Updated: Your TypePad dashboard and the TypePad Team

You may have noticed that your TypePad dashboard now contains updates from The TypePad Team. We post blogging tips and tricks, product updates (like this one), promotions, exciting events, as well as feature TypePad bloggers.

Your activity can also appear on TypePad dashboards.

Your updates  -  comments, favorites and posts  -  will appear in others’ dashboards if you encourage your readers to follow you on TypePad. Include the “Follow Me” module (which you can find in  Design > Content > About You > Follow me) on your blog, or simply add a link to your TypePad profile, to enable your readers to receive your updates in one simple click.

Update: To stop TypePad team updates appearing in your TypePad dashboard.

Go the profile:  http://profile.typepad.com/typepad. If you are logged into TypePad you should see the option to "Unfollow" on the left hand side under the logo. Select that.

If you don't see the "Unfollow" option click on the "Follow" button, log in. Select "Unfollow"  then hit OK at the prompt.

Read more about Following on TypePad

Comments

[Laurie]

How do I get the typepad posts OFF my dashboard page?

[Account Deleted]

Read the last sentence of the biggest paragraph in this blog post for instructions?

[.tiff]

Once you stop following a user, any posts that showed up on your dashboard when you were following them won't automatically disappear. However, posts, favorites, and comments that you and the people follow make will eventually push the updates out of the way.

[DrX]

I'm here with the same question. This is a big inconvenience. I don't all of these messages mixed in with comments.

[Lorraine Lewis]

I don't like this at all- just thought you should know. Stay out of my space please :)

[davidinnv]

Agree with most of the above comments. It's a bad idea. Also, I continue to receive angry feedback from some of my readers because TypePad, not me as the blog owner, decides that a comment -almost always entirely inoffensive- should go into the spam folder for my blog until I get around to releasing it.

[Dont' Push Me]

^^^What they all said... And just as annoyed.

[Marilyn Gruver]

Please stop these comments on the My Dashboard!!!! I agree with everyone - stop this

[Account Deleted]

I also wrote in yesterday I thought for a service that I pay for, that it was in poor taste for typepad to automatically sign me up for their comments I did not like seeing all the comments in my dashboard. I hope I am unfollowing now but that was an inconvenience as well to figure out how to unfollow something I didn't want to follow in the first place. I must add though that I did appreciate the quick response from typepad when I wrote to them about this.
kt

[Anne Donald]

I don't want these comments!!

[Marina]

This is a really BAD idea.

[Terri Windling]

I don't want these comments either, which seem like self-promotion for Typepad, not anything I need or want, and certainly not what I'm paying for as a professional user. Can you please let me know how to get Typepad messages and comments off my dashboard?

[cherie millns]

really annoyed by comments which won't go away, even after unfollowing. do i have to wait for the typepad comments to be superseded by new ones?
NOT a good move, typepad.

[Jaime Canter]

Very Big Brother of your Typepad. Don't like it at all!

[Paula Salmon]

I love the new follow feature and I also love having the typepad team updates as I almost always learn something new. Thanks!

[Account Deleted]

A poor marketing move, Typepad. Here's why:

o You opted your customers in without first letting them decide whether they wanted to follow the blog.

o You made the process of opting out not a straightforward move.

o Customers must passively wait for the residual of this action to go away.

You at least owe us the capability of deleting or hiding that clutter of Typepad posts. We've told you that we neither want nor need them.

[gel]

I wrote somewhere else that I also am totally annoyed at this spam. I agree with those above me. Plus, to not be able to remove this clutter, is wrong. (Future removal, now prevented, by us needing to change settings, is wrong. What if I had been away from my blog for several weeks. I'd return to this mess!) Grrrr

Please see my comment in the typepad following discussion areas. Hopefully, you'll hear us all.

Thanks

[Russ Curry]

Yes, get this off my screen.

Go away. this is a pain!

[Andrew Veety]

I don't even see an unfollow option. Bad form.

