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.

Comments

[Vicki Welsh]

This is all fine and dandy but I think you should focus on fixing the reply-to issue with comments. I don't need more followers if I can't reply to them from my email.

[Ginevra]

Hi Vicki - I sent you an email just a little bit ago on this issue. We're working on the reply-by-email issue right now, and should have an update for you soon. :)

Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help.

[David A. Porter]

Great new tool TypePad! Thanks!

[Account Deleted]

what about new widgets? There seems to be a dearth of fresh, usefull widgets as compared to other platforms. e.g.: what about a polling widget? It would in general be nice to have (practical) widgets that don't come from third parties that then have their branding/advertising.

[Chris Mahns]

What's the module name if one wanted to add this to a blog that uses advanced templates?

[Cookie!]

Is there a way to add this to my blog's About page? I looked, but I'm not seeing it.

[Trent Fitzgerald]

Hey Typepad,

You have got a problem with this feature -- SPAMMERS!

These two people are allegedly SPAMMERS.

http://profile.typepad.com/jayparkhe
http://profile.typepad.com/billvanloan

You might want to shut down this feature before it gets out of hand.

You are inviting spammers with this feature.

[Trent Fitzgerald]

http://profile.typepad.com/jayparkhe
http://profile.typepad.com/billvanloan

I'm trying to get rid of these guys off my dashboard. I don't want these guys following me.

You need a delete button or something so I can rid of these spammers off my dashboard.

Help me out guys. And fix this problems before spammers start figuring out how to invade other bloggers with this feature.

[Trent Fitzgerald]

There should be a delete button in the "Your Followers" section so people can remove anyone they don't want following them.

This getting very annoying here.

You can't get your themes right
http://everything.typepad.com/blog/2009/09/this.html

And now you are inviting spammers....

What's next?

[Dhananjay Parkhe]

Hi Trent,

I am no spammer as this is my first message to you after follow me feature was added.
If you do not wish me to follow you, you can click the "unfollow" button where you see my photo.
I shall do the same.

Warm regards.
Jay

[GuiM]

Installed ! Thanks for this new widget :)

[MELANCHOLIA]

Nice widget, guys. Thanks for sharing.

[Charlie]

love the new widget!!

[Ginevra]

Hi Phillipe! Have you tried the Visu polls widget?

http://www.sixapart.com/typepad/widgets/publishing-tools/vizu_polls.html

[Ginevra]

Hi Cookie - you could use this instead of your About page, or link to your profile from there, but what we may want to do is help you via our support team to make sure we've got all the pieces you want to see on your About page fixed up. :)

[Ginevra]

Hi Trent - if you don't want someone to follow you, you could just ask. With your blog, unless you want to have everything password protected, there's not a way to keep someone from reading it.

You haven't got to follow anyone you don't want to.

And the themes should be fixed now, too.

[Ginevra]

you bet! :)

[Ginevra]

thanks for the well-reasoned reply, Jay. :)

[Pat Harrington]

I think the widget is great. I like how you can customize it to fit your color theme.

The one thing I think that's missing here and on a lot of other blogs... I'd like to help out the people that use Typepad, but it's sometimes hard to find them. Also it would be great if we could link to other blogs that have similar content. It would be great if there was a search bar that only searched typepad blogs.

If there is one, I am sorry I can't find it. I think this would help make TypePad stand out, even more from everyone else.

[Cookie!]

Hi Ginevra! So many new options. I'll figure out what I want and, if I need to, I'll talk to Support. Thanks.

[Account Deleted]

I agree with Vicki Welsh---I'd been ranting about that ---direct replying to comments ---for almost a year now. And nobody seems to have an answer to that.Instead you just added the signing up with Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.---which is fine but now really helpful. It's only a feature that anyone can do without.
Why don't the Typepad techie people improve the commenting system? By being able to directly reply to the particular comment, even when the comments have been already aggregated. What I meant, is that I cannot directly reply to each comment when they come numerously . After 3 comments being received, I cannot comment to each. Instead , the REPLY comment goes after all the 3 comments .

Would you please do something about that? I'd been ranting about it all the time.

[Account Deleted]

Like I said...one with no ads. Also that can't be embedded into an actual blog post

[Ginevra]

Hi Chris - I asked one of our designers, and here's how you'd add it into the sidebar on Advanced Templates:

- Create a new template module
- Name it whatever you want
- Set the contents to (something like):

- Replace [YOUR_USER_ID] with your user id
- Include the new template module on whatever index or archive
templates you like

To find your user ID:

- Go to your profile
- View the source
- Search for "activity-item"
- Copy the value of at:user-xid
- Example from the 'typepad' profile:

For the purposes of this post, I just linked the image to the profile URL, so you could do that as a hack. ;)

[Ginevra]

Hello Bing - if you're on the new TypePad, you should get a comment notification email with the commenter's email address in the email (if they've chose to share their email address.)

