Jan 17th 2008 08:04 am I’ve already warned you about this.

This site is a prototype. It will change rapidly. I do welcome questions and comments, but please withhold final judgement for a few more days. Much of the week has been devoted simply to making this page visible.

One thing I’ve noticed looking at other blogs is that bloggers spend a lot of time talking about blogs and blogging. I hope we’ll get past that very soon, but I’m afraid for now it’s inevitable. I have learned that some of you out there know a lot more about WordPress than I’ll ever know and that some of you are completely new to the subject. I’ll try to answer some of the more common questions and point out new things I’m learning.

First, there is now a permanent link to “today’s A&J” at the United Media Web site. This is the same place I’ve been sending you for years to see the comic running in today’s newspaper. However, I haven’t yet managed to get the UM site to open in a separate window, so you’ll have to hit your “back” button to get back to arloandjanis.com. Don’t go wandering off reading other comics, you hear?

Yes, there will be old comics on this page. Just maybe not for a few more days. I’m looking for the best way to present them; it isn’t as simple as you might think–not to me, anyway. We probably will go to a format of one old cartoon a day, something you may remember I tried once before, but I weakened and resumed posting several a day, because I’m a sucker for your sad, pleading eyes. I hope the new system will be pre-loaded and automated, so it won’t matter how sad and pleading your eyes are.

The good news is, the site will update automatically, without my intervention. You can come here and see new cartoons and exchange comments with other viewers even if I’m off rock climbing. I might even install a laugh track.

No, I don’t intend to slack off on my original posts. I’ll continue with my customary diligence and regularity. (insert laugh track)

You may have noticed that I’ve already figured out how to respond to specific posters with comments of my own. (Everyone out there under 25 is rolling their eyes and thinking, “Duh!!”) I will do this when warranted or when I feel like it, but don’t get your feelings hurt if I don’t rise to whatever bait you cast, because I just can’t let this thing take over my life entirely.

While we’re on the subject, remember all comments are “moderated.” That means I read them before manually posting them. I’ve been living at this computer for several days, so there hasn’t been much lag, but the time is coming when you might post a comment that won’t show up for hours. It might never show up if I fall off that rock. (insert laugh track)

I guess that’s about it for now. I know I should have done all this preparatory work beforehand, meticulously learning the intricacies of WordPress, crafting a beautiful, bug-free site and posting it with great fanfare. But that would never have happened. Instead, I’ve told you in writing what I intend to do, so you can come back in the future and say, “Hey, what happened to that automated upload idea?” Only, please, give me a few more weeks.

Posted by jimmyjohnson / The Daily Grind

50 Responses to “I’ve already warned you about this.”

  1. Jan on 17 Jan 2008 at 8:22 am #

    Hey, I say great job and good luck with the rest of set-up. I actually think it’s fun to be in on the work in progress. As most of us over 50 will attest (and, truth be told, many younger than that), if we waited for major undertakings to be completely good to go before unveiling them, we’d seldom get anything unveiled.

  2. Hollis on 17 Jan 2008 at 9:33 am #

    I’m sure everything will work out great. I know that I’ve enjoyed your website for quite some time now (at least my first email to you was in mid 2005). Moderation of the comments will be something I think you’ll come to hate. While I like to think that the average A&J reader is better than the average internet user, you are going to get a lot of crap. Just ignore them. I can pretty much guarantee that I’ll never read the comments others make, there is too much else in life. Our local news website allows commenting on stories and it’s the most ridiculous thing in the world. I’m embarrassed that I live near people like that. :) So, keep up the good work. I’m here to read stuff from you and I’m glad you are still keeping with it.

  3. Jim Fulton on 17 Jan 2008 at 9:47 am #

    It looks good! Automate as much as possible and sift through the comments when you feel it. Although I, like everyone else, like to see responses immediately, daily maintenance of anything rapidly becomes a PITA. Go sailing.

