Comic Genesis Forums

What are your URLs there?
Have you read the <a href="http://gear.keenspace.com">Gear</a> <a href="http://gear.keenspace.com">FAQ?</a><P>------------------
Time will tell. Sooner or later, time will tell - Albert Einstein, Red Alert.
Don't Panic. - Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.
Spam Works(tm) - Overloaded billboard, <A HREF="http://portside.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>PortSide</A>
__|__P /_._
. |/ .. . |/
. / . .. / _
A pic from the first violent video game, Axe.

First law of technical support: the client is always wrong, eh?<P>The fact is that the Keen service is unreliable at best, and we all know it.
The FTP servers only work one out of 3 days, and only for a few hours in that day, and take a kajillion tries to get in to.
Pages hosted on Keen load ever so slowly, if at all, and the same goes for the forums and the rest of the services.
Keen staff never seem to check the forums or the servers themselves to see if (or when)there are any problems. You have to email them and then they take a few days to fix it.
Granted, they're free, and they do have those cool aotukeen features, but if no one can see your comic half the time because you either cant update or the servers are down then it's not really worth the effort now is it?
Also, the free promoting? Forget it, they dont promote anyone that isnt already so big he's in Keenspot.<P>So why am I still here? Too lazy to move, for now. Im gonna run out of patince eventually. There are plenty more free hosting services out there. Some of them actually work.<P>------------------
"Suicide note...suicide note...Damn! Writer's block again!"
Scum Bunny
http://scumbunny.keenspace.com

I've been trying to get my site that was approved 2 weeks ago going, and so far NOTHING is happening. I've edited my dailytemplate.html and indextemplate.html files, made sure they were in the right place, uploaded a comic, double-checked everything, and, as best I can tell, I've followed all directions and all advice given in other threads. I'm under the assumption that the problem is not mine, but rather with the service. If this is the case, I'd be happy if someone would just say so. If there IS something I am doing wrong, I'd really like to know (although this doesn't seem to be the case).<P>I appreciate what Keenspace is doing here, but if I can't <I>use</I> the service I am going to have to look to other venues, and I would like to know something soon so that I can begin moving/rebuilding if I'm going to need to.<P>------------------
<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/nearsightedcomic" TARGET=_blank>Nearsighted - The Comic for People who Can't See Three Feet in Front of Them</A>

I'm in the exact same boat as TremorX. It's quite annoying. I emailed Nate about the problem but he never replied.. it's been at least a week or more. Is there any kind of service in place for problems like this??

Mine is (or rather should be)
<A HREF="http://nearsighted.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>http://nearsighted.keenspace.com</A>

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ScumBunny:
<B>First law of technical support: the client is always wrong, eh?<P>The fact is that the Keen service is unreliable at best, and we all know it.
The FTP servers only work one out of 3 days, and only for a few hours in that day, and take a kajillion tries to get in to.
Pages hosted on Keen load ever so slowly, if at all, and the same goes for the forums and the rest of the services.
Keen staff never seem to check the forums or the servers themselves to see if (or when)there are any problems. You have to email them and then they take a few days to fix it.
Granted, they're free, and they do have those cool aotukeen features, but if no one can see your comic half the time because you either cant update or the servers are down then it's not really worth the effort now is it?
Also, the free promoting? Forget it, they dont promote anyone that isnt already so big he's in Keenspot.<P>So why am I still here? Too lazy to move, for now. Im gonna run out of patince eventually. There are plenty more free hosting services out there. Some of them actually work.
</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>It's wierd, I almost never have the reliability problems with FTP. I get in 80-90% of the time. I think of the Keen staff Teri is the easiest to contact. I e-mailed Chris a long time ago and never got a reply. Still, some of them have their own comics and that's work enough right there. I dunno. I think your best bet for help is in this forum.<P>If you want a real hassle try Toonscape. I tried them before Keenspace and it was a pain. Yeah, they have technical support but I spent a month e-mailing back and forth and they tried to help but their system is so complex.
<P>------------------
Brian E. Young<P>Boy Girl (Jijo no Kurabu): <A HREF="http://www.boygirlcomic.com/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.boygirlcomic.com/</A>
Soul Scream (My Music): <A HREF="http://soulscream.boygirlcomic.com/" TARGET=_blank>http://soulscream.boygirlcomic.com/</A>
Creator of Comicollage: <A HREF="http://comicollage.keenspace.com/" TARGET=_blank>http://comicollage.keenspace.com/</A>