We're still working this week on exactly how replying to comments should behave, so thanks, as ever, for your feedback.

[Andy]

Here's a few methods:

Go to Google and type in some keywords and append site:typepad.com to the search request.

Go to Google and type in some keywords and append site:blogs.com to the search request.

This won't catch folks with domain mapped blogs though.

Popular posts on those two domains in Twitter:

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=typepad.com+OR+blogs.com

To find popular post percolating in Digg:

http://digg.com/search?s=site%3Atypepad.com&sort=digg&fltdate=l7

http://digg.com/search?s=site%3Ablogs.com&sort=digg&fltdate=l7

Similar view on Reddit:

http://www.reddit.com/domain/blogs.com/

http://www.reddit.com/domain/typepad.com/

[Chris Mahns]

Thanks a lot for responding but it looks like something rather important did not make it through on your comment! Right where you typed: "Set the comments to (something like):", there is a three or four line void.

[Trent Fitzgerald]

I apologize to you Jay Parkhe but I have been receiving "Follow" messages from what I believe are spammers. I'm very cautious about those who follow or add me because I have been tormented by spammers via Typepad trackbacks and comments in the past. And now they are invading my Twitter page (unrelated to Typepad).

Thankfully, Typepad has corrected this and everything is resolved.

But.....

I'm trying to unfollow you but it seems that I can't. So I have to figure this out since Typepad is not going to help me.

Thank you and again, I apologized for my comment to you.

[Trent Fitzgerald]

The themes are still not fix.

You can italicized, underline and boldface the text while you are composing your post. But they don't show up when you finally post the blog.

You are half way there, but it's still not fixed.

And there should be a "delete" button not an "unfollow" button so bloggers can permanently remove followers from their blog.

[robin]

I agree with Trent that we require some means to screen those wishing to follow our blogs. Personally I would like to see an option similar to that used on Skype where followers should be required to post a request and as necessary, for users to be able to block unwanted 'serial' followers.

Another issue associated with the function is that it is easy to swamp your dashboard with too much info if those you are following start posting lots of comments or follow lots of other people. To get around this, I have suggested via an earlier post to Typepad's help team that the Dashboard be enhanced to permit customisation of the type of information that we wish to receive about the bloggers we choose to follow. For example, this could include the following options:

a) posts only
b) comments only
c) both posts and comments
d) who followers are following
e) Everything

I appreciate that it would take time to code such additional functionality. So for now, I have chosen not to use the follow option, but rather to visit from time to time the blogs of those whose sites have raised my interest.

[robin]

One further thought on searching for other Typepad blogs. Rather than relying on the follower concept, I think it might be better to
provide an option (again via the Dashboard) that allowed users to select the type of Typepad blogs they were interested in by grouping. These could include:

a) featured
b) most visited
c) recently updated
d) by category (develop a listing that users could select via the settings menu of their blog)
e) search (by keyword)
e) random, etc.

Personally speaking, I rather liked the listing of recently updated blogs that appeared on the old Typepad interface because it generated an opportunity to study the work of others at random.

[Trent Fitzgerald]

I concur with Robin. He is absolutely correct with his assessments.

I was finally able to figure out how to unfollow some people who were following me, but there information is still on my dashboard which is annoying. There has to be a more simpler way to get rid of unwanted followers. I'm telling you, this feature will allow spammers to sneak in and spam the crap out of bloggers. I see it happening in the future.

Robin offered some great ideas and they need to be investigated if not implemented.

I like the idea of people wanting to following me and vice versa -- but even Twitter allows YOU to screen which person(s) you want to follow and those you want to "delete" (unfollow) forever.

And those "Magnetic" themes are STILL not fixed.

I apologize for being such an asshole with my complaints, but I have been blogging with Typepad for 7 years now (blogging 10 years altogether), I like what you guys are doing here but some of these features, themes need to be tested first before you guys started patting yourselves on the back.

[Amanda Rettke]

Hi. I have been using typepad for about 2 years now. I am happy that improvements have finally been made to the main page. Good job!

I have been asking for over a year now how I can get MY blog featured. I did some research and it appears that the folks that are choosing who gets featured are not exactly... the kind of folks who read my blog.

I don't swear. I don't gossip. I am a mommy blog and quite proud of the fact.

I do not see my demographic featured AT ALL. And there are many of us. I am wondering if you would be willing to step out of your comfort zone and give my blog a shot.

Give *others* the opportunity to decided whether they like it or not.

Please?

God bless-
Amanda

[Cookie!]

I agree with Trent and Robin.

This following thingy is not something I want unless I can have some control over who is allowed to follow me. I fail to see the point in following people on this site (because it's not going to help my readership and I have enough trouble keeping up with my actual friends), and I do not want to deal with random men following me for no reason.