  4. Geoff Clarke on 17 Jan 2008 at 10:05 am #

    I just want to say thank you again for the effort you are putting into this. Its kind of like going to my aunt’s for supper and finding out that not only did she make lasagna but she also made cheese cake for dessert!

    This website/blog is the dessert to the regular comic, thanks!

    Thank you! However, I make much better lasagna than I do cheesecake. — jj

  5. Don from Broken Arrow on 17 Jan 2008 at 10:08 am #

    Well, now it is time to question you about when you are getting a new sailboat. It has been a long time since you donated your last sailboat to the museum. Or does this mean that Arlo will stop dreaming about sailboats as well? It seems that sailing is moving up on my priiority list lately so I am looking forward to more sailboat cartoons as well as updates on your sailing adventures.

    I know how it is to keep a site up. Your site is coming along great, keep up the good work.

  6. Peter B. Steiger on 17 Jan 2008 at 10:16 am #

    If you really get your geek on, you can write a script that responds to specific keywords to make it sound like you’re writing a personal reply even when you’re walkabout, like the old ELIZA program for those old enough to remember it. Back in the day I ran a BBS in Houston and installed such a chat program for kids who wanted to talk to the sysop while I was busy – it would recognize key phrases like “How are you” and “What are you doing” and “How do I…?” and churn out an appropriate response – complete with typos, backspacing, and simulated hunt-and-peck slow typing.

    — pbs, a washed-up techno-dinosaur at 44

  7. sarah in oregon on 17 Jan 2008 at 10:26 am #

    Speaking of age, Richard Knerr, the guy who started the Wham-O company passed on at the age of 82. For people my age, it conjures up memories of the Hula Hoop, Silly Putty (which you can still use to copy a Sunday paper comic to), and the Frisbee.

    This year is the 60th anniversary of the Wham-O company.

    I doubt if my sense of humor would be what it is today without the Hula Hoop.

  8. Dan McD on 17 Jan 2008 at 10:34 am #

    WordPress! Archives! RSS! It’s Arlo and Janis being dragged kicking and screaming into the modern age! AGAIN!

    I love it! Take your time, tinker with it, and have fun. We’ll be patient out here in the peanut gallery.

    Peace,
    -McD

    ps. Hey pbs, how do we know YOU’RE not a clever script?

  9. Catshoes on 17 Jan 2008 at 10:44 am #

    My fears have been realized! I had been, over the last 6 months or so, back-tracking through the old site (yes, going backwards) and reading old posts and of course, above all, enjoying all the old cartoons. I think I was at January 2005 or 2004 (that info is at home and I am now at work, supposedly). I had hoped that all those old links would still work and that one day I would end up at the beginning but, alas, it is no longer possible. All the old links lead to this one. Is there any chance that all those old posts will some day be transfered over to this blog?

  10. Bob on 17 Jan 2008 at 12:03 pm #

    I’ve found that the more I learn about the net or certain tasks in particular, there’s a thousand more things I need to know about what I just learned.

    By the time I’m comfortable with something and have it down, they’ve up and changed things on me so I need to learn more. That’s a lot to ask an aging dyslexic.

  11. Jim F on 17 Jan 2008 at 12:29 pm #

    Personally, I’m grateful for whatever morsels (lasagna or cheesecake) you throw us. Ditto the thanks.

  12. Ken on 17 Jan 2008 at 12:33 pm #

    Yaay! The new site is up an running! Can’t wait for more!

  13. Kim from Scappoose, Oregon on 17 Jan 2008 at 12:45 pm #

    About today’s cartoon: Have you been peeking in the portholes of my boat again? My captain doesn’t want to admit to needing reading glasses, so he keeps stealing mine. Sometimes you hit so close to home it is unnerving. Good job.

    BTW, I agree with Don from Broken Arrow, when are you getting another sailboat? Or have my tales of refurbishing our scared you off?

