File Under Awesome: The Best New TypePad Features

2009 has been the most innovative and impressive year in TypePad history. We are constantly improving TypePad trying to make it easier to use and helping you connect with your audience.

We've been particularly busy lately. A TypePad blogger recently recommended we create a "cheat sheet" to all the new features. Rather than a cheat sheet, I prefer to think of it as a "Best of" list. So, without further ado, here are my favorite new TypePad features since August. (Yes, just since August!)

• Add a TypePad Favorite button to your blog and let your readers show the love

• Add video with the click of a button

• The easiest way to blog? The new TypePad bookmarklet and microblog themes
  

• Manage your blog on the go with iPhone, Pre, and Android mobile blog support

• Full TypePad integration with Facebook Connect for sharing and commenting

• New widgets to supercharge your small business blog from FormSpring, Freshbooks, and BookFresh

• TypePad goes real time with PubSubHubbub support

• Engage your blog readers with the TypePad Follow widget

• Add Userpics (or Avatars) to your comments

• Launch of TypePad APIs and TypePad Motion communities

• New Themes! Pico, Magnetic, and more in Beta

• And of course, the biggest of all, the new TypePad. Check out the TypePad overview from Professor Wibbels.

Stay tuned for some step-by-step instructions on how to get the most out of the new TypePad.

Did I miss your favorite? If so, let me know in the comments.

- Mark, TypePad One team

Our New Favorite TypePad Feature

Blogging is a fun, social activity. It’s even more fun when you get feedback, so we have added the ability to “Favorite” a post as an option for you and your readers. For your readers, it’s an easy to use, simple, way to give praise and appreciation without having to come up with a witty rejoinder.

 
How Does it Work?
From a reader’s perspective, the Favorite feature has two main benefits. First, it is a great way to collect your favorite blog posts so you can read, comment or blog about the topic at a later date or share with your Followers. Second, it’s a great way to recognize and give feedback to a blogger for a great article or photo post they created.

 
For bloggers, Favorite helps you receive feedback and increase your traffic. When your post is recognized as a “Favorite” by a reader, a Favorite update shows up in your TypePad Dashboard, as well as the Dashboard of the person that Favorited your post. (Yes, I know Favorited is not a word. :))  
 

The Favorite feature is also a great way to drive awareness of you blog and to improve the social media optimization of your blog. When someone adds your blog post as their Favorite list, it will appear on the TypePad Dashboard of everyone that is following them, alerting a new audience to go check out your blog.

How to Add Favorite on Your Blog

Favorite is an optional addition to your blog. For a reader to “Favorite” a post, they will need to sign in using TypePad, Facebook, Twitter, or OpenID.  The Favorite feature will help you build a relationship with your readers and discover other things they are interested in.

To add it to your blog, go to Design > Organize Content > Post Footer > and click “Favorite.”

 

When your post is Favorited, you’ll receive an email notification. You can manage these updates, go to http://www.typepad.com/account/notifications.

So, give it a try and let your readers know about it. We’re sure it will become you a Favorite tool – sorry, had to do it – of your readers. 

And when you see something you like on TypePad, let the blogger know by making it A Favorite.

Release Notes: Comment Improvements, Favorites, and Bug Fixes

This week we focused on a launching a few new features to everyone, launching some design improvements to Beta, and fixing bugs. Here’s a brief description of the some of the most important updates to TypePad this week.

Favorite a Post
Favoriting a post I’ll explain this awesome new feature in my next post, but this is a great way to get more readers, build a community around your blog, and gain insight into your most popular topics. Add it today and get to know what your readers love.

Comment Userpics
Comment userpics – personal pictures or avatars next to a comment – have been a hit since we introduced them to in TypePad Connect. Images help drive community involvement among commenters and help your readers get to know you and each other. We’ve now rolled Userpics out as an option to every TypePad blogger.

If you’re on the standard commenting service (not TypePad Connect), turn it on and try it out.  Go to Settings > Comments > Comment Userpics and click “Show userpics next to each comment.”