With all due respect, Scott, it does appear you in particular answer to most complaints here with "did you read the tutorial?" or "are you sure you did everything right?".<P>Well, I've been using Keen for quite a while now, and I for one know Im doing everything right. And no, I never do manage to FTP with one try, and yes, my page does take 3 million years to load.
I know Im not the only one with the FTP problem because I hear the same thing from every other Keen user I know, and I know the slow loading isn't solely mine (nor my ISP's) problem because thats a complaint I get form my readers, too.
Still not convinced? Just take a look at the amount of daily complaints that are posted right here in this forum. "I cant update", "my page wont load"...you name it.<P>You dont like my attitude? That's fine. But that doesnt make me wrong.<P>And as for CS, not only do I know of it, but Im familiar with some of the people involved.
The reason Im still in Keen is (aside from the fact that after all the work I put into it I dont feel like starting over somewhere else), that Im still hoping Keen will get over all the technical difficulties and get back to work.
But they dont. I dont know if its getting any worse but it sure as hell isnt getting any better.
<P>------------------
"Suicide note...suicide note...Damn! Writer's block again!"
Scum Bunny
http://scumbunny.keenspace.com

I guess what Im saying is that maybe its time the Keen staff took sime time to go over the system and take the kinks out of it for good. Obviously there is something here that needs fixing, not just in this account or that, but in the system as a whole.
Keen is a great service, and it's a damn shame its crippled by those annoying technical difficulties. <P>------------------
"Suicide note...suicide note...Damn! Writer's block again!"
Scum Bunny
http://scumbunny.keenspace.com

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ScumBunny:
<B>With all due respect, Scott, it does appear you in particular answer to most complaints here with "did you read the tutorial?" or "are you sure you did everything right?".</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>But in quite a lot of cases, that actually works. Many people just don't read the tutorials before they come asking questions like "What's an FTP? Do I have one?"<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>
Well, I've been using Keen for quite a while now, and I for one know Im doing everything right. And no, I never do manage to FTP with one try, and yes, my page does take 3 million years to load.
I know Im not the only one with the FTP problem because I hear the same thing from every other Keen user I know, and I know the slow loading isn't solely mine (nor my ISP's) problem because thats a complaint I get form my readers, too.
Still not convinced? Just take a look at the amount of daily complaints that are posted right here in this forum. "I cant update", "my page wont load"...you name it.
</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Well I've had my account for a few months now, and you know, it worked pretty much perfectly the whole time, except for a brief period when my logs didn't work. I used to be on a different webhost, but my readers complained that it was really slow.<P>As for the daily complaints, a very large batch of new comics was just added last week, which mean there will be a lot of newbies in here looking for help. And yes, this seems to have been a rather buggy update: several people are having serious technical problems with FTP and AutoKeen. But I don't see this as some kind of epidemic, just a bit of a screw-up that was made in the last update.
<P>------------------
Sylvan
<A HREF="http://spork.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>http://spork.keenspace.com</A>

Look, guys, this isnt a personal attack on you people, Nate, Terri or even Keen as a whole.
I admit I was pretty irked when I did the first post here, after having to spend yet another 2 hours trying to FTP my little comic, but still, I stand behind what I said.<P>There *is* a problem here. I dont know if all accounts have it, but enough do. And not just the new ones. I dont know, maybe the seasoned veterans dont bother to post here every time it doesnt work. I know I dont. Its routine, anyway. But the fact is I hear the same complaint from other Keeners I know.
Im not naming names, because I dont want to involve others in this argument without their knowledge, but if you mentioned Comic Soviet, well, those exact kinda complaints are partly the reason they left Keen in the first place, right?<P>There is some problem here. I for one think its time they fixed it once and for all and not just address the issue whenever someone emails them about his account not working yet again.
This is bleeding the fun out of making a comic. And isnt that what we're here for?<P>------------------
"Suicide note...suicide note...Damn! Writer's block again!"
Scum Bunny
http://scumbunny.keenspace.com

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ScumBunny:
<B>First law of technical support: the client is always wrong, eh?<P>The fact is that the Keen service is unreliable at best, and we all know it.
The FTP servers only work one out of 3 days, and only for a few hours in that day, and take a kajillion tries to get in to.
Pages hosted on Keen load ever so slowly, if at all, and the same goes for the forums and the rest of the services.
Keen staff never seem to check the forums or the servers themselves to see if (or when)there are any problems. You have to email them and then they take a few days to fix it.
Granted, they're free, and they do have those cool aotukeen features, but if no one can see your comic half the time because you either cant update or the servers are down then it's not really worth the effort now is it?
Also, the free promoting? Forget it, they dont promote anyone that isnt already so big he's in Keenspot.<P>So why am I still here? Too lazy to move, for now. Im gonna run out of patince eventually. There are plenty more free hosting services out there. Some of them actually work.<P></B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>If this is yor experience then I'd look at your ISP.<P>And don't cop attitude at us here, scumbunny, this is a place where people come to get help from other people. You want to sound off about how crappy KS is, go do it at <A HREF="http://www.comicsoviet.com/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.comicsoviet.com/</A> -- or join them, they're made of of former Keen dissidents.<P>------------------
Scott Maddix
<A HREF="http://pdi.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>Psychic Dyslexia Institute</A>
<A HREF="http://spoon.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>Fire on the Mountain</A>
<A HREF="http://gear.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>GEAR</A>
<A HREF="http://keenvention.keenspace.com/CCA-presentation/" TARGET=_blank>Cartoonists' Choice Awards</A>

