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.