmarks <3 Tbh, what’s there of part 2.1 is so short it doesn’t interest me by itself, but the extra content does sound intriguing ;) When I can convince mi madre to do the online ordering, I’d love to get this stuff <3
yea, that’s my problem too, I’m not allowed to order online :( :(
Also, am I missing something or have the character blog entries/ updates not been posted yet?
Anyways, hi!:D
You know I’ve been pretty patient with this comic of yours, been reading it for the past 5 or 6 years now and never once before complained when you missed an update or went on long hiatuses, but the 2.1 book can only satisfy for so long. When are you going to start updating again? Or at the very least just change up the vote incentives every now and again. It doesn’t even have to be every week.