  14. Jim F on 17 Jan 2008 at 2:06 pm #

    Wasn’t it Travis McGee whose definition of a boat was “a hole in the water into which one throws money”?

  15. Danny Dennis on 17 Jan 2008 at 2:26 pm #

    Rock climbing???? Does that mean Miss M has taken you to our rock road out in the country and loaded up rocks for the yard? If so, tell her not to get all of them cause I still occassionaly go and get some myself.
    Take Care,
    Danny

  16. Laurie B. from FL on 17 Jan 2008 at 2:52 pm #

    I’ve missed you – welcome back!

  17. Kim from Scappoose, Oregon on 17 Jan 2008 at 3:05 pm #

    Well, you know what boat stands for don’t you? Break Out Another Thousand. Though there is that pleasure, at the end of the day, of looking at gleaming bright work, shining bronze and a purring engine and knowing that your efforts and elbow grease caused it.

  18. Shari on 17 Jan 2008 at 4:31 pm #

    Great Job, Booby! No, I meant Jimmy, really. I’ve been missing the daily update. It will take sometime to get used to this, but then doesn’t anything new. I don’t know much about bloggin either, I started one a couple of years ago and posted once and there it sits. I get hits on it from time to time and I laugh, hahahahaha. So, how about them Packers, eh? Can’t wait to see the daily old cartoon again.. Good Luck, Shari

  19. Scott Carpenter on 17 Jan 2008 at 4:37 pm #

    Hi, Jimmy. The site looks great! I’m happy to have an RSS feed to follow now.

    Have fun playing around with WordPress and don’t worry about if everything is perfect right away. I think most of us are just thrilled to have a comments section and the RSS.

    A comment about moderation: You might want to consider the option that only moderates first-time commenters. Once you approve a comment from a particular email address, that person can bypass moderation on future discussion. You can always try it and decide against it later if people abuse it. This is a built-in feature, at least in the 2.0.x version that I’m using.

    And a recommendation. You’ll soon start being innundated with spam. I hope you’re using Akismet, which is great, but you still need to wade through the garbage if you want to look for wrongly accused posts from your readers.

    I’ve had great luck with the math comment plugin, which asks a simple math question like “What is the sum of 2 + 2?” It’s not bullet-proof, but it has almost eliminated spam on my blog.

  20. steve from royal oak on 17 Jan 2008 at 4:44 pm #

    Wow it is like having an instant community overnight. How about inviting all of us over to your house for Lasagna. I am married to an Italian and have a great recipe myself LOL.

    Moderating a website sounds too much like work. Hope that this works out so that all of us who appreciate good and sometimes twisted humor can talk with each other.

    I have worn glasses since I was a teenager and in the last 10 years I have had to take them off to read. I now read with bifogals, but have to take them off to see the computer. My wife lost a pair of glasses a few years ago and I was upset, but now that I have to take them off, I am always misplacing them AARP is not fun.

  21. Kerry!!! in Lake City Fl on 17 Jan 2008 at 4:53 pm #

    A quote that may be very close to home for you right now with the new site. It is one of my favorites.
    “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas Edison

  22. Ken from Framingham on 17 Jan 2008 at 5:10 pm #

    Breaker, breaker… got your ears on?

  23. Richard on 17 Jan 2008 at 7:16 pm #

    I’m very glad to see you back and posting again. I have been following arloandjanis.com for a while now (long time reader first time poster?) and was beginning to wonder if health or other setbacks were keeping you away. How is the ticker by the way?

    I’m an IT pro in Canada and firmly believe in proceeding even when you know where the next improvement should be. Ofter you end up improving 8 other things before the one you identified.

    As Guy Kawasaki would say – “don’t worry, be crappy” – http://youtube.com/watch?v=14xsLMoZ0s4

    Please keep writing and posting,
    Richard

  24. denniS on 17 Jan 2008 at 9:07 pm #

    suggestion – have the today’s a&j link open in a new window so that going to the strip doesn’t take us away. from your site. don’t post this.