[cbest]

I hate it

[Account Deleted]

This is an absolutely horrible decision. I use typepad to work with my students and now I have to go through typepad updates to "follow my own class". I want to decide who I follow. This isn't facebook; it is a paid service. I see this as spam! Certainly Six Apart should have passed this idea by its customers before implementing it. This is simply bad netiquette.

[Julie Benner]

I do not want this feature. I do not like being signed up automatically for something I do not want. I don't know how to unfollow, and I resent having to use my time this way!

[cbest]

For the non tech savvy - where is the Typepad PROFILE? i want to get this unwanted feature off my dashboard IMMEDIATELY. Not everyone wants or needs to connect this way. With all the infoglut and distractions that coem with it, my tiem is precious - the clutter alone is intrusive.

PLEASE give those who want to "unfollow" (what a stupid buzzword) a LINK to where we have it go - OR better still - do it for us

[Claire Alcock]

We hear you. Go to

http://profile.typepad.com/typepad

and select unfollow below the avatar on the left hand side. Thanks for your feedback

[Claire Alcock]

Hey Marilyn,

Just wanted to check you saw how to remove the comments from your dashboard? the Profile is here

http://profile.typepad.com/typepad

click "Unfollow" to remove TypePad team updates from your dashboard. Thanks for your feedback

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Anne - you can stop these updates by "unfollowing" this profile. http://profile.typepad.com/typepad Thanks Claire

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Cherie - thanks for your feedback. Yes, the TypePad updates will quickly be pushed down as you receive updates from around the TypePad network from bloggers you are interested in. Thanks Claire

[Claire Alcock]

Great feedback Suzanne. You can stop the updates by clicking "unfollow" on the TypePad Team Profile

http://profile.typepad.com/typepad.

We do think Following is a useful function that will help TypePad bloggers be discovered and increase their traffic around the network. If you are interested in providing more feedback on how we can make this useful for you we'd love to hear it. My email address is calcock at sixapart dot com.

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Gel - thanks for your comment. We are hear you. As I mentioned to Suzanne above, I would love to get your feedback on the following feature and understand how we can make this useful for you. It was developed to help TypePad bloggers discover each other and hopefully help you find a wider audience. Feel free to send me your thoughts - at calcock at sixapart dot com. Thanks again.

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Andrew,

You can unfollow here: http://profile.typepad.com/typepad

Under the avatar on the left hand side.

Thanks, Claire

[Claire Alcock]

Thanks Renee, good to get your perspective on this. The plan was to ensure our customers were getting the most from their TypePad subscription to make sure they were up to date with product improvements as well as blogging tips and tricks. I understand from feedback that this is not a welcome change for everyone. Once you have unfollowed the TypePad team here http://profile.typepad.com/typepad
your students' updates will quickly fill your dashboard again. Our apologies. Claire

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Julie,

You can stop receiving these updates by visiting the TypePad profile and clicking unfollow

http://profile.typepad.com/typepad

Claire

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Jcomfort - you can find the TypePad profile here

http://profile.typepad.com/typepad

click "Unfollow" on left hand side under the avatar. Thanks for your feedback on this. Claire

[Claire Alcock]

Thanks Paula! So pleased to hear you find this useful - thank you for sharing. We hope to keep the TypePad Team updates informative and engaging and to make sure our customers are up to date with all the work that we are doing here, be it product development updates or tidbits we are learning from the community that might be helpful to pass on.

[cbest]

Thanks Claire, I managed to "Unfollow" but perhaps I see a different screen than you. Here are my instructions for others.

Click on this link
http://profile.typepad.com/typepad

Left top of screen is the Typepad square green icon
Below icon, right side is the word "Follow"
Click "follow" and you will be given the option to "unfollow"
and the caution "Important:
Following on TypePad applies to all sites in the TypePad network." -so it is an all-or-nothing option

[Happy Lashes]

yikes, i cannot access my blog! webpage not available! help please

[Account Deleted]

Sorry but that is not good enough.

