In This Issue...

• Editor's ViewPoint
• What's New?
• Farewell, Dan Morgan
• New Feature: Ask the Staff
• New Member Interview: fisherboy
• Forum Tip: Reporting Posts
• Support Our Sponsors
• Hot Topics
• Fun Topics
• Website Reviews
• New Blog Entries

Editor's ViewPoint

Phew! Now that I'm Editor-in-Chief of this newsletter, I can appreciate how fast and furious these deadlines are! We have a great issue for you this week. We've listened to your comments, and it seems that the one thing everyone wants is more interviews. Ses5909 logged a great one this week!

Speaking of ses5909, I'd like to welcome Sara on board as Assistant Editor. She'll help keep me honest and make sure the Community Team mails issues of the Crier intact and on time.

Also in this issue: a farewell to our former Editor, a hello to our newest Mentor, changes in the Contest forum, the launch of a new feature, and more!

Josh "Bleys" Catone
SitePoint Community Crier Editor-in-Chief

What's New?

New Mentor

The SitePoint Forums staff is still growing! This week we hope you all join us in welcoming Jelena to the Community Team. Jelena has been a very active member at SitePoint since she joined in 2005, and we're confident she will make a great Mentor.

Changes to Contest Forums

The Contest forums at SitePoint are among the fastest growing, and recently SitePoint announced a couple of changes to them. First, the listing fee has been raised from $9.95 to $19.95. Hopefully, this will stem the flood of new listings a bit, and keep things manageable for our already-taxed volunteer moderators. In addition, we hope this change will further help to stop the posting of fraudulent contests.

Second, all contest minimum prize amounts have been raised by $50. More valuable prizes are good news for designers and will hopefully attract more designers to participate in the Contests area!

SitePoint has plans to greatly expand and enhance the entire Marketplace section over the next few months, starting with a recent print ad aimed at bringing more designers into the Contest forums.

Farewell, Dan Morgan

As the Crier's new editor, it would be remiss of me not to mention our outgoing Editor-in-Chief, Dan Morgan. Dan blazed quite a trail as Editor, and has left me with large shoes to fill. However, due to an increasingly active passport, Dan felt that it was best to step down as Editor.

Dan's excellent work on the Crier has set a high standard that we will certainly endeavor to meet; hopefully we'll be able to entice him back for some contributions from time to time in the future. Dan: from everyone on the Community Team, thank you very much for all the hard work you put in during your tenure as Editor-in-Chief of SitePoint's Community Crier!

New Feature: Ask the Staff

We mentioned this in the last issue, but now we're really gearing up to launch a fun new Crier feature. The success of this new section will really depend on what sort of response we get from you, our readers!

Ask the Staff will be your opportunity to get to know the Mentors and Advisors (and Team Leaders!) that make up the SitePoint Forums staff. Ask anything you want, be it funny, irreverent, quirky, technical, or serious. We're open to anything! To submit a question, please PM Bleys, ses5909, or jelena. It would make things easier (for us) if you made the subject of your PM "Ask the Staff Submission". Thanks!

New Member Interview: fisherboy

Though fisherboy is a relatively new member at SitePoint, he's already shown that he has a lot to offer. He hasn't been shy about jumping in and participating. But if you think that's impressive, this fly-fishing-addicted Kiwi is also getting ready to embark on an around-the-world fishing trip culminating in Alaska! Ses5909 sat down with him to find out what makes fisherboy tick.

How did you find SitePoint, and what made you stay?

I found SitePoint a few years back when I was trying to solve a (you guessed it!) CSS problem. I joined but did very little web work for some time. Then, I bought one SitePoint book. It helped a lot. I managed to get an existing site from 54 on Google to No 1. The client was thrilled as his business grew dramatically. Now I think I have all the books published by SitePoint and when I started my little web building company I thought I'd better rejoin the forums. Everyone is extremely helpful and being a member here has saved me many hours of struggle with markup!

I stay at SitePoint because I am isolated from other webmasters. I have no-one I can talk things through with, or who understands the challenges of producing (mostly) valid markup. At SitePoint, everyone understands, and you get a fantastic cross-section of opinion on any issue you care to name.

What are your favorite areas of SitePoint?

The forums are filled with real experts who want to help. I especially enjoy the XHTML and CSS forums, and I've become addicted to General Chat as well. It's always funny and often enlightening! I try to spend some time in Introductions each day too.

What would you change if you owned SitePoint?

Nothing.

You've been a great contributor here during your short time as a member. What motivates you to keep going?

I have received a lot of help, directly and indirectly, from SitePoint members for years. I'd like to try and put a little back. I was also taken by the responses to my piece in the Introduction forum. I would like to offer new members the same good feeling I got when I joined. I try to help with XHTML and CSS where I can, usually if none of the real experts are online. I've managed to help a couple of people solve simple problems and that's a real buzz!

What's your username all about? Does it have any special meaning?

Fisherboy? Fly fishing for trout is my favorite pastime -- one that I get very little time to pursue. Being an unimaginative type, it made sense to me to come up with a name that relates to something I enjoy. Straight-line thinking!

What do you do for a living?

I have an importing company that provides specialist products to the New Zealand fishing industry. This takes up most of my time. Websites are a fascinating and challenging sideline that provide a little extra income and keep the learning part of the brain active!

Blondes or Brunettes?

OK, don't tell my wife but... I have always had a real thing for short blondes with curvy figures. I don't know where this came from as I've been married to a tall, thin brunette for 20+ years. Go figure!

Check out fisherboy's website at: www.webbuild.co.nz

Forum Tip: Reporting Posts

Did you just spot a spammer on the forums? Did you see someone make an inappropriate post, maybe something rude or vulgar? Did you catch a post in the wrong section? The best thing you can do is not to reply, but rather, to report!

Reporting posts is easy, and all post reports are read by Advisors who will take the necessary action on a case-by-case basis.

To report a post, simply click on the icon alongside the post you wish to report, fill out the forum and click "Send Report". To report an inappropriate PM, forward it to an Advisor or Team Leader.

Support Our Sponsors

Don't forget to check out our current sponsors:

Ektron CMS400.NET: a single solution for all your web site needs.

Ektron CMS400.NET is a complete web content management system for next-generation web sites. It provides support for CSS, DHTML, AJAX, and added functionality such as site visitor memberships and web alerts.

RELAX. AzoogleAds makes it easier to generate MORE REVENUE with your current traffic.

AzoogleAds, the largest performance-based advertising network, offers guaranteed highest payouts, rock-solid NET 15 payments, and world-class customer service.

Use the Coupon "SitePoint" For a FREE Month of Hosting at HostGator.com

Looking for the BEST in shared, reseller, and dedicated hosting? Look to HostGator! Host UNLIMITED domain names for $10.00 a month and get 24/7 support via phone, email, and live chat.

Now the most powerful way to earn the most from your online advertising inventory: ValueClick Media

As a ValueClick Media publisher, you can expect high eCPM rates and payouts, rapid payment, quality campaigns and world-class service and support.

This edition of the SitePoint Community Crier was brought to you by the SitePoint Community Team: Sarah, Dan Morgan, Ingoal, petertdavis, Rick, Bleys, ses5909, conradical and jelena.

Help Your Friends Out

People you care about can benefit from the wealth of information on new and maturing technologies available on the Internet. Help them learn how to do it by forwarding them this issue of the SitePoint Community Crier!