  25. Tom on 17 Jan 2008 at 11:06 pm #

    No Jimmy, I’m not going to go off an look at other comics.

    I always save the best for last.

    PS….note at the bottom of this box says.

    Comments for this post will be closed on 16 January 2009.

    But it’s already the 17th!

    Think you need to tweak something somewhere.

  26. Kim in California on 17 Jan 2008 at 11:29 pm #

    This could be lots of fun! I’m glad you’re back, I was beginning to miss you. I look forward to whatever you end up doing. Truth be told, I don’t get half the computer lingo going on in this thread, so you are way ahead of me. I’m just gonna go along for the ride and enjoy the view.

  27. Ed Beck on 18 Jan 2008 at 12:02 am #

    With respect to moderation, make plans and budget to offload this task. You bring the A&J strip to the table, your time is much too valualble to spend it moderaing posts.

  28. Walter E. Wallis on 18 Jan 2008 at 3:59 am #

    Odd that my two favorite sites are by JJs – Here and Joanne Jacob’s education blog.
    Are you drawing differently? Or is it me? At any rate, please pace yourself; and I would still like to know if your Ex will write your bio.

  29. Jean from Dahlonega GA on 18 Jan 2008 at 5:17 am #

    Who am I to criticize you when I don’t know WordPress from bench press. I’m just happy to be here.

    Is there any more of that cheesecake left? Thanks.

    Jean

  30. Wendy on 18 Jan 2008 at 6:40 am #

    Tom, dude – 200*9*. Comments are open (by default, presumably?) for a year from date of posting.

    That caught me up too the first time I looked, but then I realized it said 2009.

    So we can continue to add meta-discussions on top of meta-discussions for a long time to come …

  31. Benjamin on 18 Jan 2008 at 9:04 am #

    Just a thought… I can’t remember if you said that there was any benefit to you from people clicking through to read today’s A&J at the official United Media site. But if there is, you might want to continue mentioning it — with a link — in your posts. It’s great to have the link on the side there, but if other people are like me, they’ll be reading your new format via the RSS feed, which will mean we won’t actually visit the site. We’ll see today’s post, today’s notes, but we won’t see the sidebar, unless we — for some reason — click through to the page itself instead of simply reading the content in our various feed readers.

    I look forward to continuing to see the site — and the community! — evolve.

  32. Kevin of Elmhurst on 18 Jan 2008 at 9:05 am #

    Glad you’re posting. Get up any old webpage without worrying about getting things just so. What’s “just so” anyhow? As G. K. Chesterton said: “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.”

  33. Ace on 18 Jan 2008 at 9:07 am #

    hey, cool. though i think i agree with the majority when i say that you’ll eventually want to hire someone to moderate posters/manage the site.

    i’m sure with all those big cartoonist bucks, that’ll happen soon. ;-)

    I’ve always read all my e-mail. Reading messages in the form of “comments” and pushing a button doesn’t seem any worse. (Thanks for the offensive coordinator!) — JJ

  34. May on 18 Jan 2008 at 9:18 am #

    Not to be nitpicky, but if you’re off rockclimbing, you probably won’t be moderating comments. So no conversations for us till you return. (Unless you outsource, as someone suggested.)

    I gather that comment moderation is an age-old problem for bloggers. (Well, at least, Information-Age Old.)

  35. Bob from Guatemala Central America on 18 Jan 2008 at 9:20 am #

    I’ve been visiting since you began with the Janis’ new haircut poll :)
    I even wrote to you back then, and got a response on may 12 2004
    I haven’t written since, but I visit daily.

    We all enjoy your work! And you must have a network of spy satellites or something, it seems that you are peering in all our windows!

    Again, thanks for all these years of such a great strip and for opening a small window into your thoughts :D

  36. Suggestion on 18 Jan 2008 at 10:16 am #

    Jimmy,

    If you hold down the control key while clicking the “Today’s A&J” link, it will open in a new window. You might offer this as a suggestion until you determine how to make that automatic.