It's not why we pay for the service, it's not what we expect of an organisation that understands social media, and the repeated patitudes of "we think you'll like it" are the kind of crap that comes from customer disservice departments.

Opt-out based subcription models typify exactly what is wrong with corporate America, I'm very disappointed to see it happening here.

[Sheila Casey]

Pushy, pushy, pushy! What possibly could've made Typepad think we want to have to sort through this stuff? I unfollowed as fast as I could.

[Jeremy]

This is possibly the worst idea you have ever had.

When I saw the spam appear, I spent a while trying to figure out how to get rid of it. There is no "unfollow" on that profile. There is "follow". It insists that I'm NOT following, and yet the spam persists.

[Agnes]

Like Paula, I also find the TypePad updates quite useful, for the most part anyway. I'm not an SEO geek by any stretch of the imagination but I've been implementing your blogging tips when applicable to my blog and I am rather happy with the resulting readership.
So not everyone is annoyed by your trying to help non-tech-savvy mortals like myself become better bloggers -- plus I am pretty sure I have voluntarily subscribed to your feed and no one has shoved the subscription down my throat.
I am just letting you know this -- so you know the tone of these comments is not necessarily an accurate reflection of the general consensus.

[Molly Knott]

Crazy that we have to go an unfollow after you opted us all in to "follow" your marketing feed

[Lesley @ The Design File]

Unrelated question: Facebook fan page vs personal page

I have a personal Facebook account and a fan page for my blog -
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Design-File/164245479936?ref=ts

Right now, when I post something new on my blog (www.TheDesignFile.net), it updates my personal Facebook page.

How do I hook my Fan Page to my blog instead?

Please help...

[Marina Flournoy]

Bringing tips and updates onto my dashboard positions them for easier follow-up, keeps them in present mind until I have time for them, and creates a sense of involvement with the Typepad community. I like it.

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Lesley you can't automatically cross post from TypePad to a fan page. However Facebook allows you to set up a feed of your blog into your "Notes" on a fan page.

Here are some good instructions http://www.jeanobrien.com/2009/06/11/how-to-import-a-blog-into-a-facebook-fan-page/

Good luck - if you get stuck open a help ticket and we'll take you through it.

[bd]

I like the Typepad Team. I've gotten some good tips from my updates. If I decide that I don't like them anymore, I'll just stop following.

[Lesley @ The Design File]

Thanks so much for your help. I'll try that out.

[Kofla Olivieri]

I agree, Typepad Team has been extremely helpful and courteous, and always reply in a timely manner. Keep up the good work!

[Account Deleted]

Whilst I disagree with opting in users without letting them know ahead of time, on the positive side, I do find TypePad's updates helpful and informative, and I actually look at my Dashboard for updates from the Everything TypePad blog before I look at my RSS feed for the same.

I hope people will be able to get past their initial feelings of annoyance about this and consider following in the future. :-)

But yeah... Encouraging people to opt in = awesome. Opting people in without forewarning = not so awesome.

[Kofla Olivieri]

Off-topic observation, I just found great new blogs, at least new to me, by visiting some of the people who commented on this post. Thanks

[Account Deleted]

Oh, man!

There's nothing wrong with typepad updates - as they can help people like myself who know very little about the functionality behind the hosting.

But I think I'll untick my own 'share post' option.

[gel]

Uh, hello?? My feedback (and that of other irritated typepad users) is already clearly stated above AND in the typepad "following" thread. To reply with standard answers (like why it was developed which has NOTHING to do with why we in this thread are so annoyed at it being THRUST upon us with NO CHOICE, and the standard "lines" Feel free to send me your thoughts - at calcock at sixapart dot com." is not pertinent, is not helpful and is NOT hearing us. Your words are empty.

I'm a longtime typepad user, but actions like putting in an annoying feature WITHOUT MY CONSENT that clutters my blog, will cause me to reconsider using your service. We pay for our blogs!