Most [Un]Popular Bugs Fixes
Here’s the latest edition of most popular fixes, also known as fixes for the most unpopular bugs.

Comment notifications
Some people were having an issue with comments notifications via email were not being received, particularly Gmail users. Thank you for everyone’s patience and feedback on this issue. Your feedback helped us troubleshoot this very tricky, and annoying, bug. If you’re still having problems, please contact our support team so they can understand the issue.

View all comments from an IP address
We fixed an issue where some members could not view all the comments from a particular IP address.

(Did you know that you could view all comments from an IP address? Go to your comment management screen and check it out.)

Safari Compose

We had some reports of compose and preview issues with the Safari browser. Some users – combination of browser and other issues – were not being warned to save changes before leaving the page. We’ve fixed this alert, protecting you from lost posts.

Thanks to everyone for your feedback and suggestions. Go try out the cool new features and let us know what you think.

The Easiest Way to Add Video to Your Blog

You’ve asked, we’ve answered. One of the most popular TypePad requests is to make it easier to add video to your blog. Earlier this week, we added Video (and Audio) uploads to the Compose toolbar so it's simple click and paste to add video.

New Toolbar Options

To add a video, just click on the Video button -- it looks like a filmstrip --, copy and paste a web page address (URL) and the video will be automatically inserted. There are still some Video players that require HTML to embed a video, so that option is available as well.

Here’s what the Vimeo video I linked above displayed on my blog.

An Action is Worth a Thousand Words
I could describe this feature in a thousand words, but it's so easy I recommend you just give it a try. I’ve added a few links here to get you started. (You can also search Vimeo, YouTube or other video sites for your favorites.) Just copy a link below and add it to your blog via the video button:

• William Kamkwamba’s “Moving Windmills” story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arD374MFk4w
• Seth Godin’s Sliced Bread and Other Marketing Delights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBIVlM435Zg
• Guy Kawasaki’s Art of the Start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3xaeVXTSBg
• Ali Edwards’ Half-Circle Embellishments tutorial: http://vimeo.com/5630744
• TypePad Tips for a Successful Business Blog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXD1KnhjSVc
• Or the campiest trailer ever, Mega Shark vs Giant Octupus:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa7ck5mcd1o

Let us know what you think, or give a link to your favorite video post below.

Bonus Tip
If you haven’t tried out the TypePad Bookmarklet, give it a try. The Bookmarklet is a great way to grab and add videos, quotes, and pictures to your blog as you surf the web. Learn more about the bookmarklet and add it to your browser.

Posted by Mark Simmons.

bit.ly Integrated in TypePad

Last week we added a cool new feature to TypePad: real-time bit.ly stats.

Now, when you share you new posts on Twitter, Facebook and FriendFeed, TypePad automatically shortens your post URLs using the bit.ly service. For example, a blog title like http://everything.typepad.com/blog/2009/09/real-time-web-pushing-your-blogs.html can be shortened to http://bit.ly/12cbYK so it can be easily shared on Twitter.

And now you can get statistics on how often those links are clicked directly from your TypePad blog overview.

To see how this feature works, sign in to the All New TypePad and check the stats for your blog. Below the traffic graph you’ll see a new link:

Click the link and you’ll see a page of real-time clickthrough stats on posts that you’ve shared with your friends on Twitter, Facebook and FriendFeed. Click on the bit.ly URL for each of the entries for more detailed stats directly from bit.ly.

NOTE: If you haven't shared any posts on Twitter, Facebook or FriendFeed, then you won't see any bit.ly stats. If you're not sharing your posts with your friends, it's really easy to set up.  Check out the TypePad Knowledge Base for detailed instructions.

We need your feedback to make this feature better! Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Making it easier to find TypePad Bloggers

When we announced the Follow feature a while back, Shannan Sinclair of Original Bliss commented:

“I like it. I just wish it was easier to search Typepad for blogs I am interested in and could "follow."”