    Also, if you could provide a link back to the homepage of the blog from the comment pages, it would improve ease of navigation.

    Love the site and your commentary! It’s one of the brighter moments of my day. Thanks for the hard work!

    Allison

  37. James Cummings on 18 Jan 2008 at 12:07 pm #

    You are looking just fabulous, mon…
    Seriously, I think this is working well for you.

    By the way, change you tag and add target=”_blank” to it and it will open in a new window. So your link to Today’s A&J will look like this (it’s going to word wrap):

    Today &rquot; Arlo & Janis

  38. Ryan Loghry on 18 Jan 2008 at 5:21 pm #

    Congrats on the blog, so far so good. My only suggestion would be to have an Arlo and Janis image for the header instead of the brown gradient.

  39. Ken from Framingham on 18 Jan 2008 at 6:51 pm #

    …looks like we got us a convoy!

  40. You know they'll go 19-0 on 18 Jan 2008 at 9:25 pm #

    Jimmy,

    Great job. Thanks for all your great insights into the comic strip process. Always enjoy the strips and especially your commentary.

  41. Rich in Zephyrhills, FL on 18 Jan 2008 at 9:49 pm #

    Glad you’re back! You’ve come a long way!! Looking forward to more!!

  42. Reid on 19 Jan 2008 at 6:39 am #

    Jimmy;

    It’s great to see the new site. I always have to have my daily “fix” of A+J. s you remember, I have followed A+J since 1985. It has never grown old but I (we) have. Keep up the work, and God be with you.

  43. Scott Carpenter on 19 Jan 2008 at 9:35 am #

    I’d vote to *not* have links open up in new windows. This is bad web behavior. People already have the option of opening up links in new windows via their browser (usually SHIFT + click on the link). To force a new window is to say you know best what your visitor wants to do. If people don’t know how to force a new window to open, they should at least know how to use the “back” button. (And people are in varying states of confusion about how to use this here intarweb. It can be just as disorienting to have a link open up in a new window, and then the “back” button doesn’t work as expected.)

    But it is entirely up to you, of course. This is your house. :-)

  44. Phil in Sugar Land, TX on 20 Jan 2008 at 1:27 pm #

    I am going to cast my vote in favor of the links opening new windows. It is a feature on your old site that I always meant to convey my appreciation for. My objection to the ‘Back’ button is that you have to wait for the previous page to load again, which is two waits instead of one wait for the new windows and then close when you’re done with it.

    I would venture to say that most people don’t know about the Shift-Click trick to open a new window. I’ve been working with computers longer that most and with Windows since Bill Gates invented it and I just learned this trick today from Mr. Carpenter.

  45. Don from Minnesota on 21 Jan 2008 at 6:29 am #

    why is today’s (Monday) toon soooo small. this old man can not read the printing it is so small…if someone else can read it give me the panel captions in this forum please.

  46. Ken from Framingham on 21 Jan 2008 at 7:17 am #

    I LOVE the new site logo!

  47. Ken from Framingham on 21 Jan 2008 at 7:20 am #

    Wait a minute! That would make a great T-Shirt! “T-Shirt! T-Shirt! T-Shirt! T-Shirt!”

  48. Russell on 21 Jan 2008 at 7:21 am #

    Hi, Jimmy.

    Love the banner!

    I noticed the really small cartoon for today, too. The weird thing is, yours is the only cartoon on all of comics.com that isn’t normal size.

  49. Peet on 22 Jan 2008 at 5:39 am #

    “Comment by Don from Minnesota — Monday, January 21, 2008 @ 6:29 am”

    All the websites I can find it on have this problem – this hurts your readers.

    I *LOVE* Arlo and Janis – don’t want to lose ‘em because the publishers mess up
    and print the strip too small to read.

    Peet.

  50. Samantha on 31 Jan 2008 at 7:25 pm #

    Looks great