[Andrew Veety]

Actually - I only get a "Follow" button, which is doubly annoying. How have I been subscribed to something I can't even unsubscribe to?

[Lisa @ Boondock Ramblings]

Yeah, I think some of the people are getting way too uptight about it all. there are good tips in there so ... chill folks! You can always "unfollow" and be in the dark about what is going on at Typepad.

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Brinstar, thanks for this. You are right we should have let everyone know about this ahead of time. Our apologies. We'll keep the TypePad Team feed as helpful as possible. Thanks for your support.

[Claire Alcock]

Thanks Gel. We take the blog comments very seriously. I offered my email address in case you wanted to discuss this further. Sometimes blog comments are not the best channel. All feedback is discussed by the TypePad Team.

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Andrew - if you click "Follow" and then log in you will be given the option to "Unfollow". Sorry I wasn't clear on this. Claire

[kimmi8]

Thanks for the comment. We're glad to hear that following the TypePad Team is useful for you and I appreciate the feedback.

[kimmi8]

Thanks for the clear instructions. That copy is misleading and we're changing it in next week's release. You only stop getting the updates from the TypePad team and everyone that you follow.

[cbest]

TypePad HTML Email

2 problems:

I am NOT unfollowed - your stuff is still on my dashboard
what do I do now?

The link to your name is to FACEBOOK which I cannot access at
my workplace

From: TypePad

[Happy Lashes]

thanks a lot for the quick response, i am up and running! loving typepad,

big kudos to Claire Alcock!

Maria Powell

[Claire Alcock]

Great news - glad we could help!

[Anastasia]

Following the TypePad Team has been a great experience for me in more ways than one. These great people helped me to fix problems within less than 24 hours. But most importantly, their posts are always very informative and very useful for any TypePad member. And I would like to thank them all for that!

[Claire Alcock]

Thank you Anastasia, that means a lot! :)

[Anastasia]

Keep up the good work. Thanks to you, I have become a better blogger, I think.

[Account Deleted]

Claire, this smacks of roguery. There is no "Unfollow" button below the green TypePad badge which, by the way, is not an Avatar.

Underneath the green lily pad, there is a button for
"Follow", but one has to be brave to click on that, especially if one wants to "Unfollow".

I pay for TypePad. I use it now, mainly as a "drop box" URL. That is, it is somewhere I can leave things for others to see or listen to on the Web, when I am away or asleep.

I can understand that TypePad is being pressured by other blogging applications such as facebook and twitter, but I have never experienced an invasion of privacy such as this latest manouevre by Six Apart.

I am seriously thinking of finding another URL provider.

What galls me most is that, if I use my TypePad identity to comment on a Blogger blog, for example, the person who writes that blog is now directed to my TypePad Profile, rather than to my TypePad Blog, if they click on the link to "Tjilpi" in the comment.

They now have to jump several more time-wasting hurdles before they get to my blog.

You guys are going to put yourselves out of business by restricting traffic in the way that you are now doing.

Tjilpi

[Cookie!]

Gel, I agree with you.

It's hard to feel valued when you're getting canned replies and dealing with changes that we did not want or ask for. Harder still when this isn't the first time it's happened.

[Sara]

Ugh, I absolutely HATE automatic changes, like automatically being subscribed to a blog I didn't ask for. BLEAH!

[Paul Jozefak]

This is such a ridiculous feature. I don't want it, never asked for it and am offended I was opted in without my approving it. As I am a paying customer, you have crossed the line and will lose my business. Simple enough and by the way, all the responses from Claire Alcock are a joke, especially in a response where she is asking "how to make this useful to us". Duh, should of maybe asked before launching the feature.

Hello Wordpress!

[cbest]

Your "unfollow" button does NOT work. What do you suggest I do to remove you from my Dashboard?

[cbest]

UNFOLLOW button does NOT work - HELP!

[Account Deleted]

This is so silly.