i have to agree with scumbunny they service is horrible and i can't go a week without having problems, maybe i will leave, i don't know. if problems like these are so frequent then nobody is going to want to read my comic because of the loading or the updating that doesn't work or something of that matter.

Almost a month, now, and still no update. Despite my topic, I <I>haven't</I> given up completely.<P>I made an index and daily template, threw a comic in the comics directory, and tried updating several times. I simply overwrote the default templates, didn't touch any file structures, followed all of the directions carefully and to-the-letter, and still nothing works.

While I'll admit that I haven't had all the problems you guys have had (although it took a couple months to get my site set up), you're overlooking an obvious solution:<P>Mirror sites.<P>I came to KS as a mirror. I had sooo much trouble with Fortunecity that I needed a backup.<P>Yes, I have the same problems with the pages loading slowly. But I'm guessing the KS servers are getting hammered by the traffic, and KS may not have the resources of Lycos (Tripod) to add servers willy-nilly.<P>It'll cost you a little cash, but get a domain name and point to to KS and a mirror based on what you type (http://www.comic.com, mirror.comic.com) If there's a problem with your www site, you can change the pointer in a minute for your viewer's pleasure.<P>Maintaining two sites is a pain, but I'd rather take 20 minutes to update instead of 5 to ensure my viewers their comic fix.<P>KS has a lot of potential. Their pluses generally outweigh their minuses. But I'm realistic enough to assume maybe they won't be here on day. With a mirror (or two) in place, I won't be totally screwed if they disappear.<P>------------------
<B>Warren</B><P><A HREF="http://sparechange.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>Spare Change</A>
<A HREF="mailto:Warren@Webcomics.zzn.com">Warren@Webcomics.zzn.com</A>

KS has been so bad lately because they are upgrading, folks. When they've got everything worked out, it should be more stable than it was before, but there's gonna be a couple weeks of problems, especially for the newer accounts.<P>------------------
Sylvan
<A HREF="http://spork.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>http://spork.keenspace.com</A>
George W. Bush, Gonad the Barbarian, and a rabbit named Pantagruel. It doesn't get much worse than this, folks.<p>[This message has been edited by Psiogen (edited 07-18-2001).]

I really hate to say things this way, but since your complaints are warranted I suggest trying other services. I come to the help center forum every so often to help but when it becomes a place to discuss ill feelings that becomes hard. Honestly, it makes it hard to go through common problems like "Did you run a manual update?" or "Are you ftping to the right address?" or even "What ftp program are you using?" when you don't know how people will react. 9 times out of 10 it is something simple like that. I know it's out of frustration but it doesn't make things easier on either end. We here trying to help our comrades have no way of knowing the level of experience of every person who visits.<P>Like I said in a previous post I don't really have much experience with a lot of the problems. Perhaps it's because of my location, times I access or ISP but I almost always can access my ftp. Just to test I checked it just now with WS_FTP and got right in and sent a sample file. So then perhaps the new accounts are only affected, as my account is quite old. I haven't tried a manual update in a while so maybe that's broken. Even saying this trying to be helpful I feel that someone will find me offensive in some way. I apologize in advance.
<P>------------------
Brian E. Young<P>Boy Girl (Jijo no Kurabu): <A HREF="http://www.boygirlcomic.com/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.boygirlcomic.com/</A>
Soul Scream (My Music): <A HREF="http://soulscream.boygirlcomic.com/" TARGET=_blank>http://soulscream.boygirlcomic.com/</A>
Creator of Comicollage: <A HREF="http://comicollage.keenspace.com/" TARGET=_blank>http://comicollage.keenspace.com/</A>

Teri posted it on the regular KS list. I agree, they should have told us on the official announcement list. Meh.<P>------------------
Sylvan
<A HREF="http://spork.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>http://spork.keenspace.com</A>
George W. Bush, Gonad the Barbarian, and a rabbit named Pantagruel. It doesn't get much worse than this, folks.