If you want to read my blog, great. Add it to your reader or bookmark it. Just like everyone else.

[Ginevra]

thanks for letting us know - we're still working on how this feature should work, based on feedback from people like y'all. Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks!

[Ginevra]

thanks, Amanda! We feature mommy bloggers quite often in all sorts of ways. There's all sorts of ways we feature our bloggers these days, (blogs.com, newsletters, our Facebook and Twitter pages) so if you want to submit yours to [email protected], we can find a way to feature yours too!

[Ginevra]

thanks, Robin - we're taking everyone's feedback into account, and I think you should see this feature evolving and changing based on what our customers have said. We can't do everything at once (there's just too much cool stuff to do!) but ask anyone who started with the new TypePad in Beta - the dashboard has evolved a lot. :)

Thanks again for letting us know your thoughts and suggestions.

[Ginevra]

Hi Trent - I hear you loud and clear. Of course there are some changes we're still making, and I really want to thank everyone for their feedback. I think you'll see these features evolve with these sorts of suggestions and ideas - although, of course, there's no way to please everyone.

We've made some changes that you'll see soon thanks to feedback from our customers. Thanks again for being a loyal blogger/fan of TypePad. :)

[Maxine]

I don't seem to have "content selection" in my design setting - I have looked everywhere for this Typepad profile" button to no avail. (I can see powered by Typepad and recent updates from Typepad blogs, the latter of which I definitely don't want).

Basically, I'd like to be able to add people whose typepad blogs I already follow, but from what I understand, there is no way to do this as yet, right? All you can do is put this badge on your blog (if you can find it!) and hope that the other Typepad blogs you already know do the same?

Another point - to echo what someone says above about featuring "niche" blogs. I mainly blog about books. I have given up using the typepad "interesting blog finders" etc because you have no category for books- you have to be "entertainment" and most of that is irrelevant. Maybe you think book bloggers are too small a group to warrant much attention, but we are an active community, and it would be nice to see that reflected in your index system, as a separate category so one could at-a-glance see all the Typepad book-related blogs. I think when I first joined back in 2006 you did have a book-related blog service but I think that is now defunct. So - please Typepad - more to support your book blogs and help us to find each other. Thanks!

[Ginevra]

Hi Maxine - we do love books here quite a bit, and do a whole section on books for blogs.com. That said, I'd be excited to hear your feedback about how we could better address this niche of our community. :)

[Michele Bailey-Lessirard]

TypePad is the best...I was wondering how to add this feature to my blog The New Moon Journal http://www.newmoonjournal.blogs.com just this morning...set the intent and here it is. Thanks.

[Jules]

Thank you. I have posted both on my blogs. http://sliceoflifediet.typepad.com/a-slice-of-life-diet/ and http://www.notinozanymore.com
I will see how this works out. I have been looking for a way to find other bloggers on typepad.

[Nellie Moore]

Thanks for creating such a great tool. As others have shared I have been looking for ways to find others who have a shared passion for wellness, working with women, empowerment, health care,writing, compassion etc. and I think this tool will help me with that as well as help others to find me. I've recently set up a Facebook account, Twitter, and Linkedin. Never imaging that I would be using these tools.

Thanks again and please keep creating great tools! http://wysewomen.typepad.com/wysewomen_llc/2009/09/index.html

Nellie

[Tameka Mullins (Tamstarz)]

Hello everyone! I've just joined TypePad and I'm still learning the functions. Can someone please tell me how to find other bloggers on TypePad? I have had a few people follow me which is great, but I don't know where to go to find other bloggers. Help!

Kindly,
Tameka

[Philip C. Breakenridge]

Just added it to my site. I can't wait to meet more of my fellow Typepad bloggers.

Check me out at http://www.postmadonna.com

Ten months ago, when I started my blog, I wanted to create a provocative pop culture website minus all the gossip and negativity. Hopefully, I've succeeded.

Enjoy.

Philip

[Account Deleted]

Read a few posts up the string for the one from Andy Wibbels. He describes a few ways to find other TypePad bloggers. Good luck with your blog!

You can find mine at http://www.buildandbalance.com for starters. :-)

[Tameka Mullins (Tamstarz)]

Hi Michael! Thanks so much for responding. I will try those suggestions. I will also take a look at your blog. Mine is: http://lyricfire.typepad.com.

Happy Sunday!

Love, Death, Lies, Explosive Sex, Broken Hearts, Chilling Truths...

Letters to Chyna - A Novel

By: T a m e k a M u l l i n s

And additional titles to come:

LifeTracks Vol 1: The Chyna Rose Debut

Holding Harlem’s Hand

Coffee Beans and Raindrops

[Bobbin Talk]

How do you get this widget with a cloud of pictures of the followers below it as in this blog?
http://telagraf.typepad.com/blog/

Would love to have it display that way!

Thank you!