With all the functionality available to allow users of websocial services to set their preferences for privacy levels, follows and unfollows, why is this even an issue? People may as well not be here or on other social networks. Why doesn't TypePad just unfollow those who have a problem with it?

Does TypePad think that being websocial only works if people are more visible, open and connected?

[Arthur Rickydoc Flowers]

add me to the list of folk irritated by these typepad posts, what really offends is that i pay for this service, you want it set it up as a social media forum dont expect me to pay for it

specially since they are such bland canned enthusiasms, they arent useful, they are just irritating, i would expect typepad to be more sophisticated than this

i wonder now what else have you opted me into that i have noticed yet

please do not bother responding w/more canned platitudes, just count me irritated

[Julie Benner]

Thanks, I did figure that out and do that.

 

Julie

[Laura Fredrickson]

I do not find this useful or helpful in any way. Comments made on other people's blogs, showing up on my dashboard, are/were confusing and irrelevent. Count me in with the masses who entirely disapprove of this move and dislike the impact. It clutters up my dashboard and made it difficult to see who really was leaving a comment for me. What were you thinking?

[M]

I am appalled at your lack of judgment. As a paying customer I expect to get a professional level of service. Auto-subscribing me to things I have never asked for is the exact opposite of this.

Your way of handling this situation also leave a lot to be desired. Cookie-cutter corporate answers thanking for feedback but failing to rectify the problem are nothing but pathetic. At the very least you should immediately give users an option of removing this clutter from the dashboard.

Six Apart should seriously consider what road to take from here on. Turning Typepad into a bloated mess with unnecessary additions forced on users will have consequences (I am obviously not the only one thinking of cancelling my account). Trust is hard to earn, but easy to lose. And for what? Re-branding Typepad as the umpteenth Twitter/Facebook clone? Good luck with that.

[Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Blog]

I agree. Big waste of my time as a paying customer. I shouldn't have to opt out of stuff like this.

[JenLucPiquant]

Um, major FAIL, lovely folks at Typepad. I appreciate you want to keep users informed, but this just clutters up an already busy dashboard. UNFOLLOW!

[Account Deleted]

LOL - but TypePad LOVES you :)

[Account Deleted]

Oh no, wait. Maybe they don't.

TypePad Team originally followed my profile when I first joined but now they don't. However, they have almost 500,000 followers so they should be the ones who should be complaining about being followed by bloggers! However, they don't seem to be following anywhere near as many profiles themselves. So much for listening to customers paying subscription fees!

So far, other 'social NOT working' sites don't charge for using their services, but if they started to, would the customer then expect to be heard?

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Jennifer, Did you see how to unfollow? I can talk you through it. Here's a link to our profile http://profile.typepad.com/typepad
Click unfollow - or, if you are not logged in, click follow and then unfollow.

I hear what you are saying - the intention was not to clutter! My apologies.

[Susan Ariew]

I'm getting some funky stuff when I try a new post right now. I've lost all my editing tool bar and I have no idea what's going on. Is there a glitch in the new system causing this? Instead of a toolbar I'm seeing the html version of the tool bar:

Text Edition Tools
Font Name and Size Font Style Paragraph Style Lists
___ ___ ____ ___ ____

Is it a Firefox thing? Is it because I used html and switched back to Rich text? What's going on with that?

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Susan - Thanks for letting us know about this. I have let the support know and they will open a ticket for you to help you get this resolved. Hang in there - we'll be in touch.

[Jeff Korhan]

Susan - Good insight - yes it could be a Firefox thing.
I'm a Firefox user, but I quit using most plug-ins because they can wreak havoc on your system. Disable all of your plug-ins and see what happens. I wouldn't be surprised if that solves the problem.

Also, there was a new Firefox security patch added a couple days ago. 3.6.2. To be sure you have it, go to Help/Check for Updates.

