Hello all,

It's been too long since the last newsletter. I've been wrapped up in a number of projects...well, if you count working a full-time job and feeding the family as a "project." College basketball season has also started for us in the States, and veteran readers know how I get around this time of year. I can always find something to soak up what free time I manage to find. For those who have expressed an interest, the wife and kid are doing very well, the cats (5 inside and 4 outside at the moment, though we're about to bring two of the outdoor cats inside -- kitty wars, anyone?) are indecently spoiled, the house hasn't fallen in quite yet, and I'm managing -- barely -- to keep the financial Visigoths from breaking in my door and hauling off my furniture. Thanks for asking!

The biggest news for me is my new monthly column at SitePoint. I've been affiliated with SitePoint for well over a year now, and I'd like to think it's a mutually beneficial relationship. SP is a fabulous site for anyone who designs and maintains Web sites as well as anyone trying to make a profit on Web-based commerce. Although I'm strictly a non-profit kind of guy (as my creditors will attest), I find SP an invaluable resource for a plethora of Web design and e-commerce information. They're also a good bunch of folks over there, and believe me, that's a rarity in these days of arrant discourtesy and back-stabbing business and social practices. They're just nice people, and that's to be treasured.

The column is called "Practical Web Design," and is targeted at the "middle ground" of Web designers -- not necessarily the absolute beginners who don't know how to make a word boldfaced, and not so much the pros who do it for a living. I'm targeting the wide middle ground of those who may have been pressed into service designing Web sites for their business, church, or organization, or those who know enough to slap a Web page together but would like to step up their proficiency without spending the time and effort necessary to become a full-fledged guru. In other words, I'm targeting the same audience in Web design that I try to appeal to with my site. I'm no Web professional, nor do I play one on TV, but I do know how to research information and present it in an understandable, easily digestible form that most all of us can use.

Why should you care? Well, for one, I know many of you who read this newsletter maintain some sort of Web presence, whether it's a professional or business site or it's keeping the family page up and running. I'm hoping that the column will give these folks a hand in some of their Web doings. Secondly, I'm counting on suggestions from you to give me some much-needed direction in deciding what to address in future column topics. What baffles you most about designing and building Web pages? Has the boss or the pastor or the spouse asked you do something with a Web page that you're unsure about? What do you need to know to help you spiff up your Web site, or what do you need to know about getting a Web site up and running? I'm not necessarily asking for ideas -- I've got a number of those already simmering -- but I would appreciate some focus. If you have any ideas, comments, criticisms, or whatnot, please send them to tucksitepoint@yahoo.com.

The next newsletter will have more meat on its bones, I promise. Until then, have fun, be excellent to each other, and don't forget to drop me a line about the new column if you have any input.