How to Categorize your Comic Posts with Collections, Chapters, and Series
In the last tutorial, we looked at how you can categorized your comic archive by Tags, Locations and Characters. Another great way to help your readers easily navigate through your comic archive is by categorizing your posts using Collections, Chapters, and Series. These options in Toocheke not only simplify managing your comic posts but also ensure your audience can easily follow your storylines. Let’s dive into how to set these up.
Key Terms Explained:
Collection
In Toocheke, a collection is a group of comics that share the same theme or topics. For example, you can have collections that are centered around “family”, “pets”, “sports” and so on. With Toocheke, the comic navigation is restricted within each collection. In other words, when clicking through the first, last, previous and next buttons, the reader will not access any comic post that is not within the collection.
Chapter
If your comic follows a book-like structure by being segmented into chapters, then you should use Toocheke’s Chapter feature to group comics together accordingly. Unlike collections, there are no navigation restrictions within chapters, so you can move freely between comics in different chapters.
Series
If you are looking to host several comic titles on your website, then you should definitely consider using Toocheke’s Series feature. For example, say you were publishing Superman, Spiderman and Batman on your website, you would create a series for each of title. Navigation within a series is restricted, meaning if you’re reading the Superman series, the navigation buttons won’t take you to the Batman series.
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ADDING A COLLECTION TO A COMIC
There are two ways you can add comic collections:
Option 1
- Go to Toocheke → Comic Collections.
- Enter the name of the collection in the Name field.
- You can disregard the slug (which will be autogenerated).
- You can disregard the Parent Collection field.
- Enter a short description of the collection in the Description field. This will be used on the collection’s archive page.
- Add an image for the collection by clicking on the Add Image field. This will be used on both the collection’s archive page as well as the “Collections” landing page which will have all the collections listed.
- Enter a number in the Order field that will be used for ordering the on the “Collections” landing page.
- Click on the Add New Collection button.
- Go to Toocheke → All Comics menu and locate a comic you would like to edit and click on the comic’s title
- Locate the Collections box in the right sidebar. You should see the collection you just added listed in the box. Select the checkbox next to it.
- Click on the Update button for the comic post.
Option 2
- Go to the Toocheke → All Comics menu and locate a comic you would like to edit and click on the comic’s title
- Locate the Collections box in the right sidebar, and click on the Add New Collection link.
- Type in the name of the collection in the empty field that is displayed.
- Click on the Add New Collection button
- Click on the Update button for the comic post.
NOTE: With the Option 2, it is recommended that you also add in the description and the image for the collection from the Toocheke → Comic Collection menu. These fields will be used in the collection’s archive page as well as the “Collections” landing page.
The new collection will now show up in the “Collections” landing page as well as the home page (depending on the homepage layout you have selected). You will also notice that the comic navigation is restricted to the collection.
ADDING A CHAPTER TO A COMIC
There are two ways you can add comic chapters:
Option 1
- Go to Toocheke → Comic Chapters.
- Enter the name of the chapter in the Name field.
- You can disregard the slug (which will be autogenerated).
- You can disregard the Parent Chapter field
- Enter a short description of the chapter in the Description field. This will be used on the chapter’s archive page.
- Add an image for the chapter by clicking on the Add Image field. This will be used on both the chapter’s archive page as well as the “Chapters” landing page which will have all the chapters listed.
- Enter a number in the Order field that will be used for ordering the on the “Chapters” landing page.
- Click on the Add New Chapter button.
- Go to Toocheke → All Comics menu and locate a comic you would like to edit and click on the comic’s title
- Locate the Chapters box in the right sidebar. You should see the chapter you just added listed in the box. Select the checkbox next to it.
- Click on the Update button for the comic post.
Option 2
- Go to the Toocheke → All Comics menu and locate a comic you would like to edit and click on the comic’s title
- Locate the Chapters box in the right sidebar, and click on the Add New Chapter link.
- Type in the name of the chapter in the empty field that is displayed.
- Click on the Add New Chapter button
- Click on the Update button for the comic post.
NOTE: With the Option 2, it is recommended that you also add in the description and the image for the chapter from the Toocheke → Comic Chapters menu. These fields will be used in the chapter’s archive page as well as the “Chapters” landing page.
The new chapter will now show up in the “Chapters” landing page as well as the home page (depending on the homepage layout you have selected)
ASSIGNING A COMIC TO A SERIES
To add a series to a comic, go through the following steps:
Add Series Genre (Optional)
If you’re planning to build a large catalog of comic titles or manage a comic collective on your website that curates work from various creators, categorizing your series by genres can enhance the browsing experience for your readers. Genres such as superhero, slice-of-life, fantasy, gag-a-day, and more can help your audience easily find what they’re interested in. Follow these steps to add a genre to your website:
- Go to Toocheke → Series Genre menu.
- Enter the name of the genre in the Name field.
- You can disregard the slug (which will be autogenerated).
- You can disregard the Parent Genre field
- You can disregard the Description field.
- Add an image for the series by clicking on the Add Image field. This will be used on the “Genre’s” landing page which will have all the genres listed.
Add the Series
- Go to Toocheke → Add New Series menu.
- Enter the title of the series in the Add title field.
- Enter a short description of the series in the rich text editor below the Add title field. This will be used in the home page (if your homepage layout supports it) and the series archive page.
- In the right sidebar:
- Series Sidebar Content – use this field to enter any custom content that you wish to appear in sidebar for the series’ landing page. This content will override the global sidebar content that is added from the Appearance → Widgets → Right Sidebar widget area
- Series Hero Image (Desktop) – upload an image that will be displayed on desktop devices in the hero section for the series’ landing page as well as the comic page (if the layout supports it).
- Series Hero Image (Mobile) – upload an image that will be displayed on mobile devices in the hero section for the series’ landing page as well as the comic page (if the layout supports it).
- Series Background Color – choose the color that will be used for the background of the series’ landing page as well as the comic page.
- Series Thumbnail – upload an image (ideally 250px by 250px) that will be used on any page that displays a list of your series.
- Genres – select the appropriated genres that this series belongs to.
Set the series for the comic
- Go to Toocheke → All Comics menu and locate a comic you would like to edit and click on the comic’s title
- Locate the Series box in the right sidebar. You should see the series you just added listed in the dropdown menu. Select the series.
- Click on the Update button for the comic post.
The new series should now be listed on the home page (if the layout supports it) and the series archive page. As you navigate through the comics in the series, the navigation will be restricted to only the comics in the series.
Awesome job! You now know how to organize your comics like a pro!
Happy Tooning!