 

 

Introducing the TypePad Profile module, another way we're making it easier to follow your favorite TypePad bloggers and discover what they're posting, commenting about, and interested in around the web. See ours on the right hand side of this blog - it looks just like this:

 

 

If you spot the TypePad Profile module on a blog, you know they're a TypePad member. Just click the "Follow Me" button and follow that blogger's activity on your TypePad dashboard.

 

 

 

More Followers = More Readers

Adding the TypePad Profile module will help increase your readers in two ways. First, people who follow your profile are more likely to visit your blog on a regular basis. When you post to your blog, a link to your post will appear on the dashboard of everyone who follows you. This teaser link will drive more visits to your post.

 

But Follow has an extra benefit also. When Shannan comments on Mark’s blog, Shannan’s comment appears on the dashboard of everyone following Mark. Shannan’s comment is a way to tell everyone in Shannan’s extended network, “Hey, there’s good blogging going on over at Mark’s. Come check it out!” Think of your followers not as a status symbol (OK, it *can* be) but more, a way to help others find good content: your blog, and blogs you comment on.

 

Add “Follow Me” TypePad Profile module to your blog

It’s easy to add this fun feature. To add the TypePad Profile button to your blog just click "Design" and then in "Content Selection", you can pick the "TypePad Profile" button. It's a cool way to showcase your profile in your sidebar, too.

 

You can even customize how you want this to appear - you can show your number of followers, even customize the text and background color.

 

Add it to your blog and let us know

So this is the first of many steps to help make great TypePad bloggers and the community easier to search and discover.

Help Shannan and others find and follow you. Add the TypePad Profile module to your blog and let us know in the comments so others can follow you and your blog.

Twitter, Improved Categories, Bookmarklet, and more

Blog it!
The "Blog It" bookmarklet is one of my favorite features on the new TypePad. Quickly make a new post, including photos, video, or text without ever having to toggle back into TypePad. Thanks to your feedback, we made some improvements to the feature. Now, you can finish editing a post in TypePad, tweak the design (including changing the order of clippings/commentary), categorize the post, save as draft for later, schedule for future date, and so on. It's slick!

Comment With Twitter (Twitter OAuth support)
Twitter's a lot of fun, and now your blog's readers can use their Twitter login to leave a comment, along with their Twitter avatar, too.


Just click the dropdown, and your comments are already there.

If you're using Twitter, your TypePad account is automagically set up now to share your posts, if you like. (There's a known issue where you'll manually have to update draft and scheduled posts to share them with Twitter, we're fixing that ASAP.)

Bit.ly integration
If you're on our beta team, you'll see that we've added bit.ly to automagically shorten your posts when you share them with Twitter, and then you can also see your bit.ly stats, right from your TypePad dashboard.

More Bug Fixes and Features of Note:
Comments: We did a ton of work around comments, including a ton of backend stuff you wouldn't be able to see. For people who are blogging with the new TypePad, you can edit, search, and view all comments on a post - all things you've been asking for. We're posting more about this next week in more detail.

• Made OpenID existing and new accounts show under "Other Accounts"
• Improved "Forgot Password" flow for OpenID accounts
• Made categories module expandable - this is a really cool one for those of us with lots of comments: just click the button in the top corner of your categories for an expanded view. 

Have you tried the new TypePad yet? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Happy Together: TypePad and Facebook Connect

We’re happy to announce TypePad support for Facebook Connect. Facebook Connect is a set of APIs from Facebook that allows TypePad and Facebook to communicate. Facebook Connect is an improvement over the existing Beacon service released in 2007.

Share your blog with 250 million of your closest friends
With Facebook Connect on TypePad, you can automatically share your blog posts with your friends on Facebook. And, as you would expect from TypePad, we give you full control over the posts you want to share. 

Your readers are as busy as you are. By sharing your blog posts from TypePad on Facebook, you can notify them about your latest news in a place that is convenient – and timely – for them. It’s a friendly reminder to come by your blog, and a great way to increase your blog’s traffic. This feature is exclusively available in the new TypePad - so if you haven't tried it yet, now's the time!