Jeff

[Susan Ariew]

Dear Jeff,

Thanks for the tips! I just got a quick fix reply from Typepad support that worked. Zalary writes: " First, try a hard refresh. If you're using a PC, go to the Compose screen and hold down the Ctrl button and hit F5. If you're on a Mac, go to the Compose screen and hit Command+Shift+R. That works for most users! " It did work. She thinks it could be a cookies, cache file thing so clearing those from your browser can also help. Anyway, now that I know how to fix it, I'm pleased I can keep blogging.

Best,

Susan

[Susan Ariew]

Dear Claire,

Problem fixed. Zalary sent me a very helpful response!

Best,

Susan

[Claire Alcock]

Lovely! Zal's a star. Glad we could help.

[Matthew]

Snarky. Bit like the guy at the counter at the fast food place who says "read the menu."

You're heading places, Brinstar ...

[Account Deleted]

Not a very good analogy, dude. Apples-to-oranges. I'm sure that's gotten you places, pal. ;-)

[R]

What I end up seeing when I do this is only an option to "Follow." So I'm supposed to "Follow" then "Unfollow" in order to "Unfollow" something I didn't choose to "Follow" in the first place?

Ugh.

Overall, this is a terrible idea. If I want updates, I'll sign in at the blog itself.

When I go to my Dashboard, I want to see what people have said on MY blog, so that I can respond to them. I am NOT INTERESTED in message after message about updates and winners and recommendations.

If you're going to insist on signing us up for this without asking first, at the very least you should keep the number of updates small, and only focus on the most vital stuff (like planned downtime). Otherwise, it's just glurge, and unfilterable glurge at that.

[Account Deleted]

It doesn't remove the posts from your Dashboard. At least not for me.

[Account Deleted]

Hi. It doesn't remove them from the dashboard. Additionally, when I went to the typepad profile it didn't say I was following them. I had to go to *my* profile and unfollow via that page.

[Clark Perry]

I see no UNFOLLOW button. Just a FOLLOW button. So I click that, then click UNFOLLOW when it appears ... but I'm still following you.

Let me be clear: I DO NOT WANT TO FOLLOW YOU.

You guys are arrogant to think any of us do.

[Mie]

Hi Clark,

This may work: click "Follow" and then log in you will be given the option to "Unfollow". You may have done this so let me know.

If this doesn't work, I'll have Support take a look. You certainly do not have to follow us, so do let me know so I can make sure this is solved for you.

Thanks!

[Account Deleted]

Yea, all you space cadets, I'm gonna start un-following everyone, everywhere! All this social vs individual, harvard vs stanford, twitter vs facebook is getting me down. Satellite's gone, man.

[SallyF]

Ok I've done all of the above - unfollowing; refreshing; ctrl + f5 but what I want a clear answer from is:

How do I delete the comments that are still there after I've unfollowed?

Another annoying point is that I have tons of typepad comments, if you had to do it, couldn't you at least have just started from the day it happened rather than 'backpaying'

The main thing though is I just want to get rid of them, please tell me how (and please don't say 'unfollow' I know - I have done...)

Thanks.

[Maria Repsher]

How do I get you off my dashboard forever? I have used the unfollow button many times and you keep coming back. Please take me off, I don't want to follow you!

[Mie]

Hi Maria,

To confirm, you were logged in when unfollowing from here http://profile.typepad.com/typepad?

Once unfollowed, the current updates won't disappear, but new ones won't appear. So as other updates flow in, you will no longer see our updates.

Let me know if it's still not working.

[Mie]

Hi Sally,

Once you unfollow, new updates will no longer appear, but what has already been posted won't disappear from your feed right then. After other updates flow into your stream, they will bump down our old updates so eventually they will be out of sight.

I hope this helps!

[THE Stace]

Under the "avatar," there is only a "follow" button. No "unfollow" button. What am I missing here?

[Media Law Prof]

I tried the instructions to "unfollow"--there's no "unfollow" link; then I tried the instructions to click on "follow" then "unfollow" as suggested by Claire below. That doesn't work either. I'm still stuck with "following the TYPEPAD team. I too would like to unfollow.