In addition to being a more reliable connection to Facebook, you will notice the immediate improvements:

• Posts from your iPhone, email, and the new TypePad bookmarklet can be automatically shared with Facebook. (Click to learn how to update your settings.)
• You can now share your post to Facebook from the Compose editor.

To take advantage of this great new feature in TypePad, check out our Knowledge Base article
“Sharing Posts on Facebook.”  Please note: If you had Facebook Beacon integration set up before, please update your settings.

Make Your Facebook Friends Feel Welcome
TypePad also makes it easier for your readers who come from Facebook to comment on your blog.  This new upgrade allows your readers to sign to and comment with their Facebook log in.

And more is on the way. With new avatar support for commenters – just added to the beta group today— your Facebook commenters will have their Facebook picture appear with their comment. It’s another great way to welcome your Facebook friends to your blog community.


This is just one of the many ways TypePad takes care of your social media optimization (SMO). Stay tuned for more ways to increase your blog traffic. 

Question of The Day comes to TypePad

We’ve been hard at work on features for TypePad that help you and your blog connect to your community. We’re adding in a favorite community feature from our sister service Vox: Question of the Day, making you (and your creativity) a feature in TypePad.

QotD is one of the most fun aspects of blogging on Vox. It creates an innovative, interesting connection from you and your blog to your readers. As we're launching it today, it's exactly the same feature you see on Vox. However, we want your input to make this a feature you love in TypePad, too – so let us know what you think would make it even better in TypePad. Currently, you can see QotD answers from your fellow bloggers on blogs.com, increase your blog's traffic, and discover new ways to spark your creativity.

I’ve liked QotD the most when I need to break out of writer's block. Through exploring and answering Question(s) of the Day on Vox, I've found tons of good new books to read, laughed at stories from complete strangers, and learned things about my friends that I never would have otherwise. As one Voxer puts it: "I get excited by the chance to be more creative, to tell a new story."

Just as in Vox, QotD's in TypePad are suggested by everyone: you, me, our editorial team, and by some of our favorite bloggers around the web. The questions range from current events, to thought-provoking, to just plain silly.

If you’re familiar with Vox already, you might know that occasionally there are sponsored QotDs, always with a clear "sponsored by" message.  Our editorial team writes these questions so that they’re relevant to you and your blog. Want to know more about how QotD's are submitted, chosen, and promoted? Here's the FAQ.

We're trying lots of new ways to build your blogging community as part of the vision for where we see blogging going. We want you to tell us: how would you like the QotD to work with your TypePad blog? How would you design the Question of the Day? What's a question you'd ask?

What's Following All About?

Updated 7/20/09

If you're previewing the new TypePad, you may see some new things on your Dashboard, and you might be asking yourself: "what's this new following thing all about?"

Something we heard over and over when customers were giving us feedback on TypePad is that it was too hard to find new blogs to read. We want to make it easier for you to discover great blogs, keep tabs on your favorite bloggers, and to help you engage more easily (like with quick comment replies) with your readers.

Your Dashboard helps you to know when someone you're following comments, answers a Question of The Day, follows another TypePad blogger, or adds a post to their TypePad blog.

Best of all, it’s fun! Being able to track what my most pithy and interesting commenters say and do is a great way to get inspired to blog even better.

"So, how do I find people to follow?"

We’ve suggested a few folks you might want to follow, just as a way to show you how it works. For example, Sweetney is a great blogger, and some of her best zingers are in her comments. You can follow her to get an idea of what following feels like in your dashboard, and how it can help give you insight on ongoing conversations within the TypePad community.

You can follow the people your friends are following, or you can also follow the people who've commented on your blog with TypePad Connect.

"Why is this on my dashboard?"

We're still working on making the dashboard more interactive and customizable - this is only the beginning! It's why we're previewing the new TypePad and taking your suggestions and feedback. Let us know what you think of the feature, how you found people, and who your favorite people to follow have been.